My Computer Specs - I need some suggestions!

[smashedpumpkins]

(2) - AMD Athlonâ„¢ 64 X2 Dual-Core +6400 (About to purchase)
(1) - 500GB Seagate Drive (From previous Computer) - Looking for 10k+ rpm... Ideas? Western Digital looked decent?
(4) - Crucial 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (Bought these recently on a hot deal!)
(1) - AMD ATI Radeon X1650 Pro 512MB PCI-E Graphics Card (From previous Computer)
{1} - AMD ATI Radeon X1050 Pro 128MB PCI-E Graphics Card (From previous Computer)
(I run 3 monitors for an at home business and constantly have 30+ windows open. Many Adobe and Office programs + a lot of internet.)

Obviously I have a few other things, but these are the bigger ones. What Motherboard would you recommend for me? Motherboards are the hardest part for me to figure out. I never know what I should go with. I also am looking to find a good Hard drive. My current one isn't the fastest rpm, but I don't know much about any other details. I figured I wanted to go with 10k+ rpm here. How about my Video Cards? Are they too old school or should I keep them? Let me know if you have some ideas! Oh and don't worry about price too much. I'm looking for high performance as what I have now isn't working out. (As you can see I'm not brilliant in computers, but I'm not stupid either.... Links are great too!) Thank you

Randy

 

[Peter.Cort]

from what i've heard about 10k+ RPM drives they don't really add that much performance for the price. you're much better off getting either 1 or 2 7200.11 or a 7200.10 seagate 500GB (or what ever sizes you need/want).
motherboards really are dependant on what you want to do with it. From what it looks like you won't be doing a lot of ocing so i don't believe the chipset really matters, so just get something that will has 4 ram slots, has a socket AM2 for the cpu, and has enough slots for everything, like ide/sata. also if your not doing any gaming then the gfx card you have (the 1650pro) is fine as long as it gives you the quality resolutions you want.

and if any of this is confusing just ask questions, because nobody here knows everything there is to know. and there is always someone dumber then you.

 

[smashedpumpkins]

I'd have to hunt it down, but I believe my Seagate is a 7200 rpm. As I read through the posts here it sounds like there are some really sweet graphic cards out there that I haven't searched about. I game here and there, but as for ocing I'd kill my computer before I made it better. I don't know anything in that area.

This may be overkill for sure, but it'd be nice. What if I stuck this Video Card in.
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N806-A1 GeForce 8800GT SSC 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Any Mobo in your opinion best here? I may even sli them in the future running twins.

 

[Invisible]

two AMD?
no no no
go with a q6600
and dont worry about 10k drives they are just a TAD faster than 7200.11 drives

 

[smashedpumpkins]

two AMD?
no no no
go with a q6600
and dont worry about 10k drives they are just a TAD faster than 7200.11 drives

Would 1 q660 suit my needs? What does it compare to 2 amd 6400?

This proc? Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

 

[veg1992]

owns it.. its quad-core vs a dual-core.. plus even the Dual-Core counterpart of the q6600 beats (aka e6600) the 6400+

 

[Peter.Cort]

i prefer amd cause i like them better. just throwing my opinion in there lol.

but yeah, the intel's are better for performance, but thier costlier. and yeah, the 8800GT is arguably the best card on the market now, especially for its price, so if you can afford to get it go for it and you won't be let down.

and as far as getting an sli board, if you don't do serious gaming, that might be a little overkill for you, but if you do want the option of sli, the best intel sli chipset is the 680i, or i believe the 650i is just as good. as far as amd goes i believe its the 570i

 

[smashedpumpkins]

Thanks for the info guys! Hey peter I found a lot of mobo's in this area.
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Is it any specific one you are talking about or the general at 680i?

EDIT: Oh and will this all suit 8gigs of ram? I plan to get 64bit vista then right? Do I need to find something better?

 

[Peter.Cort]

im not sure if 64 will support 8gb. someone will have to confirm this. and as long as the board says it will support 8gb then it'l support 8gb. lol. ill edit in a link with a few of the better boards.

Newegg.com - EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Newegg.com - ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

 

[smashedpumpkins]

Alright I'd say so far I'm looking at.

(2) - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield
(1) - 500GB Seagate Drive
(4) - Crucial 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667
(1) - EVGA 512-P3-N806-A1 GeForce 8800GT

I just looked up my mobo I have right now. It's a Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4. If I stuck with the AMD 6400 instead would this mobo still be good?
GIGABYTE GA-M55SLI-S4 AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
GIGABYTE - Product - Motherboard - Overview - GA-M55SLI-S4 (rev. 1.0)

Would it be a bad idea to stick with this mobo. It's not even on newegg anymore.