Hey everyone!

Im in need of some help.......

I was on my pc yesterday after it being on for over an hour. The monitor goes into standy and the pc reboots. Which basically is nothing out of the ordinary in a windows based system. After the pc rebooted the monitor still wont come out of standby but the pc still boots up.

The strangest part was it crashed when i clicked on my pcapex link to get on the site. FREAKY HUH?

Getting back to the issue....
To make a long story short after troubleshooting and finally plugging in a pci video card. I found out that my video card took the plunge to hardware hell.

My current rig is just over two years old. I've been itching to upgrade it, but CPU vendor prices are unstable with intel dropping their prices by the end of the month. I certainly dont want to pay more now when i can save a lot more a month later.

Im sold on the q6600 after the prices taper off. It's the mainboard and memory combo that's killing me. Im looking for a good top of the line gaming board with 2x2=4gb of (ddr2 compatible memory) that works with the board of choice and is easily overclockable. I would also like it to stay in the lines of SLI board and not crossfire. I've looked at the striker and commando, but they have memory issues and I dont want to buy into that nightmare out of the box.

Plus im looking for a good aftermarket heatsink that's compatibile with the MB i choose.

So there's my reason for asking for everyone's help.

There is no rush on this since im going to hobble my pc on a matrox mystique till after the Intel prices stabilize.

At this point a working computer is better than NO computer at all!

Money isnt quite exactly an issue but necro's new build would blow me out of the water.

Nice build there Necro!!!! I'm Envious

Here's what i got on my list so far on my new gaming rig...........with the exception of mb, mem, and other hardware i already own.

COOLER MASTER Stacker RC-832-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE GV-NX88S640H-RH GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer

All help is extremely appreciated............

Thanks much in advance

Currently 680i mobos are handling the quad cores a little better but that could (and likely will) change in the near future. Personally I am waiting on the X38 based boards before buying a full ATX mobo for a Conroe.
As for RAM recommendations, that really depends on the mobo you choose IMO, the Asus boards can be picky about which RAM they accept, but on the flipside when they are matched well with RAM they do support they can scream like banshees. I am personally liking the Firestix and the new OCZ offerings (and I know they both work on the Asus board I have now although AM2 based).
For heatsinks, the choice is getting tougher now for good air cooling as there are now a handful or more of great coolers. Breaking it down into a design you like beforehand would likely make that choice easier, not to mention the mobo choice since you shouldn't have any space constraint issues with the case you have chosen. My main gripe with Asus mobos at the moment is their heatpipe cooled mobo setup limits your choices for good CPU coolers.

Here's what i've chosen for my new gaming rig.........

Please have a look and critique my newest build.

Im also looking for a compatible aftermarket cpu cooler that will work with this motherboard.

All recommendations are welcome

Thanks for your help in advance.....

ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131073

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Newegg.com - EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) EPS12V 750W Continuous
Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) EPS12V 750W Continuous @ 40°C (825W Peak) Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, ULC, CE, CB, RoHS - Retail

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

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit
Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

P35 is the best quadcore platform.

Quote: Originally Posted by Zaltan P35 is the best quadcore platform.

Only in some respects, it is beaten by 680i in others.
They are both good for quad cores for different reasons, but I believe they will both be beat by X38 when released.