Comp Upgrade

[ispofdoom]

First off, hi.

Current Specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Socket 939
GPU: Geforce 7600 GT
Mobo: DFI NF4 Ultra-D
RAM: 2x Corsair 512MB DDR 400
Harddrives: Seagate 160GB, Seagate 300GB
Sound Card: Creative Audigy 2 ZS
Displays: Samsung 19" 913B LCD, Samsung 22" 226BW-C LCD
PSU: Enermax 450W
Case: Thermaltake Shark
Cooling: all stock

Potential New Rig:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
GPUs: EVGA Geforce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB, Geforce 7600 GT (salvaged from old comp)
Mobo: ASUS P5KC ATX LGA775
RAM: Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4DHX 2x1GB DDR2 800 XMS2
Harddrives: 2x Seagate Barracuda 500GB 32MB SATA2
Sound Card: Creative Audigy 2 ZS (salvaged from old comp)
Displays: Samsung 19" 913B LCD, Samsung 22" 226BW-C LCD (salvaged from old comp)
PSU: Enermax Galaxy 850W
Case: Antec Nine Hundred
Cooling: Zalman CPNS9700 NT CPU Cooler, Zalman VGA Cooler VF900-CU

Items in red I am certain I want.
Items in orange I want, but am not sure of the brand.
Items in Green I'm really not too sure about.


The computer will be used for some gaming, audio editing/mixing, photoshop work, video editing, UEd/Maya, along with general use.

• 
  In essence I am looking for a PC with a quality CPU/GPU that doesn't break the bank.

• The Mobo must have 2 PCIE slots (16x), I want to use my old GFX card to power the 19" monitor, and the 8800GT (new GPU) for the 22" monitor, therefore I'll need a high wattage PSU. I dunno much about the brands/models, etc.

• Hard drive wise - 1TB total would suit me fine, I chose 2x 500GB simply to keep the cost down, Seagate - because I've always used them.

• My current case (Thermaltake Shark) has developed a wonderfully distracting rattle when the hdd whirrs, so new case time it is. I want it to run cool and quiet (while watching the cost). Thus the additional cooling as well.

All suggestions welcome! Thanks for your time.

 

[ispofdoom]

just saw the comp build sticky with the questions everyone wants answered:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
The computer will be used for some gaming, audio editing/mixing, photoshop work, video editing, UEd/Maya, along with general use.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Budget... stick in the price ranges you can assume from the parts mentioned above - it breaks down as follows:
CPU, RAM + Mobo: NZ$700-800
GPU: NZ$500
PSU: NZ$400
Case: NZ$250-300
HDD: NZ$300-400
Cooling: NZ$200

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
New Zealand

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
brand preferance - nvidia/intel is the way I want to go. other than that its variable.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are
see above (using my GF7600GT, Creative Audigy 2 ZS, Samsung 19" + 22" monitor, mouse/keyboard

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
yes, I have been around on forums/websites reading reviews for some months now (since early september). ie: anandtech, epicgamesforums, tomshardware (sorry!), googled stuff.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
not at the start, maybe later down the line (CPU most likely)

 

[DSF]

You don't need an 850 watt power supply to run those two cards. Believe it or not, your power needs are probably closer to 450 watts than 850 watts.

 

[ispofdoom]

Originally posted by: DSF
You don't need an 850 watt power supply to run those two cards. Believe it or not, your power needs are probably closer to 450 watts than 850 watts.

I have tested the power consumption out on a power usage calculator (cant remember link/website), and it came to roughly 450 watts. I am a bit on the paranoid side though, and I'd rather have too much power than too little.

Would an 850PSU increase the monthly electricity bill? - that just occured to me.

 

[DSF]

I don't think it'll have much if any impact on your monthly power bill, but from what I'm seeing that 850W PSU costs 200-300 dollars depending on rebates. $100-120 should be all you need to spend on power. (U.S. Dollars that is - not sure what the exchange rate is.)

 

[Denithor]

Well, I don't know what parts you can get in NZ so I'll forgo the normal linkage.

Here are the parts to support your wants.

Motherboard
abit IP35 Pro or Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P
(Asus also makes good boards but I am not as familiar with their models.)

Memory
2x2GB Kingston, Crucial, or Mushkin DDR2-800
Go for 4GB, it's cheap (US$50 for 2GB, US$80 for 4GB) and the programs you have listed want as much available memory as you can provide. If using Win XP you will see about 3.2GB of it but it will really help some of your programs more than you might think.

Video Cards
Why two? You run two monitors off one card now, why change that? You may see a funky interaction having two nVidia cards present. The 8800GT is a nice choice though and you won't be sorry going with EVGA.

Power Supply
Seasonic or Tagan are the best, next is Corsair, OCZ, Antec. 500-600W model is more than sufficient even with two video cards (7600GT is extremely low power card, does not even require external power plug).

Case
Antec cases are top quality but a bit spendy, I have seen excellent quality/price with In Win cases.