1x 8600gts 512 or 2x 8600gt 256?

[DustDriver]

I'm planning to buy a new rig.
I was first thinking of putting my AGP 7600gs in my parents pc (AMD 3400+) ,adding some ram to it and buy them a new pc for around €500-600

But now i'm thinking: Hell, i have enough money from my vacation job to buy me a completely new gaming rig (which will also be suitable for running server applications and heavy programming environments)
this is what i picked in an online store:

ANTEC NSK6000 €54,90
ASUS M2N SLI DELUXE €104,50

AMD 6000+ X2 64BIT Dual-core Processor AM2 Boxed €164,90

Samsung SH-S203B/bebn Zwart S-ATA 20X DVD-RW €34,95

4x Premium 1024MB DDR2 PC6400 800MHZ Value Series €239,60

NEC Floppy Black €7,50

2x Western Digital 250GB-KS 16MB SATA300 7200RPM €124,80

MSI NX8600GTS-T2D512EZ-HD 512MB PCI Express Nforce 8600GTS €229,90

total: €1002,25
i know the sum doesn't add up, it is a standard price of €200 for a gaming system, which includes the case, motherboard and some other stuff.

I can try to sell my 7600gs on ebay.
I also have a Levicom 480W power supply in my current pc. Is it compatible with the SLI motherboard and does it have enough power?

The final question (which is the title of the thread)
Is it better to have 1 8600GTS (mentioned above) or 2 8600gt 256
a MSI NX8600GT-T2D256EZ costs 144,90

It could be that i would add another 8600gts in the future.
or is it better to install a 8800gts? the 320 or 640 mb ddr3?
but a 320 costs €80 more then the 8600GTS 512mb ddr3

Please give some advice on this matter.

 

[G.T]

For a gaming rig, the 8800GTS will be the much better choice. The 8600 series is a little weak for gaming and you won't see a big difference from your current 7600gs. Maybe in SLi form it's better, but I'm sure a 8800GTS will be a much better performer. It'll definitely be worth the extra money.

Not too sure on the power supply. It should be powerful and capable enough to run with a single 8600, but I'm not sure with dual ones or a single 8800GTS. You'll have to see what someone else says first. I would personally upgrade to something a little more powerful to make sure everything works fine and is future proof, but that's just me...

Other than that, everything else doesn't seem too shabby... But I'd personally go for Intel processors in this current day. Anything above the E6600 performs better than the AMD 6000+, but the AMD is priced so well it might not matter.

 

[DustDriver]

For the same system, but then with a Intel Core 2 DUO E6750 2.66 Socket 775 and another motherboard,
(MSI P35 Platinum) it costs 1169,25
that's €165 more for a system with an intel processor that doesn't perform that much better.

 

[Eric.]

As for that RAM...Get something that doesn't say "Value" in the name or is a brand called "Premium." That's just asking for them to die. Get some Corsair XMS2 or (what I use) Patriot Extreme Performance series.

I also agree to go with a 320MB 8800GTS. It will perform better than the 640MB until you start getting up to higher resolutions (1600x1200 or so) and need the extra memory.

You probably need around 500-600W in a PSU, and check that you have enough amperage on the +12v rails (add them up, check how much a single card needs...also check how much for two of the cards, if you have plans to get another 8800).

And from what I've read, modular PSUs aren't as durable and have more resistance. But if its worth not having the cables, go ahead.