ZeroDamage

I am not so sure if the timings in the case of the memory will make much of a difference if any at all at stock speeds. The timings of the Patriot is 5-5-5-16 while the G-Skill is 4-4-4-12. If the RAM is not going to be overclocked then I say go with the cheaper Patriot. If you plan on overclocking the RAM a little, then go with the Gskill since the better timings will give you more headroom for overclocking. Over all, the Gskill is better RAM and worth the small amount more money IMO. Cujo is right.

I am not so sure about Ep-2 being DX10. I do remember reading an article that DX10 is in the works for the Source engine at some point. Though we all know that things change often when it comes to Valve.

I Know you do not like Ultra PSU's Cujo but here is a 500Watt one which is free after rebate if the second Case were to be considered.

http://shop1.outpost.com/%7BFd8491ttM2j3nq...:Homepage:Spot1

zero, i picked the ram i did cause of the timings. heat spreaders are useless. also, overclocking the cpu gives you much more performance than overclocking the memory.

 

that is a nice case but i was tryin to get a case and psu together cause he's on a budget. 50 bucks for the case i listed is cheaper than just the power supply by itself. it has a 120mm fan at the back and space for one at the front so cooling is fine. i do like that case you posted though. i just go by the philosophy of "it's what's inside that counts".

 

good find on that vid card and DEFINITELY worth the extra 60.

 

i WOULD not wait for ati's new cards as it's gonna be april-may before we see any in this price range. dx10 is STILL overrated. i don't think mag is goin vista anyway...

 

mag, if you get that mobo and cpu i'll overclock it to 2.4ghz for you at frag fest.

The thing with the RAM is that it needs to be able to clock higher with the FSB if you are going to overclock the CPU. Do not get me wrong, G-skill is on the top of my list for RAM these days due to price/performance ratio. Heat Spreaders help with some memory especially when overclocking is taking place although it just depends on the RAM. It often times is just for show. I am just thinking price for Mags since this thing is a little over price. I picked that case because the one you chose looks to be small which will make the newer video cards impossible to fit. Usually the PSU's that come with cases suck to boot.

I chose a better Video Card because of the fact that Valve is always updating the Source Engine and with Episode 2 coming out soon along with Team Fortress 2 and Portal, a little better video card would be the best way to go. It's not all about DX10, it's about Nvidia's new design which newer and newer games can benefit from, including CSS.

The Overclock for Mags should be easy and will turn a 600 dollar system into a 850 dollar system.

first off, if anyone knows how to just save carts and post a link to them that would make this much easier.

 

anyway, i tried to hit 600 but i'm a bit over. $744.96 for the below config but for the extra 150 vs getting cheaper stuff is just not worth it.

 

ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

 

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

 

G.SKILL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - Retail

 

SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card - Retail

 

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply - Retail

 

 

that vid card for that price is a STEAL as well. just bought the cpu and just sold a system with that motherboard. very happy with both. i've sold many systems with that case. my god parents for one. it's very quiet and the powersupply included just makes it a STEAL. add to that the $50 mail in rebate and oh man... haha. anyway, enjoy. if you absolutely NEED to stick to $600 max then you're goin amd and a cheaper motherboard/vid card. don't get anything less than that ram as it's just not worth the ~$10 savings. i say offer to do extra chores and spend the little bit extra. you'll be glad you did.

 

btw, i'll see you at fragfest.

A couple of items I found at slickdeals that are still ongoing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820220088

I know, no heat spreader so Overclocking will be out of the question in this case. Can save a few bucks if money is a major issue.

THis case looks hot: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_in...;ref=performics

My old work built a system with this case a couple of weeks ago. No PSU in it but it is bigger than the one above and has all the cooling you need in it. PSU is on the bottom and there is a very large fan on the top.

I am still all about waiting on the video card if you can. ATI's new stuff should be out sooner rather than later and it will provide new options and bring down the prices of their older stuff. I am still handing onto my old ATI card until then, although the new Nvidia cards keep tempting me.

If you are all about getting a new video card now, then look at a better card than that. Definitely better worth an additional 60 bucks for a card that will last you longer and is dx10 able.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetai...st=pricegrabber

I always wait a year or so after a new OS release before upgrading. This time around I need an install of Vista somewhere so I am familiar with it enough to fix my users machines. I had it on my Tablet PC and it sucked. Freezes and all kinds of insanity. I uninstalled and reinstalled XP on it. My new Dell laptop will have home on it and I will keep it for a while to try it out.

Sounds like multiple issues happening at the same time.

#1. Hard Drive may be doing bad. A good SpinRite test at level 4 will fix this I imagine or give you enough time to replace hard drives. I use a multipurpose boot cd called "Hiren's." It is at 8.8 now and this MIGHT be a download link for you: http://www.9down.com/downloads.php?fileid=446

#2. The Hard Drive problem has most likely corrupted some of your drivers. Go into you device manager (right click my computer, go to properties, go to Hardware tab, click on Device Manager). At the bottom, you will see the USB area. How I've fixed this is remove the USB drivers (the main hub) and rebooted. Do this with your ipod disconnected.