Upgrade Assistance Needed - Thanks!

[rajs]

I had built the following machine in Mid August 2005 and used it until now and just sold it to a friend. I need to build a new machine for myself ... what would you recommend I choose -- BTW -- I ONLY use the machine for gaming @ 1920 x 1200 resolution with a 24" LCD (Dell).

Machine Sold off
Mobo -- EPoX 9NPA-Ultra
CPU -- AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8 GHz OC'ed and ROCK SOLID STABLE at 2.645 GHz
CPU Cooler - XP-90 w/ SilentCat 90mm fan
RAM - 2 GB Crucial (2x1GB sticks) DDR400 - CT12864Z40B
eVGA 7800GTX OC @ 475 / 1375 MHz STABLE
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 Side Window Case
Enermax Noisetaker EG495P 485W Power Supply.
Maxtor 300 GB SATA with 16mb cache Drive
Plextor DVD 740A Dual Layer Burner
Gigabyte PCI Wireless G NIC
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value

What would you recommend I build my new machine with -- BTW I loved the EPoX board in regards to how easy it is to configure and play with while OC'ing -- is DFI all jumper based or BIOS based changes -- since I would prefer to make changes via BIOS so I don't have to play with jumpers.

MOBO -- ASUS or DFI -- looking for a SLI type board or crossfire board.
Video Card -- I guess an nVidia 7800 GTX 512 MB or should I go with an ATI card and get an ATI capable Mobo that can handle two cards ? I will run at 1920 x 1200 res with everything turned up as much as possible. Play BF2 and a lot of the Valve Source games (DoD:S and HL2:S)
CPU -- Already have an Opteron for this PC and it will OC very well
CPU Cooler -- Anything better then the item I already have above -- Air cooling based ?
RAM -- Looking for some recommendations (Eclipse) -- for something that will OC better then the very nice and reasonable Crucial value sticks I had. Would like something that is DDR500 capable and fast -- reasonable prices would help though -- so I will make a decision based on a balance of speed / value. Is 1T type available in these speeds ?
Case - Was happy with the CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 Side Window Case
PSU - Was happy with the Enermax Noisetaker EG495P 485W Power Supply
HD - Thinking about a WD4000 Series SATA drive in the 300 GB capacity
DVD - Was happy with the Plextor DVD 740A Dual Layer Burner
NIC - Wireless NIC -- need something that is Pre-MIMO wireless
Wireless Router / FW - Pre-MIMO -- need suggustion here -- thinking maybe Belkin ?
Sound Card -- Audigy 2 Value - This was just fine for me -- using it with a headset only -- Beyerdynamic DT 234 Pro.

Appreciate any suggustions or nudges -- I'd like to put my order in the next few days *grin*.

Thanks!!!!

 

[rajs]

Been reading here for a while and now looking at the following issue --

A) Get a single X1800XT and down the road do crossfire on it. This should give me better performance then my "old" 7800 GTX 256 MB. Issue though is what MoBo that supports ATI Crossfire and is stable and good at OC'ing

B) Or on the NVIDIA side get a ASUS of DFI SLI mobo and get two 7800 GT cards and put them into SLI mode -- since the 7800GTX's 512 are impossible to find and I'll get better perf and cheaper using 2 7800GT's instead.

Which option would you recommed A or B and then what MOBO ?

Thanks

 

[discochan]

I would probably go with option B

DFI board seeing as how you want to OC.

The crossfire boards are now starting to come out so there will probably be some glitches here and there

 

[rajs]

As I've been reading more and more on the forums tonight -- it seems like it is coming down to the following -

I know the nVidia SLI solution is more elegant but the ATI X1800XT card (Single) just by itself seems to be pretty good ... if not better then my "old" single nVidia 7800 GTX 256 MB card.

So I guess I really need to be deciding on the following then:

Either go with nVidia NFORCE4 SLI MoBo such as a DFI or ASUS and get two 7800 GT cards and pony up the $$$

or

get a SINGLE X1800XT card with a ASUS or DFI Mobo based on the ATI chipset ... since the ATI Crossfire solution seems pretty messy right now.

The question comes down to which of the above two would serve me best for BF2 and DOD:Source at 1920x1200 using a Dell 24" 2405 LCD monitor. I would like to use the highest possible AA / AF and when available HDR.