Ok so it has been four years since I built my last machine (I might be exaggerating a little. But I have been running into some problems recently so I need some help. First background. I do not do much gaming, except on the very rare occasion. I use it for downloading and creating/burning family memory dvds. It is more a home office computer, but I would like to get into overclocking a little. My computer is doing well but needs some upgrades but being that it is four years old it kind of needs to be replaced completely. I can get the intel Q6600 for $199 retail - but is that overkill? I am good either way, but want enough where I will not have to upgrade the PC for another 3 to 4 years. I was thinking either of the following two mobo MSI mobo or Gigabyte I have a case that I will just continue to use (but might update - depends), I have 2 GBs of DDR2 memory (might go to 4) and the Creative X-Fi Fatality (I do use the computer for a lot of sounds applications so I wanted a good sound plus vista compatible). I do not have a graphics card so recommend one remembering I do not use the computer for much gaming so just to watch videos. I am debating between one of the two cpu heatsinks Arctic Cooling Zalman Also as a note, I currently run 3 hard drives (2 via PATA 1 via SATA) and 2 DVD+-RW PATA.) I like 3 hard drives 1 for the OS smaller and 2 for data. The SATA is 320, the OS is 80, and the other is 160. I am looking at replacing the OS HD b/c it is really old (like 6+ yrs). For DVD drives - is there a difference and should I upgrade to SATA drives? Sorry for the long post - let me know what you think. I am trying to stay low on the budget. Plus I am getting a new PSU and was thinking PSU
I know how it is. Anyway i just built mine like 3 days ago and i love it. Go with the gigabyte mobo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059) Its got a nice all solid capacitor design. And an intel chip (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036) Nice 1.80ghz chip that i overclocked to 3.2ghz. nice and fast. Go with this unless you want to spend a little more for a quad core. And if you go for a new case and want it to look awesome go with the xion. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208006) This is an awesome case all my friends want it. lol. But this is an awesome build the mobo and chip go great together. And you can make an awesome computer at an affordable price. Edit: Didnt see the rest of your post. Go with a thermaltake psu. Perferably (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023) This is a great psu due to its number of connectors. And they're all covered with a mesh. Perfect wattage too. For a gfx card go with a nvidia or ati. Perferably ati. They give good gfx and havent had any problems with them. Just get a 256mb $50 card they play movies great. And also go with a arctic cooling cooler. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134) this one works great. Dropped my cpu by 20 degrees.
I would get the quad core and the gigabyte mobo. it will laste longer than a dual core. for video cards you can get an 8400gs. this will be fine just for display and watching movies but nothing else. or the 8600gt. it can play some games on low so you might want that every once in a while. for a psu you should get this at the least http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003 that psu will be enought for a quad core considering that you wont have a high power graphics card.
3lement, remove the brackets and those links will become hyperlinks. I agree with krj's choice of a PSU, it's a much better unit than the Thermaltake. As for the case it's personal preference, but Xion, Apevia, Rosewill, Raidmax and Aspire are all low-quality stuff, so beware of that. If you want something that's built to last look at Coolermaster, Thermaltake, Silverstone, NZXT and Antec. As for the rest of the components, the Q6600 is very good value for that price, you may as well take it (Use the Freezer 7 pro cooler) and that Gigabyte board is excellent.
