Planning an upgrade...

I'm planning to build a new PC soon, and would like a few suggestions.

I'm going to base it on the Intel Core2 Duo e6750. I've found the
Intel chips perform better on applications, and the price/performance
break is at that chip. *If* I do anything with it, it will be
applications (think Adobe Photoshop/After Effects/Premiere). I know
many of the parts I am considering are not quite video-production
ready, but I will upgrade those LATER if the time comes.

So, C2D e6750
2Gig RAM
sATA 160G drive (no brand yet - to me it doesn't really matter)
All my optical drives and USB devices will move over

My BIGGEST question is the motherboard. It seems there are a million
of
them, so I could really use help narrowing this one down.
GOTTA HAVE:
RAID on board (in case I do video)
Upgradeable to Intel's Core2 Quad and/or Penryn chips (the 45nm ones)
able to take at least 8Gig ram
1 UDMA interface for those old opticals
Vista friendly! (although it will almost certainly start with XP Pro)

NICE TO HAVE
SLI or Crossfire, although that gets me into my next question

I DO NOT plan to overclock.

ABSOLUTE TOPS for the motherboard is $150, I'd PREFER to keep it at
$100
or less, but I don't know if that is possible.

My other question is the video card. I thought nVidia was the leader,
but people seem to be talking up ATI. I only want to spend around $50
on the card, so GeForce 8500 seems to fit the bill. If there is a
convincing argument for ATI in the same price range, I'd listen.
Either way, it MUST do HD.

I also have questions about the power supply. I see some are "dual-
core certified." Does that really matter, or should I just find
something with enough wattage?

Thanks in advance!

Chris

"Chris Berinato" <c.berinato.RemoveThis@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:c140e520-6e9f-42a6-99ee-ddf8c0867ac2@i72g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
> I'm planning to build a new PC soon, and would like a few suggestions.
>
> I'm going to base it on the Intel Core2 Duo e6750. I've found the
> Intel chips perform better on applications, and the price/performance
> break is at that chip. *If* I do anything with it, it will be
> applications (think Adobe Photoshop/After Effects/Premiere). I know
> many of the parts I am considering are not quite video-production
> ready, but I will upgrade those LATER if the time comes.
>
> So, C2D e6750
> 2Gig RAM
> sATA 160G drive (no brand yet - to me it doesn't really matter)
> All my optical drives and USB devices will move over
>
> My BIGGEST question is the motherboard. It seems there are a million
> of
> them, so I could really use help narrowing this one down.
> GOTTA HAVE:
> RAID on board (in case I do video)
> Upgradeable to Intel's Core2 Quad and/or Penryn chips (the 45nm ones)
> able to take at least 8Gig ram
> 1 UDMA interface for those old opticals
> Vista friendly! (although it will almost certainly start with XP Pro)

All that is easy, around the hundred dollar range (or so)

> NICE TO HAVE
> SLI or Crossfire, although that gets me into my next question

Now you are over $150 easily, closing in on $200 range. Killer is
bandwidth. You will find several SLI or crossfire around $150, but watch
the second slot. If you want X16 on both, you are going to totally blow
your budget for the mainboard. My suggestion is forget about SLI or
crossfire, or up your budget for the mainboard. There is no sense spending
a lot of extra money on a half-assed solution which you aren't even sure you
want.


>
> I DO NOT plan to overclock.

Well you have at least half a brain. What are you doing here, exactly?
Most of the posters here are avid overclockers and swear that it's OK
(suggested even) to do so. Glad to see at least one poster knows better.

>
> ABSOLUTE TOPS for the motherboard is $150, I'd PREFER to keep it at
> $100
> or less, but I don't know if that is possible.

Not possible. You can get close to $100, unless you insist on two X16
graphics slots. Then you are over $150.

>
> My other question is the video card. I thought nVidia was the leader,
> but people seem to be talking up ATI.

What idiots are doing that? Only thing I've heard about ATI recently is
that you MUST install .net software to use it. No thanks. Stick with
nvidia.


> I only want to spend around $50
> on the card, so GeForce 8500 seems to fit the bill. If there is a
> convincing argument for ATI in the same price range, I'd listen.
> Either way, it MUST do HD.

No, I'd second that 8500. Go with your gut.


>
> I also have questions about the power supply. I see some are "dual-
> core certified." Does that really matter, or should I just find
> something with enough wattage?

Well you don't need dual-core certified. You DO need a good name brand,
however. Look at Seasonic or Enermax to start with. In the HIGHLY UNLIKELY
event you don't find something you like there, come back here for some more
suggestions. Oh, and figure (roughly) on spending as much on the power
supply as you do on the mainboard. -Dave