been out of the game for a while, first completely new build in years. Help me out.

[Urraca]

So just about everything with my system has been going wrong lately, and with a change of jobs I will be having more and more time for gaming (yay!). I'd appreciate any feedback on the components I have right now, to see if there is anything glaringly wrong, or anything I should upgrade. I want my budget to be around $1500, hopefully less--oh and I plan on air-cooling only.

Also, I'm getting all these prices from Newegg.

• CPU: E6420 - $190
• Mobo: Gigabyte965p-ds3 - $129
• Video Card: EVGA 8600GTS - $199
• RAM: 2gb G.skill 6400 (current special) - $97
• HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB - $129

The current spec for the 'core' system is $744 -- which is pretty damn sweet.

I will need a new power supply, case, DVD/CD-RW, etc.

Now for the questions:

How much wattage should I be looking at? What is a solid brand today?
What's a good, fairly cheap, sleek case these days?
Should I up the video card to an 8800GTS (3xxMB)?
What about SLI?
Any other suggestions?

If I could get this setup for $1000 + some, I would be ecstatic! Thanks for your time guys, I'm really excited to get back into this scene.

 

[andrus]

Well you can get the XFX 8600GTS for $175AR from the egg but upping it to an 8800GTS would be best since you can afford it. Way more performance for the money.

 

[engiNURD]

XClio Goodpower 500W <= Antec SP2.0 500W < XClio Stablepower 500W <= Enhance 5150GH < Corsair 520W < Corsair 620W < Silverstone Olympia 650W < Ultra X3-1kW.

Cheap? Centurion 5 series. I recommend the 534. Other choices would be the Antec Sonata for $50AR at fry's. The P180 is also nice, and so is the Lian-Li PC7.

8800GTS? what resolution will you be gaming at? If you'll be gaming upwards of 1600x1200, then go for it. If you want high detail, go for the 640MB. If you're gaming on a 24" or larger, look into the GTX.

SLI is only needed for 24" or larger LCD screens. Don't bother with it as an upgrade path either, unless you plan on getting a large LCD screen, lol. There will always be a better single card solution as far as future GPUs are concerned.