im trying to piece together machine. im trying to be on about a 900 dollar budget but my main concern is to make sure i can upgrade it easily in the future. im looking to get a cheap pentium D processor for the mean time but i wanna make sure the Mobo i get can take the core duo (or maybe quad) procesors too. so im looking for a qualitie motherboard that will be able to support newer an older processors, and alot of memory so i can upgrade and i want to do a little bit of over clocking. i was looking at
Intel 975XBX2KR Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard and an Intel Pentium D 940 3.20GHz OEM Processor at TigerDirect.com

but i think these probally something better out there for me

so ill pay around 200 but cheaper is always nicers.

anyhitng like that or are my demands too high? lol

any suggestions would be nice. thanks

You said you wanted to spend "around 200," but then the combo you linked is $300...Anyways, you can do much better than that combo for much cheaper.

Newegg.com - MSI P6N SLI-FI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com - Intel Pentium D 925 Presler 3.0GHz 2 x 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

roughly about $200 total. First while the 975 chipset is excellent and overclocks well, its been out for a really long time. The 6 series from nvidia is much newer and from what I've read will have support for the upcoming Penryn/Wolfsdale when they launch. I'm not entirely sure if the 975 chipset will support future processors with 1333mhz front side buses. Also the MSI board I linked is SLI capable if you should decide to get a second videocard down the road. As for the processor you chose, the 940 is extremely overpriced. You can pick up a 925, which is only slightly slower for about half the price of the 940. Stick with the 925 if you want a much better value and plan to upgrade in the near future. Cheers.

do you want sli? you can get a core 2 duo starting at $120 for an allendale plus another $120 to $150 for a good mobo and oc it to 3ghz or beyond easily

even if he did want to go Core 2 Duo, the weakest available core processor is currently the E4300, which will cost him a good $120. The real trick is, in order to take advantage of that processor, he would have to overclock it. Overclocking would require a good power supply and a very good cpu heatsink, which I doubt he could fit into a $900 budget.

Quote: Originally Posted by hazardous even if he did want to go Core 2 Duo, the weakest available core processor is currently the E4300, which will cost him a good $120. The real trick is, in order to take advantage of that processor, he would have to overclock it. Overclocking would require a good power supply and a very good cpu heatsink, which I doubt he could fit into a $900 budget.

Not quite correct....the 4300 will still outperform the Pentium D at stock, and the basic Intel cooler is enough to overclock it quite far.

Ok this is a build I did for a friend recently, and it fits your budget quite nicely. Grand total is $850 + the cost of an operating system and a generic optical drive. Didnt know if you would want xp or vista. It even features a core 2 duo with all the goods needed to overclock and the new 8600gts videocard. Drool. Since its an sli board the option of adding another videocard down the road might be a nice upgrade too.

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1	COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail Item #: N82E16811119068 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy		$49.99
1	Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250820AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822148142 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $14.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $19.99		$67.99
1	MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Over Clock Edition HDCP Video Card - Retail Item #: N82E16814127284 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $29.99 1 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $39.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $39.99 2 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $49.99 3 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $59.99		$189.99
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