Ok, this is the set up i plan on buying (its running me $1,600)

CASE: New! Raidmax Kuroshio Mid-Tower 420W Gaming Case w/ Side-Panel Window (Black Color)
CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz 1066FSB 8MB L2 Cache 64-bit
MOTHERBOARD: (Quad-Core FSB1333) Asus P5N-E nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)512MB PC6400 DDR2/800 Memory (Corsair Value Select or Major Brand)
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO CARD 2: NONE
LCD Monitor: 19& quot; TFT LCD Monitor Display
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
Data Hard Drive: NONE
Optical Drive: (Special Price) 18X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR)
SOUND: 3D WAVE ON-BOARD 5.1 SOUND CARD

Any recommendations? I need to keep it in that budget, lower if possible but efficient nontheless.

THanks.

The idea of combining a quad core with only 512MB of RAM doesn't strike me as very appealing. I would say that 2 GB is an absolute minimum with 4 recommended. If you think that this amount of RAM is overkill, you should probably wonder whether it's worthwhile investing in a quad core at all as it will offer little benefit over a dual core with only 512MB. If the system is meant as a game rig, quad core is even totally irrelevant at this time as game builders have barely started supporting dual cores.
FSB and type of RAM don't make the best match either. You will benefit most from either 667 or 1333Mhz DDR2. I would say the first because 1333 is still quite expensive.
420W PSU is OK but may be too little if your plan is to get a second video card at any time. If it isn't , you probably don't need a SLI board at all. Don't save on PSU, it's one of the most crucial components.
8600GT is a good choice but bear in mind that it is unfit for high-end gaming; even the 8600GTS won't cut it. If you don't run windows, you may be better off with one of the top cards from the 7000 series: better performance, lower price.
And personally - but that's totally subjective - I'd consider investing in two hard drives. If one dies, you always have on left (with updates if you were careful).
Overall impression: interesting but rather unbalanced. Combining top parts with mid-end components will give you only a mid-end computer. Depending on your budget, consider whether it's feasible to use only top components or whether the (upper) mid-range is more acceptable.

Hmmm. i thought i selected the 2gb ddr2 memory before...the 512 there is actually a mistake, thanks for pointing that out tho.

Thanks for the advice, im still looking into most of this, im a programmer not a hardware guy so i dont really know much about what goes with what. Appretiate you taking time to drop your two cents.

Consult the manual for that motherboard before choosing your memory. It is very finicky when it comes to dual channel mode and memory manufacturer/model. In the manual is a list of recommended memory.

Other than that, I bought the same motherboard a month or so ago and I'm very pleased with it.

I have the impression that Corsair is fairly failsafe. I'm using Corsair with an ASUS mobo and it's working fine although the model is not listed in the manual. I hear that OCZ and Mushkin are a lot more likely to bring some unpleasant surprises.

Using Corsair TwinX PC6400 2x 1Gb sticks in said motherboard. It won't run stable in dual channel configuration. Tried manually setting the timings because the motherboard detected them wrongly. Latest BIOS version. I was under the same impression about Corsair.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but how does this look to anyone in the UK:

It's advertised on the website of the small local firm where I bought my present computer.

1. I hate Onboard/shared Video. YMMV.
2. I prefer WD for hard drives, I'm not a big fan of Maxtor.
3. I've had nothing but probs out of ASRock Motherboards. After the 3rd one, they went on my blacklist.


The onboard Video is obviously easily fixed with a PCI-e slot available. The Maxtor drive isn't really a huge issue to me, WD is just a personal preference. I think the cost would be around $400 US, so to me, if those were the only two issues I had, I would get it, and save for a PCI-e video card.

The deal breaker however, is the ASRock motherboard. In my experience, I'd get more use out of my $400 by building a campfire in December to keep warm. For motherboards, I only use 1 of 3. MSI and Asus are my first two choices, with Abit a close 3rd if those two aren't available. If I can't get one of those 3, I pass and look elsewhere. Of course, I usually build my Own PCs, so its not an issue.

Good luck in your decision.

IGF

Must agree with IndyGunFreak on the motherboard front. ASRock is a big no for me. Though my top 3 are MSI, Gigabyte and ASUS. I would go with ABIT at a push but not much else.

Other than that the price looks about right, your not getting ripped off, however neither are you getting a bargain.

I recently assisted someone with a similar issue. Whatever we did was hopeless - and then we found out that one of the sticks was a 677Mhz module although it was clearly labeled XMS2 PC6400... By the way, ASUS mobos are generally quite sensitive to RAM voltage. OCZ was a definite no-go for precisely that reason (required voltage was 0.1 too high).

Thanks for your replies, IGF & phil.d.g. I don't know much about the hardware side, but that seemed pretty cheap for the specifications. I'll let you all get back to the OP's thread now.

As jay said, Quad Core are not a very good thing for gaming yet. A dual core is a better investment.

I know many would be against what I am going to say, but you may consider a Dell machine. The new and shiny Dell XPS 720 has start prices at 1699. You can get a machine with two gfx cards, 4GB of RAM and up to 2.75TB of space. I think your 1600 would be more well spent this way. And you will most likely be getting a Intel motherboard, which I like a lot. I dislike Asrock and I am not particularly a fan of ASUS. I've had several ASUS motherboards and graphic cards and always when I need to replace a component (say, the fan on my graphics card), I could not find a fan that fits, because ASUS continues to ignore standards imposed by both ATI and Nvidia.

I also had problems replacing a fan in one of my machines at my former job. It simply would not fit with that ASUS board.

I used to build machines on the past, but I've been very pleased with Dell machines at home (I've two) and at work (6 machines). Other two machines I have are custom build. It is nice to choose each and every component, for sure. But you will not always get a much better equipment nor you will always save money.

The new Dell machines are also easy to upgrade today and in this particular case, you will get a more powerful machine for about the same money. And I think you can get a 19'LCD too.

Just my two cents

Old quad core... 512MB ram...

I'd wait until Nov-Jan, Intel will be introducing some newer/cheaper/faster chips in that time.

I'm not sure where you are buying these parts either... 1600$ seems like a little much.

www.newegg.com

@BrianL

the hdd in that list of specs is a mite too small IMO
and i also advise against onboard graphics. 90% of the time they are not worth the space on the board.

the processor is nice and the ram seems ok
not so sure about the onboard NIC, surly 10/100/1000 is standard by now?

dasy2k1
They offer these options for extra money:

The graphics wouldn't bother me since I don't do games. If I got it I'd go for bare-bones option.