Choosing New Gaming PC- Guidance Please

[LeftEyeNine]

1- Multiple video card arrangements on a PC obviously needs more power and more power cords. Such support ensures that you won't be like "oh dammit" after seeing that your PSU is not capable of handling multiple video cards by the time you already had spent for two video cards, for example.

2-The upgradability of CPUs are not related to the gadgets themselves. Actually as most of the upgradability of a machine depends on, your motherboard is the mother of all progress. The CPU slot (generally categorized according to the number of pins in it), the FSB speed are the basic features of a motherboard to provide various CPU compatibility. Motherboard is a VERY important component of your PC, so you'll be closely examining the features of the one you're intending to buy, such as the supported CPU list.

3- You're right about "x2", "x4" there. It tells you about the RAM slots provided on the motherboard. When it comes to whether you can add your current 1GB stick to your newly purchased 3GBs to make it 4: This depends on what kind of RAM you currently have. Is it DDR, DDR2, DDR3 ? What's the memory clock frequency? 266 MHz ? 400 MHz? or higher?

Simply you can't expect a 266 MHz 1GB DDR stick to dance with supermega MHz 3 GB DDR2 sticks. RAM modules are the most sensitive parts when it comes to working together. There is no rule that the RAMs of same standards can not work together but there always is the possibility that even different brand RAMs having the same features fail at working together.

4- I've been a bit far from the progress of the video card market but after taking a slight lookup, I got the impression that 8800 GT will be more satisfying than a 8600 GTS. I'd suggest for confirmation of this though.

5- This is the new question of the postmodern age mankind along with "What's the meaning of life?". Sorry to disappoint you there, AoW, but for a few years you may get glimpses from experts bringing us news here, such as Lemur, but no one in this end-user community can predict what's coming along. Those techie vampires (not Lemur) love enlarging, widening, erecting slots on motherboards and claiming that this latest tech will get you even a girlfriend.

So it's better to be satisfied with the right purchase when you do it and forget about what comes in a few years. 'Cause be assured that they will put something different on it soon.

6- I don't think it's much. What's more being an overclocking fan, with the right equipment to cool down your system, you can always run your CPU at higher speeds without spending too much for the better CPU. However, being a tech newbie there, I'd recommend you to stay away from it, at least until you really want to try it. (Living in a country with comparably low income per capita, the excitement and satisfaction of overclocking feels like a heaven of Monica Belluccis)

I'd be more interested in the cache levels (such as 2x 2MB, 2x 4MB etc.) of the two, rather than their frequencies.

7- Vista is a HEAVY load on your computer. Stay away as long as you plan to have less than 2 GB of RAMs and a Core 2 Duo CPU. The use of having Vista on your machine is the availability of DirectX 10 of course. And I guess they -geeks that is, not Microsoft- still couldn't port DirectX 10 to XP. If you want to enjoy Dx10 graphics provided you have a rock solid rig, go with Vista. But if you're like "I can wait for now. Total War series and WoW will keep me happy" then why bother with putting a great load on your PC? Get XP then.

However assuming that I were you, I'd get Vista if I had a monstrous machine (Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM, 8xxx series gfx card). XP has 1-2 years of lifetime the most when it comes to gaming.

32bit is the standard of nearly all the programs on the market. 64bit is newer and faster if run on a 64bit OS and 64bit supporting hardware. However, and I don't know why, 64bit couldn't take the step to be the new standard of programs. I guess it's due to the overcrowding in the computing tech sector. No one looks to care about what 64bit would bring while a 8800 GTX can make your jaw drop or Quad Core CPU can rocket you up. IT experts among us are sure to have a more reliable reasoning about this.

Get 32bit OS, to be precise.

Hope this helps.