Chozart

Absolutely. The DDR2 800 will give you much more room for overclocking.

I'd highly recommend to keep the 7600GT for now, and invest the extra money in RAM. although there is a difference in performance between the 7600GT and 7900GS, it's not enough to warrant this upgrade at the cost of RAM. Just wait a few more months until afforable DX10 cards come out to upgrade that 7600GT!

Thus, get good DDR2 800 RAM now (which allows a much better overclock, since you can increase the FSB to 400MHz before your RAM even hits stock speeds at a 1:1 divider), keep the 7600GT, and then save for a mid-range DX10 card when they are available.

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slantedeyez

well... in the porformance comparisons i noticed that the 7900gs overclocked has twice the fps of the 7600gt...

Chozart

I wonder if that's worth the upgrade with DX10 coming down in price fairly soon (I hope)

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Ninja_Boy

Chozart, I heard a lower-end 8800 was coming out in Mid-Febuary for $300, I think that'd be better for his rig than to spend money now and then some more later. Since you are building a new rig I think it'd be best to wait and get the best deal, patience is key when building a new rig. As far as memory goes for AM2 or C2D you need good, high speed memory will a good chip. G. Skill, Cruical, Patriot, and Geil are great companies. I'd get 1GB of DDR2 800 over 2GB of DDR2 533 anyday. It'd be better for overclocking and it'd be better to drop another $150 1GB DDR2 800 Stick in then selling your 2GB of DDR2 533 and getting 2GB of DDR2 800.

[OCN] Ninja_Boy

slantedeyez

if the price is below 150 that is... which i dont think will be for a while.

Chozart

I'd rather save up a bit more and go for something really better than a 7900GS. Use the cash saved on the video card for 2GB good RAM now, and then go for the better video card.

Alternatively, I would put up with the ECS board, and invest in the better video card (the saving on the mobo will get you near $300 for video). The E6600 is plenty powerful enough at stock speeds (I wonder why you didn't get an E6300 if you're on such a budget... that would have saved also a bunch toward a better video card and RAM)

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Ninja_Boy

Oh, $150 for a GPU. I don't DirectX 10 GPU's will get that low until 2008. Sorry. But yeah, that 7900GS is a great DirectX 9 card - especially for what you get; Price : Performance wise.

Do you need a more powerful power supply for your rig? I might be able to sell you mine. If the person I am currently negotiating with backs out, I'll be sure to give you all of the information.

[OCN] Ninja_Boy

slantedeyez

lol i got the e6600 bundle with ecs motherboard for 298.

Chozart

That's not too bad then

What is your total current budget?

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Ninja_Boy

E6600 + 7900GS? I'd go with an E6300 and a 7950 Card or a lower-end 8800-Series. But that's just me.

[OCN] Ninja_Boy