Need some advice on my new system I'm building

[Xar]

Here's my current main system:

AMD 3500+ single core
2GB Ram
Win XP pro
7800 GT
24" Gateway Monitor (v2)
X-keys pro ps/2

I run 1 wow on this computer at 1920x1200 and I control 2-4 on my other system (sempron with 1gb lol) + 2 keyclones. I have a 20" monitor that sits on my second computer and have an older 17" monitor that will be used for a while. Eventually I'll have 2x 22" monitors on each side of the 24".

I got my tax return and have some funds for building a new system (finally!) but don't want to jump in too quick in and waste my money. I'll need to wait until May when we get our stimulus checks in the mail to finish out the system I want to build. I've always been an AMD guy but from what I've read I am switching and want to go with a quad core Intel. Money has been tight for a long time (happens with kids) so to risk getting depressed I never kept up with all new hardware, just drooled at some of it. I'm having a hard time picking up on the Intel side of things and some of the nVidia abbreviations:

On Intel chips does the "Q" mean quad core and the "E" mean dual core? Are all Intel Quad cores bus speed 1066 and the duals mostly 1333? Are there any Quads at 1333?

Are nVidia GTX or GTS better and what do those mean? I thought I read that GTS is superclocked?

If the MB supports FSB of 1066 would I be better of with memory that does 1066 at slower timings or 800 memory that has faster timings?

My goal is to by sometime in May have a decent quad core system + 2 nVidia 8800's with 512 or more + 8 GB memory + vista ultimate to run all 5 on. I want to run 4 on 1 video card and my main on 1 video card and be able to FRAPS as well. Having the clones run at a slower fps while in the background is not a problem but it would be nice to have it higher than 5 fps that they run at now!

In the mean time I'm thinking of buying a disk, Vista, a 22" monitor and 1 or 2 video cards now then the CPU, MB, Memory later. Then I'll use my current single core, install the new disk as my wow disk and load Vista on it, run with the new video card and run 2-3 wow's smoothly on this system and 2 on my sempron. Once I get the other parts, wipe the disk, loading windows Vista again on the same disk in the new computer.


These are the video cards I'm looking at:
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR Geforce 8800gtx 768mb ddr3 $399 (can get a $50 rebate on 1)

Or would this be just fine:
EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GF8800GTS 512MB DDR3 $309 (can get a $30 rebate on 1)

I would be getting 2 of the same because I want to SLI sometimes for UT3.


For CPU + MB I'm looking at:
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2.4 GHZ EM64T 1066MHZ $249.00
ASUS Striker II Formula nvidia nforce 780i sli $330.50
or
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 nForce 780i SLI (3 pcie x16) $249.90


For 8gb memory this x2:
OCZ OCZ2RPR10664GK 4gb kit (2gb x 2) pc2-8500 1066mhz 5-5-5-18 $160.00 per pair

There's 800mhz Patriot memory at 4-4-4-12 but not sure which would be better.


Any advice on these things would be mega appreciated!

[Ughmahedhurtz]

I won't comment on the general stuff, but learn from my experience and go look up what the memory and motherboard manufacturers recommend for compatible memory. It'll save you time, money and pain.

[Chorizotarian]

I think that the 8800GT will give you virtually the same perf as the 8800GTX (plenty for WoW in either case) with less power drain and heat. It also only takes up a single slot.

I bought eVGA mobos and GPUs for my current comp, and I've been very happy with them. I tried to stick with stuff that follows the nVidia reference so that I can use their drivers. I have had bad expereinces in the past with smaller manufacturers that don't update their drivers after a year or so.

The 780i is compatable with the latest 45nm CPUs, which sound pretty killer. My 680i sadly is not...

[Xar]

Thanks, what I'm wanting to do though is run 4 WoW's on 1 GTX or GT and 1 large (1920x1600) on the other GTX/GT. I would also like to be able to occasionally switch on SLI and play UT3 with it looking better than my current 7800 GT. So seeing as the 768 meg GTX's are only about $100 more than the 512 GT's should I go for it or go with the newer G92 based GT's and save some cash? Will a single GT run 4 wow's at say 20fps just fine (background fps)?

Thanks, I appreciate the help.

[Schwarz]

I won't comment on the general stuff, but learn from my experience and go look up what the memory and motherboard manufacturers recommend for compatible memory. It'll save you time, money and pain.

So I am looking at the recommended memory for the ga-p35-ds3l and most of the memory size is at most 1gb. I was hoping to go with 2 2gb sticks. Would memory from the same suppliers work?