might build new system.. opinions?

So I did some budget upgrades to my old PC, and it runs good, but not great. My CPU is holding me back. Really, it will do everything I want, but it's starting to struggle with the newer games.



Current Specs:

Pentium 4 Northwood 2.8@3.22
ASUS P4P800-Deluxe
2gb (4x512) Kingston HyperX DDR-PC3200 RAM
ATi Radeon HD 3850 AGP OCed
Several various Western Digital HDDs
SoundBlaster X-Fi Extreme Audio 7.1
Samsung SyncMaster 205BW 20" LCD
Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 Speakers
500watt Antec PS
Lian Li polished aluminum case (forget which one, but I like it alot)
Windows XP Pro SP3



It will probably be a couple of months before I can afford to upgrade, but I would like to get opinions on what I am currently looking at. After I pay off my credit card and pay for my wife to go back to school in January, then I can start saving for this upgrade and a new LCD TV to go with.

Since I'm more than broke at the moment I'm planning on cannibalizing my old system to build the new one. Then eventually I will get my hands on enough second hand parts to reconstruct my current system and run them both side by side.


Based on what I already have, I have made a list of components I will need to upgrade. Processor, heatsink & fan, motherboard, RAM, videocard, and powersupply.. If I am missing anything here please jump in, I've been kinda "out of it" lately, starving myself to get my credit card paid off.




Anyways, jump to the chase.. here is what I am looking at getting for my upgrade:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz G0
Thermalright Ultima-90 Heatpipe CPU Cooler
Scythe S-Flex 120mm Fan - Ultra High Speed (SFF21G)
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P Motherboard
CORSAIR Dominator 4GB (4 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) RAM
ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB
COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-750-ACAA-A1 750W Powersupply



Just put everything in my old case and use my old HDDs. Right off the bat I would OC the Q6600 to ~3.0-3.2GHz and probably tweak the video card as well. I guess all together I'm looking at $500-$600 total cost. I would like to go with 2 x 2GB sticks of ram, but the cost is double (extra $30). If anyone thinks it's worth the $30 to go with 2x2GB instead of 4x1GB speak up. This configuration also allows the opportunity for me to get a second videocard in the future and run them in Crossfire.



I'm also wondering if I should look into using Vista Ultimate 64-bit instead of XP Pro. I think with the quad core and 4GB of RAM Vista would be okay. I'm just wondering if there will be any advantage to running 64-bit Vista over 32-bit XP Pro. I don't really care about the eyecandy, I'm more concerned with performance.




So, what do you think? Will I be pleased with this setup? I'm also looking at a refurbished 46" Samsung 1080i LCD TV that this system will be hooked to.

 

On a side note, I plan on lapping the heat sink and the CPU heat spreader. I will probably document my build, OC, and the lapping process with pictures and bench results and post them here if anyone cares..

 

you will be pleased with the setup

what i have right now is almost half that and it plays new games just fine

if you want to play the newest games with dx10, get windows vista, otherwise use xp (my dad uses 64-bit vista and the compatibility with 32-bit older programs is just fine) and with eyecandy, there is an option to turn it all off in vista and just have the basic GUI run with no xtra effects

overall, i don't think you're missing anything in your setup...just don't forget to purchase a dvi-to-hdmi cable for best signal quality on your hdtv

you can post a work log here if you like, im just not sure on which subforum you should post it in...hopefully a happy helpful fellow will come along and tell you

EDIT: just noticed something...you said you're planning on "cannibalizing" your old computer...that means that you would use your old case and keyboard/mouse for your new one? im just making sure because you don't have a case in your list of new parts

 

Overall looks pretty good, a couple of ideas though:
*Don't buy Dominator, it's super expensive and 1066MHz is a rediculous speed for DDR2. Buy Corsair's 800MHz XMS2 instead, at half the price.
*Radeon 4850 should be good, you migh also want to consider for example 3870 and 3850X2. Those are actually a bit less expensive but should perform just as well.
* Get Vista 64-bit. I have it in two systems and I like it so much more than XP. Nearly all modern device support 64-bit nowadays and Vista has proven out to be a very stable system.

 

Yeah, I was going to get the cable when I buy the TV. And I AM planning on using my old case and keyboard/mouse. Their pretty good Logitec devices so no need to upgrade those.

The Dominator 1066 RAM I'm looking at is $15 for 2GB (after rebate).. I don't really consider that super expensive.

I don't really think $130 for the 4850 is too much either, and if I do go Crossfire a few months later I think that would handle the 1080 display for games that I would like to have. I'll look into the other cards though.