I am looking to purchase a new cpu/mobo/and os for gaming to go along with 2 Geforce 280s running in SLI.
I had a few questions...
1. Should I go with Vista Ultimate 64 bit or 32 bit? My concern is I want to be able to play world of warcraft and my other pc games and I was concerned it wouldn't work in Vista 64 bit. Along with my mods that I play with in World of Warcraft.
Vista x64 is the only way to go in my opinion.
Also, no point in going with SLi, especially with the life-span of the products and ESPECIALLY if you are playing WoW. About the only game that needs help is Crysis and that still chugs with a 280 SLi configuration.
2. What CPU + Mobo would you buy if your total budget is $1500 for a new cpu/mobo. I prefer Asus Mobos/Intel Cpus if possible.
Intel chipset, a cheaper quad solution, something like the 9450 or 9550 if you do a lot of multi-tasking, else a good dual-core solution would be more than adequate. The new 8 series dual's are pretty decent.
Sorry for all the question but I been out of the loop for so long I have no clue what to buy and what not. I figured everyone here is an expert on this matter and could save me a lot of headaches.
Thanks You,
Homesick
I have to add some things based on other people's solutions.
Keyboard, the logitech G-15 == ace. A bit bigger, yes, but it is AWESOME
For the mouse, if you are gaming, the G-5 is pretty good. For all around work, I LOVE my Revolution and for gaming, I absolutely adore my G-9.
Word of advice, if you can get a mouse with free-spin or similar tech, jump on it. I can never use a mouse without free-spin anymore.
Regarding hard-drives, you don't need raptors.
If you get a couple of 750GB, 32MB cache WD's, you should be fine. Those things are blistering fast, don't consume as much power, are cheaper, have more capacity and you will have peace and quiet.
RAID 0 and 10k spindle speeds are over-rated and not worth the extra money and lower life-spans.