Hi all! This is my very first post in computing.net so greetings to everyone from Finland! I am a nerd, interested in computers/networking, tho I'm not so pro in those fields :>. I am going to buy a new gaming rig, for which I'll need a graphic card, a CPU, some RAM, a mobo and a PSU. My budget will be roughly max 600€ and I am gonna order all the parts from www.hardwareversand.de, except the graphic card maybe. I've already "decided" to get the parts below, but would like the experts to check my list before placing the orders. Any advice and opinions would be appreciated :>. From hardwareversand.de: CPU: C2D E6420 159€ RAM: 2048MB DDR2 Corsair TwinX XMS2 CL 5, PC6400/800 90€ (Btw I've read that it's optimal to have same bus width for CPU and RAM, so in my case I should have 1066MHZ RAM? How important is to get this "optimal setting"?) Mobo: ASUS P5B, Sockel 775 Intel P965, ATX 88€ (not need for overclocking atm or SLI/Crossfire) PSU: Seasonic S12-550 "Energy" 80Plus, 550Watt 97€ (Tbh I have no idea how to see if a PSU is good or not. I've read ppl talking about important 12V rails, but I'm quite lost with these rails :/) As for graphic card, I've been thinking about a Sapphire Radeon X1950XT for 189€. This card is recommended by tomshardware.com as the best gaming card in the under 200USD category. The next category is <280USD, which goes for GeForce 8800GTS. The cheapest 8800GTS is 60€ more expensive than the Radeon. Do you think the 60€ extra is worth it (I don't plan to go for Vista in near future, so won't benefit from DX10 atm) and more importantly, which card would fit better with the rest of my components?

""optimal to have same bus width for CPU and RAM ... How important is to get this "optimal setting"?)"" Extremely important. FSB (Front Side Bus)is a "pipeline" for the data to travel through to get from one component to another; if that is lower in capacity than your CPU and Memory, it will create a "bottleneck" that will slow your data rate. The end result is that you will have wasted your money purchasing fast RAM and a fast CPU. All three (CPU, memory and mainboard FSB) should all be equal. Sometimes I get a good price on a component that has a higher rating than I need, but that is okay if I ever want to upgrade the other two. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime; Then industry pollutes the water and kills all the fish.

Just to add to the above...don't confuse theoretical bus speeds with the actual clock settings. The E6420 has a theoretical bus speed of 1066MHz, but the actual clock setting (CPU Freq) is 266MHz. PC2-6400/DDR2-800 has an actual default clock setting (RAM Freq) of 400MHz. To be at the optimal 1:1 ratio, the RAM freq should be underclocked to 266MHz (DDR533) to match the CPU freq of 266MHz. BTW, greetings from an American of Finnish decent :-)

Hey jam, you don't look Finnish LOL.

Thanks for your advice! I am a bit confused now tho... You mean my new computer would actually run better with PC4300/533 RAM than with the original one (PC6400/800)? If so, I'll go for 2048MB DDR2 Corsair Value-Kit CL 4, PC4300/533 then, for 73€ (saving 15 euros :P). How about the graphic card? Which one do you think I should go for, X1950XT for 189€ or GF-8800GTS for 257 €? Do you think the Seasonic PSU will be good enough to power up my new comp? The specs of the PSU can be found at http://www.case-mod.com/seasonic-s1... in the picture at the bottom of the page. But as I said I really don't understand much about them :/.

"You mean my new computer would actually run better with PC4300/533 RAM than with the original one (PC6400/800)?" Not run any better, but DDR2-533 RAM will allow you to run at the optimal 1:1 CPU:DRAM ratio. You'll have little room for overclocking though. If that's something you never plan on doing, it won't be a problem. But if you intend to crank up the C2D at some point, you'll probably wanna get DDR2-800...or split the difference & get DDR2-667 instead. Be aware that the higher the FSB, the better the overall system performance, so even if you don't wanna risk O/C'ing the heck out of your C2D, you could always lower the CPU multi & raise the CPU freq, but keep the CPU speed reasonably close to the default 2.13GHz (2133MHz). Examples: 6.5 x 333MHz = 2167MHz 5.5 x 400MHz = 2200MHz

As for the video card, try playing around with this interactive chart & decide for yourself if the added cost is justified: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graph... When it comes to PSU manufacturers, Seasonic is one of the best...also one of the most expensive. The unit you linked to has four +12v rails of 18A each. You should have no problem.