so a simple – cpu, mobo, memory – what do you guys think would be a good deal, I’ll possibly be getting this in the next couple of weeks.

I hear intel is the way to go, with whatever dual/quad core you guys recommend. i dont play video games, and i mainly watch hd-videos and movies i download, so i dont think i’ll be needing top of the line anything here.

the sound output quality would be my highest priority. after that, mpeg2/video acceleration on graphics chip.

you shouldn’t be looking at onboard audio if you are anal about the quality of sound output. check out sound cards from creative or turtle beach.

what model is your nvidia card? does it have PureVideo HD?

if your card doesn’t have it,.. get the most powerful CPU you can afford.
if it does have it,… CPU won’t matter much. just get one that consumes less power and runs cool.
I recommend the E7200.

for the mobo,…
on-board graphics = nforce > intel GMA
chipset = intel > nforce
personally, i’d get one with an intel chipset and use a graphics card.

intel’s latest chipsets are G43/G45 (w/ onboard graphics) and P43/P45.
I recommend Gigabyte or Asus.

RAM

I have an old nvidia 6200 so no purvideo, but i’m going to be upgrading the video card next so i can live without that for a while.

as far as soundcards, what’s a good recommendation? The first two boards on your link both have built-in realtek chips, the one on the gigabyte seems a better choice, but i’ll probably update the sound card in the near future as well.

does that cpu/mobo combo (with the gigabyte/asus) overclock well? I’m not going to be doing much of that but i like to push the cpu up a bit when I can.

Thanks for the suggestions

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