i'm upgrading, help a brother out!

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liudakris

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Sep 29, 2005
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hey, i'm currently looking at upgrading my computer because it is freakin ancient!
barton 2500+ OCed, FTL!

anyways,
i have done the research, but i really can't seem to find a motherboard that really works well while staying in my price range.

The things I need to purchase are: motherboard, video card, memory, cpu, and psu.
Below are a list of parts I have searched and are pretty set on buying.

evga 8800gt video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318

Antec earthwatts 500w psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

4gb G. Skill memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Intel Q6600 cpu: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0257938

Motherboard: Here's where I need help the most.

all this comes up to 550+ shipping
I really wanted to stay under 700 so i did not want to spend 150 on the motherboard. I'm looking for something that would have RAID compatibility as well, but it seems that most of them that are RAID compatible are a lot more expensive.

Can anyone suggest other parts that may be cheaper so that I can buy a better a more expensive motherboard, OR can u suggest a motherboard that is reliable/performs well, while staying under a certain budget?

The reason I did not choose to buy cooling solutions is because I am not planning on OCing at all at this point and will purchase later when I do decide I want to. My friend is running an Intel Core2Duo E8400 non OCed with stock fan/heatsink and it runs at 30 degrees, so I'm assuming this CPU would be similar.

If u guys could help me out, it would be MUCHHH appreciated!
 
$120 - MSI P35 Neo2-FR LGA 775 Intel P35

What size monitor will you be using?
Does that $700 include tax? If so, whats your tax rate?

You could save $20 with a lesser PSU:
$47 - Silverstone ST400 ATX 12V 2.2 400W PSU

And you can save $35 with 2GB of RAM instead of 4GB.

So, the question is, do you really need RAID? Because if not, you can pickup the Abit IP35-E for $90 - $30MIR, free shipping.
 
i will be using my dell 2001fpw that i bought a couple yrs back.

tax rate is 7% , but I'll only be buying the CPU in store, so $214 for the CPU at microcenter.

I will be hooking up 3-4 harddrives so I am not sure that a 400W PSU would be enough power.

I do need RAID since I am currently running RAID and have a lot of files stored on the drives.

Thanks for the suggestions so far!
 
400W would be enough, even if you OC'd the CPU, especially since that PSU has 29A on the +12V rail. Though, I'd go for the Corsair 450W at least, for the better quality and more power on the +12V rail.
 
For motherboards, the MSI P35 Neo2-FR and the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R are around the same price. Here's the link to the VX450W that enginurd mentioned earlier. Based on NewEgg's "3 day" shipping costs, you'd spend around $15 on shipping.

For $10 less than the G.Skill, you could purchase the A-DATA 4GB DDR2 800 kit. (You also receive a $20 mail-in rebate.) Switching the RAM would allow you to buy everything, including either the EarthWatts 500W or the Corsair VX450W, and come in at just under $700, even with shipping.

$214 - Q6600 (@ Microcenter - in store)
$120/$122 - MSI P35 Neo2-FR or Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R (~$8 shipping)
$70 - A-DATA 2x2GB DDR2 800 kit (free shipping & $20 MIR)
$204 - EVGA 8800GT (~$7 shipping)
$65/$70 - Antec EarthWatts 500W or Corsair VX450W ($10 MIR for Corsair) (free shipping for either one)
$15 - approximate shipping charges from NewEgg (may or may not be exact)
=====
$688/$695 - (Approximate) Total
 
liudakris said:
I do need RAID since I am currently running RAID and have a lot of files stored on the drives.

Thanks for the suggestions so far!
Click to expand...

Remember, just because your new motherboard supports raid, it doesn't mean you'll be able to plug-n-play with your current RAID drives. It is much more likely that you will have to creat a new RAID array with the new motherboard. Keep that in mind when you're planning.
 
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