It's been a while since I last posted here, but I think it's about time to update some pieces.

So far, this is what I'm thinking

CPU: E8400 (Possibly Q9440)
MOBO: ASUS P5Q-E
MEMORY: OCZ DDR2 1066 (2x2GB)
GPU: AMD 4850 **Not really sure which brand to go with here. Still looking to see if there are any good OC'ed deals or anything with an upgraded cooler.

This is an all gaming build. It would be on a 24" monitor and I'd be using my old PSU and Case.

Any suggestions, changes, or tweaks?

For RAM i say go for a DDR2 800 RAM with 4-4-4x or lower timings because the difference between DDR2 800 and 1066 isnt much and DDR2 800 OC's very good too.
Also for CPU go for Q9450,E8400 is good too

Ah, I was curious about going DDR2 800 as well, but wasn't sure if would play well with the P5Q-E since the suggested memory standard is DDR2 1200 (1066/1033Mhz). If it will work without hiccups, I'd gladly forgo the more expensive ram for the cheaper DDR2 800.

what is your old psu? what is your budget? what kind of games do you play? are you planning on overclocking and if so a lot or a little?

these will help to get the best answers

Old PSU is in my sig. PCP+C 750W. Budget... I'd say $600-700ish since I don't need a full system.

I play just about anything under the sun as far as games go. From CS:S to Crysis to WoW, but I really like the graphics to be as pretty and smooth as possible regardless of the game I'm playing. (Obviously, I don't want to spend $800 on graphics cards to make Crysis play 6-8 fps higher than $200-300 graphics card - that would just be silly)

As far as overclocking, I may try a little something with the 8400, but I'm fairly in experienced when it comes to that stuff... so maybe a small bump in the clock speed. Nothing spectacular though.

as far as ram. i disagree with part of maziars recommendation. i agree ddr2 800 is the way to go. it will work just as good, can be overclocked. where 1066 is necessary is for big overclock. but don't just look for the lowest timings. often times companies will up the voltage to lower the timings so not really "faster" ram, just modified ram. so get ram at 1.8v which is the jedec standard and then you can adjust/overclock if you need or want to.

as far as graphics 24" monitor is very nice. some games will really push the 4850. i would recommend going 4870 which will play everything very nicely. also with that board if at somepoint games outdo the 4870 you can make the decision of getting a new gpu or adding another 4870. the second card would only be on x8/x8 but the performance hit is not huge so it would be dependent on the price at that time vs cost performance of better single card out there at that time.

pc power and cooling is a great psu won't have to touch that for this upgrade.

plenty of room in budget for those things. as far as cpu. if it is just mainly game use then stick with the dual core. that is a great card. e8500 is $20 more for .16ghz more so you can decide if it is worth it. most games don't take advantage of quadcore. if you have the money and want to do it, it might take advantage of future games if they start going that way but there are no guarentees of that and by the time that is more prevelent the prices would be much lowe and/or you may want something else.

Alright, cool. So you say the DDR2 800 would work with the P5Q-E? Like I said earlier, I was just worried since the advertised RAM standard for that mobo is 1066. (Plus I thought the RAM had to be as fast or faster than the FSB, or am I mistaken?)

As far as the rest, I'll go with the E8400 and 4870.

DDR2-800 will be fine with that motherboard. The maximum speed rating is not the only speed it will support.

New system build thread #1248

Thanks for your brilliant insight, rubix.

Perhaps your wisdom should guide your ass out of the Homebuilt Systems section if you don't want to be involved in new system build discussions.

The DDR2-800 will work great and let you overclock the E8400 up to 3.6Ghz without having to touch the memory (ie wont have to overclock the memory). Definitely go for an overclock, it's pretty easy and you shouldn't have to increase the voltage past stock (though make sure 'set' it to stock and not leave it at auto or whatever). You can probably lower it a little too once you're at 3.6 >

Plenty of guides around for that too!

If you are going to go for an overclock you will want to add a heat sink. There is a good, very well regarded, offering from Xigmatek, the S1283. Some people use the retention brackets as well to help with fitting.

Jeremy

Check the newest CPU prices, on newegg the 8500 is only $20 more expensive then the 8400. The Q9550 is only $5 higher then the Q9450, Price compression is your friend. Also agree on the DDR2 800 1.8v lower latency RAM Mushkin makes some good RAM at JEDEC stock.

The more I sit here, the more I think about overclocking. I think I'm still set on the 8400, but that $20 saved should give me something to put towards a heat sink.

Also, I'm going for 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 in the 1.8v variety, but it's difficult to find anything below CL5 in terms of latency. I'll keep looking though. *edit* Closest thing so far is this 5-4-4-12. All the CL4 in DDR2 800 (2x2GB) seems to come with modified voltages.

you aren't going to. they drop it to cl4 by raising the voltage. which you can do on your own if you have to when overclocking. but it is best to start at the standard voltage and change if the overclock requires it. here is my recommendation for ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731

and right now there is a$20 mail in rebate so only $69. amazing deal.