Help Please: Choosing Right Computer Parts

[sirdumpty]

Hey guys,
I plan on buying the Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 soon. I'm just confused over what other parts I need. I do plan to overclock the processor, so can you guys give me some suggestions for the right motherboard and memory I need? Thanx

[One4yu2c]

A favorite of ours remains the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3. A solid all-around board and a decent overclocker, you can read our review HERE. If SLI is a requirement, you'd be looking at the 680i chipset, such as the EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 (reviewed HERE), and believe it or not, ECS has a nice offering in their PN2 SLI2+ Extreme (reviewed HERE), though it's a bit difficult to find in stock. There's also the 650i chipset, which is a less expensive version of the 680i minus a few perks.

General recommendations regarding RAM would be to stick with name brand companies, such as OCZ, Corsair, Crucial, Mushkin, G.Skill, etc. Some specific kits:

2GB OCZ Platinum Revision 2 DDR2-800 (4-4-4-15) - $100 shipped (after $50 MIR)
2GB Corsair XMS DDR2-800 (4-4-4-12) - $104 shipped (after $50 MIR)
2GB G.Skill DDR2-800 (4-4-4-12) - $125 shipped
2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2-1066 (5-5-5-15) - $125 shipped (after $75 MIR)

On a side note, be sure and browse our Recommended Lists.

[Dr. V]

all awesome recommendations by One4, as always.

i would recommend 680i over 650i for sure, and the ECS is the one for me if i were to choose over the eVGA.

careful with the RAM configuration with the 680i's though - some complaints have arisen. has much to do with any voltage over 2.2-2.4, so pay attention to that to have no worries or bothers.

my favourite out of the bunch of RAM One4 listed would have to be the Ballistix - can never go wrong!

either that or the Play REV2 which is at an awesome price (DDR2 is dropping like flies getting ready for DDR3, which so many ppl won't upgrade too so soon anyway considering that DDR2 boards will be supported for a while to come with the new CPUs, less maybe AMDs new solution, but i doubt it).

g'luck!

[OcciferFriendly]

I'd suggest two changes (I hate disagreeing One4 though! ).

First, I've been reading about some upcoming price cuts from Intel, that may put the quad core Q6600 down to $255 or so. Quad core for that price would be nice. Of course, you'd have to wait a little bit then.

I would also take a look for any new boards based on the new P35 chipset from Intel. The preview I read mentioned that CPU's could run at the 1333 FSB at stock settings - that's a free overclock right off the bat. You can get boards that can take DDR2 or DDR3 memory. The one I've seen out so far is the ASUS P5K series - not everyone has it yet. I guess the official release date is May 21, so you'll have to wait for them to be everywhere. There are some online sites selling them now, however.

Word of caution - it's a brand new chipset. As the early 680i owners can tell you, that can be risky sometimes.

[halutzparilla]

new is good but to RISKY...

like one4 i'll recommend Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (which is got REV 3.3)
2GB Corsair XMS DDR2-800 (4-4-4-12) which i also got.
E6600 very decent, dual core, and beside what would used the extra core let alone an additional 2 more core.

price drop will surely come very soon, this makes me itch to buy more but my wife will gana kill me coz of overspending on sale items... :D

and besides you can still use some of your other parts from your older comp...