Build a new rig

[newmill]

Hello all. New to this forum and gaming computers in general, but want to take the plunge. Here's what I'm thinking about getting:
Intel Core DUO Q6600 2.4
ASUS P5N32-E SLI
320 GB SATA2 Harddrive (x2)
ANTEC Sonata 3 w/500 Watt power supply
Nvidia 8600 GT 256 Pci-x (x2)
I believe the board is 68i. Not sure how this package will work together. Any comments, advice, changes, would be greatly appreciated. Money is an issue so if you see something dumb in this arrangement please post it. Thanks.

[magictorch]

I would not buy the 8600Gt. Wait a few weeks for the 8800GT!, the extra $100 will be worth it.

The 500watt PSU may struggle if you start to OC the quad (youll need a good heat-sink for that) and add a decent GPU.

The quads are great but you could get a more recent and highly overclockable core2 for less and free the money up for the GPU, PSU and heatsink.

If the 8800GT is as power efficient as its supposed to be and the 500watt psu is solid you may get away with it on a dualcore. You would see better performance in games than having a quad and a lesser GPU.

[JD]

Definately don't get 8600GTs in SLI. That's a total waste. Even a single 8800GTS would do better. But the 8800GT is coming out very soon so you might as well wait for that.

As for the motherboard, if I was to get a 680i chipset based motherboard, I'd get it from eVGA. They seem to have extremely good support.

You don't seem to mention what RAM your getting either.

[Delavan]

I would forget about the SLIed cheaper cards setup...If you want to SLI, go for dual 8800 GTS 640Mb or GTX or Ultra setup. Anyway, I would, myself, forget about the SLI mobo (save $100 average) and get a 8800 GTS 640Mb or better.

Or like Magictorch mentionned, you could wait for the GT!

[newmill]

Thanks for the replies.

So maybe I'm not totally clear on the SLI vs a single card setup. I thought the 2 cards would out perform the single higher end card. Also want to take into account future upgrades with the quad and the sli.

[newmill]

Oh, I forgot the ram would likely be OCZ 2 Gig DDR 2 1066

[Delavan]

I realize that SLI sounds "sexy" and powerful. The thing is that it doesn't mean "double" the performance. Sometimes you reap the benefits, depending of the game, drivers and all. And no, those 2 cards won't out perform a single High-end card.

For the RAM ,I like Mushkin, there is quite a few people that got DUD OCZ Ram kits...

Anyway, if you want to go SLI, more power to you, but I would buy a 8800 GTX, OC it to Ultra specs, and grab a second GTX later on...

[newmill]

Thanks for the info...
The problem is that dang 8800gtx is so expensive. Maybe the 8800 gt will be a little more affordable when it comes out?
If I SLI two cards, we're talking big bucks

[sswilson]

General rule of thumb is that SLI (or crossfire) isn't going to provide the same (or better) performance than a single higher end card unless those two cards together will end up costing more than the single, and even then the benefits are dubious.

The only folks who really should be running SLI are those who already own one decent card and who can get their hands on another for a good price, or those with way too much money who can afford to buy two of the latest uber card and SLI them together.

[enaberif]

Oh and a GTX card won't fit in the Sonata series :) You'll need to go bigger.