@ Huz: Sounds like you are on the right track man. First off, you mentioned the possibility of going SLI in the future. I guess I wouldn’t invest too much extra $ into getting a SLI capable motherboard. SLI is a fun toy to play with but honestly; it is not much of an economical upgrade. Generally doubling up on the video cards will only give about 60-80 percent more power. The thing is that in a year or so when you are ready for an upgrade, hunting down what will be then be a rare old card will be time consuming and more expensive than just picking up a new card all together. Two years ago, the 6600gt was
the mid-range card to own. You got great performance for about $150. Today, 6600gt owners are noticing the age of their cards. Buying another 6600gt for SLI will give them more power but these cards still retail for about $100. It makes much more sense to sell the 6600gt for about $75+ then add that profit to the money they would have spent on it and get a 7600gt or better. You will get better performance, latest features, and generally more video memory. There is nothing wrong with seeking out a mobo with SLI capabilities, but I wouldn’t’ recommend going too far out of your way to get that functionality.
For the Intel vs AMD memory speeds, both take the same DDR2 memory. Some motherboards won’t be able to handle certain faster speeds but as far what speeds the CPUs handle, there is no difference. As for getting the el-cheapo memory modules, just note that you will lose a bit of performance in doing this. Cheaper memory will have lower clocks than performance memory. It is not the most noticeable of differences; I just wanted to make sure that you were aware. Also, make sure you buy exactly matched memory sticks so that you can run them in dual channel mode for a little extra boost. Most mid range motherboards support dual channel memory out of the box, just make sure you have the sticks in the proper slots so that bios will detect it.
Congrats on picking the silent computer option. I personally love computer hum but I know that is just me.
Quiet computing is not as much of a pipe dream as you might think. Careful hardware choices like the video card you found make it very doable. Which case you pick out will play a huge role in what you hear and what you don’t. A case like
this is designed to be as quiet as possible while still allowing great airflow. It also comes with a very quiet yet descent power supply and silent case exhaust fan. The other thing is that many aftermarket CPU coolers will be silent where as the stock ones can be annoying. Let me know what other components you are in the market for and I can give many more recommendations.
Lastly, I’ll have to check out the e-tailor you linked. Looks like a good selection and nice navigation. Newegg is the the best online computer part retailer in the US. I’m just so used to using them for my needs that I forget that there are other retailers out there.
...bysmitty
