draxen

Personally I'd just reinstall Windows. It helps to do this once every 6 months or so. I use Acronis TrueImage. Install Windows + all your drivers and then take an image. Problem solved and you can restore your computer in just a couple of mins if something goes wrong in the future.

Having researched it thoroughly I'm afraid I'm still against putting in a 120. I really don't want to have to put in a huge tower cooler. It'll no doubt work wonderfully but it's kind of overkill for my needs Thank you for the responses but if anyone could recommend something that is lighter & smaller that would be great

The thermalright 120 looks a bit too heavy, are there any other coolers that do well but are smaller and lighter? I've had boards that have cracked before due to heavy coolers and would rather not take the risk. Especially since I'm not going to be hardcore overclocking this baby

Perhaps I should re-think, I'll check out some more reviews

Thanks for the info I don't think I'll bother with the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme. It looks a little heavy (and a bit expensive) for my taste. I'll definately check out the 780i boards though.

I've been considering SLI but I'm not sure how difficult it is to setup/configure and what the stability is like. Also, I'm a bit clueless when it comes to motherboards - if you can recommend and alternative that would be great

Hi Comp Dude2, Yup, I'm going for Vista 64 Ultimate (which I already have) Please could someone post a link on the Thermaltake 120 - I'm not sure which model you mean.

Thanks! - I've updated the specs with your suggestions

So, I've got my first draft of specs Please feel free to tear it apart and suggest alternatives Intel Core™ 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz, Socket LGA775, 6MB, 1333Mhz BOXED w/fan http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=344772 XFX GeForce 8800GTS 678M 512MB XXX GDDR3 ,PCI-Express 2.0, 2xDVI/HDCP, 678/1972Mh http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=344791 OCZ DDR2 PC6400 4096MB KIT, Reaper HPC, 2x2GB, Heat Pipe, (CL4-4-4-15) http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=343070 Asus Maximus Formula, X38, Socket-775, DDR2,ATX,2xGbLAN,Firew, 2xPCI-Ex(2.0)x16 http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=342074 OCZ StealthXStream Powersupply ATX/EPS, 600W, 120mm Fan, 4/8pin CPU, 20/24pin http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=336401 (Primary Drive) Western Digital Raptor X 150GB SATA 16MB 10000RPM http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=316738 (Backup/Storage Drives) 2 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM [ SPECIAL OFFER ] http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=338942 Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro, 64MB, EAX ADVANCED HD http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=335480 LG DVD

hardnrg - many thanks for your reply After reading many reviews on both the 8800GTX XXX & the new ATI 3870X2 I have to confess I'm still leaning toward the 8800GTX. My reasons are as follows: 1. The game we play the most at the moment is Lord of the Rings Online. With Vista 64 running in DirectX10 the 8800GTX seems to still be outperforming the 3870X2 (although the 3870X2 whips the 8800GTX in most DX9 benchies I've seen) 2. I have horrible memories regarding ATIs previous duel core effort back in 1999 (Rage something or other) I'm probably being foolish but I remember experiencing all kinds of problems with it. 3. The 3870X2 is currently on the bleeding edge and stability remains my first priority I've also been looking at benchies for the new Nvidia 9600s running in SLI. These seem to be outperforming everything right now. Judging from your comments and the fact that I've no experience of SLI I'm a little wary of going down this route. Would anyone be able to shed some more light on the difficulty and stability of setting up a SLI system? (not to mention the power consumption and noise factors) Question: The 8800GTX seems to be fairly old tech now (1 year old?) - Are there any newer revisions that I should consider that would get me more bang for my buck? 8800GTS perhaps? Also, I'm still completely clueless on motherboard options except that DDR2 seems a better option than DDR3 at this moment in time. Can anyone recommend a good ASUS DDR2 motherboard, something that's rock solid, proven tech if possible? Again, many thanks for your info!

Hello folks, I'm about to purchase 2 new PCs for myself and my girlfriend. It's been a good few years since I built our current PCs (AMD Athlon64 3800+, X800XLs) and I'm totally out of the loop as to what's hot and what's not. I thought the best thing to do was to & come ask the experts for some advice Budget: