Advice on new PC parts

[BertRoot]

I have been using this machine with a few upgrades for a while now and it is starting to feel a bit like it is gonna peg it.

I need to keep my four hard drives so need something with at least two SATA channels, ideally four, and two EIDE ports so I can keep my two HDs and my 2 DVD drives.

I have a new and good PSU at 450w with SLI connectors and everything else I would like. I also have 3 512Mb PC400 dimms that I would like to reuse if possible. Will be keeping my Lian Li case. I have used Athlons for about the last five years and don't really want to switch to Intel. I may leave it till after Xmas but need to get an idea of what I should go for now.

Essentially what I am looking for is a processor, mobo and graphics card but am unsure as to what to get. I would like to keep it at around the 3 - 4 hundred quid mark.

Any ideas? A dual core Athlon 64 is looking tempting but have no idea on motherboards these days and I would like to use an Nvidia PCI Express card. It needs to be able to run Vista well and games.

[theodotcom]

4 hard drives is going to generate a lot of heat

[BertRoot]

4 hard drives is going to generate a lot of heat

Aye that it does but it is a well designed case with a lot of controllable cooling onboard.

[blacksheep]

would still reccomend the core 2 duo (even though you don't want intel) even the cheaper range of the conroe chips will clock fantastically, but it does mean you'll have to replace your memory.

[pumpman]

I know that the new intel stuff has leapt in front of amd for the best stuff to get now, but i see your predicament because im in the same boat. Id actually advise anyone upgrading totally from getting core 2 duo chips as well with the new Kentsfield quad core cpus around the corner

As you want to keep your memory your stuck with socket 939 amd stuff
Not a big deal , ok in benchmarks it will look slower but in real life a few seconds here or there isnt going to matter
Id get ( and i already have )

an amd x2 3800 cpu dual core overclocks well and can had for around £90
next a motherboard
anything by abit or even msi or dfi on the N force 4 platform will do
i have the abit the dfi and the epox nf4 models and all are fine you can get the
DFI ultra D board for around £70 (lots of options in the bios and great for overclocking

graphics card, youll be aware that the DX10 api is around the corner , but initially they will be dear. Fastest best bang for buck id get is the Nvidia 7900GTO this is as fast as the 7900gtx but with slightly slower memory you can get this for around £150 comared with £300 ish for the gtx if your not an out and out gamer then a 7900gs would do fine
hth

[BertRoot]

@pumpman

Perfect mate. Exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. I have always been a massive fan of Abit hardware and would ideallly like to use something from their stable as they have been more reliable than all the others I have tried including Asus. I have a couple of months or so to go so hopefully the chip prices may come down further and I may be able to get a 4600 or something. It has to have SSE2 as I am missing that currently and it means I can only use Adobe Premier 1.5 as 2 is SSE2 only.