Upgrading a gaming rig

[Evylldemon]

So a little over 2 years after building this rig form scratch I've decided to upgrade some of the parts

current:
Intel E6600 - 2.4 Ghz no OC
ASUS P5N32-SLI SE
Antec P180 ATX case
EVGA 7950GX2
2x1GB OCZ gold PC2-6400 DDR2800 5-5-5-15 (i think)
creative sound card (x-fi xtremesound or whatever the cheap one was called)
OCZ PSU @ 600W
2x 500GB HDD
DVD burner

Upgrade:
EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 626Mhz 896MB 2.1Ghz (already got this at a good price)

Now I want to get a new processor but I'm not gonna fork out the dough for a core i7 plus the LGA1366 x58 mobo. So I think I'll go with an E8400 and possibly overclock it. So I should probably get an aftermarket cooler, any suggestions for something that would fit in my case?

I need to get a new mobo because the current P5N doesn't support 1333FSB.
ASUS P5Q or a DFI board would be ideal but I wanna keep it cheap as I need to keep the rest of the upgrade sub-$500.

I want to get 4GB of ram but not sure if I should get 2 more 1GB sticks of what I have or get 2x2GB of something new. Any suggestions?

Will 600W PSU be enough power to run this? I don't have SLI cards and don't plan to get them.

Also getting 64-bit Vista so I can actually use the 4GB of ram. So in reality I need to get an E8400 + cooler (maybe) + mobo +RAM for $400 or less. Is this possible and if so what parts?

Thanks for the help!

-G

[crazyhorsejohnny]

How about this:

Biostar Tpower I45 ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2OC 2PCI-E 2PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN CrossFireX Motherboard $171.63

G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit $69.89

Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Dual Core Processor LGA775 2.66GHZ 1066FSB 3MB Retail Box $145.99

Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 LGA775 S754 S939 S940 W/120MM Fan $38.88

[Evylldemon]

Originally Posted by crazyhorsejohnny

How about this:

Biostar Tpower I45 ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2OC 2PCI-E 2PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN CrossFireX Motherboard $171.63

G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit $69.89

Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Dual Core Processor LGA775 2.66GHZ 1066FSB 3MB Retail Box $145.99

Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 LGA775 S754 S939 S940 W/120MM Fan $38.88

I like the looks of that RAM especially considering the price.

How would a P5Q compare to the Biostar board? More specifically:
ASUS P5Q ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
ASUS P5Q SE ATX LGA775 DDR2 PCI-E16 3PCI SATA GBLAN Motherboard
ASUS P5Q-E ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN eSATA 1394 Motherboard

Would the Sunbeam heatsink fit onto any of these boards?

[sswilson]

The area surrounding the cpu socket on the P5Q Pro ( NCIX.com - Buy ASUS P5Q Pro ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 2PCI-E16 CrossFire 3PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN eSATA Motherboard - P5Q Pro In Canada. ) is quite clean so you should have no problems installing an aftermarket cooler.

Don't forget to pricematch the motherboard. I just checked on DC and it was somewhere around the $155 mark, could be cheaper elsewhere.

I just picked up a P5Q Pro, and I'm quite happy with it.... OC'd my quad easily on it. I had been looking at the biostar, but after seeing a few folks with major issues on new boards I decided to stick with the ASUS board.

[Evylldemon]

Originally Posted by sswilson

The area surrounding the cpu socket on the P5Q Pro ( NCIX.com - Buy ASUS P5Q Pro ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 2PCI-E16 CrossFire 3PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN eSATA Motherboard - P5Q Pro In Canada. ) is quite clean so you should have no problems installing an aftermarket cooler.

Don't forget to pricematch the motherboard. I just checked on DC and it was somewhere around the $155 mark, could be cheaper elsewhere.

I just picked up a P5Q Pro, and I'm quite happy with it.... OC'd my quad easily on it. I had been looking at the biostar, but after seeing a few folks with major issues on new boards I decided to stick with the ASUS board.

Yeah I'd like to stick with ASUS too, never had a problem with it. I don't need the crossfire obviously but I guess having esata might be useful and it's only marginally more expensive than the one with less features.

Do you think the sunbeam cooler will fit into an Antec P180? I can always run it with the side panel off but I'd rather not.

Here is what I'm planning on getting:
Intel E8400
ASUS P5Q Pro
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1000 PC2-8000
Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer
Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Totals to almost $600 but I'll wait for some better sales at NCIX to see if I can get the lot cheaper.

Also, I'll be fine with my 600W power supply right? not sure how power hungry the mobo and cpu are.

[chouchou]

600W should be more than enough
brand name?
i suggest a vendetta II or xigmatek CPU HS.
Also, consider picking up mushkin redlines (PC2-8000 ddr2-1000). optimal timings are EASY to get because of ncix's close relationship with mushkin's representative Greg.

[Evylldemon]

Originally Posted by chouchou

600W should be more than enough
brand name?
i suggest a vendetta II or xigmatek CPU HS.
Also, consider picking up mushkin redlines (PC2-8000 ddr2-1000). optimal timings are EASY to get because of ncix's close relationship with mushkin's representative Greg.

I thought it would but I wanted to make sure. It's an OCZ GameXstream 600W. I'd have to go check the box to get more precise than that cuz I got it 2 years ago.

I'll look into the redlines. I guess if I decide to OC then getting the mushkins might make my life easier. I've never OC'ed before though so I'll learn as much as I can before making a final decision in the next few weeks.

Thanks for the tip!

[GregH]

2 x 2gb Redlines on sale at DirectCanada right now too...