Many thanks for the info - I'm thinking Quad - i7 just a bit out of my reach tbh. Also, I have 8 gig of ram which would become redundant so I'm inclined to remain with ddr2.

Sort of fixed things with the SSD - found a second Sata controller on my mobo which seems to have a better success rate of finding the SSD. Lols.

Tried to alter it to AHCI as per instructions for SSD but Win 7 then refused to boot and even the MS 'resolution' didn't resolve it. Will stay with IDE mode until I reinstall/upgrade. Too p***ed off to try anything else.

However, it's been worth the hassle. It's fast. Had to reimage about a million times over the last 5 days and when I went back to my previous drive to re-image thats when I noticed the difference big time. I loved Win 7 for its speed over XP/Vista. I love the SSD for its speed over a normal HD. I've managed to reduce Win 7 to around 40gig moving 'temp', etc off so I have some room for my most beloved apps. I'd recommend one. Just check your mobo first ..

PS>

The moral of this story is..

If you have enough knowledge and you work hard to look after and maintain your PC, employ good practice, take care with installations, upgrades, the software you run, your security, just be aware that MS can still balls it up for you in totally unexpected ways. God bless.

Well, if low on dosh, quad core (not i7) and ddr2, lots of mobos yet to choose from, but beware they will tend to vanish on the next months, also QC intel range of procs will go the same way and of course, ddr2, if you already have the mem, not a problem.

As for boards, asus is allways my bet.

Also, I've done this hack to enable ahci www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-enable-ahci-in...-installation/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and worked.

Also keep in mind, ahci does only affect servers, specially linux servers, due to command queuing, if don't use many Hardisk intensive apps, don't bother using it.

Using AHCI only really affects multiple streams off the disk, now if you are editing lots of sound tracks, that may come in usefull, but then again, if they are on ssd, don't bother.

Thinking these maybe ..

www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?p...-IN&tool=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?p...-AS&tool=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As for the cpu, seems nice, can't stretch to a qc?

The board, I have one like that, but p5q pro, almost same thingie, vogon stollen my 4gb ddr2 I had in it... bummer

The link to the processor should be the Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz 4MB-cache.

However, judging by this comparison, am I better of with the Core 2 Duo E8600?

www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/co...uad-q9400.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm actually looking at this processor ..

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz 6MB-cache
www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?p...amp;subcat=567" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ive got that processor! (E8600) I OC'ed it to 3.6GHz the day I got it for a bit of a boost and it does me great. I have a board very similar to that too, P5Q-E Pro I think...

For games, dual core will be best, for general stuff its a toss up between having faster cores, or more of them..

Aah, I'm a liar, I've actually got a E8400, which has a stock clock of 3GHz, not the E8600 which was more expensive for nothing cause I could overclock. I'm sure I could get 4GHz out of my CPU if I wanted, but it runs 24/7, so stability is paramount!

I've gone with a Quad for my music apps. Will aim to overclock to 3.2ish (similar to my wife's pc).

Asus P5Q Pro Turbo, Intel P45
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro v2
Thermalright Chill Factor 2

Took some time to decide though :S

Ty all for the advice and Vogon for your help today

Hope I made the right choice

Tunes wrote:


Snap on the mobo

Arrives tomorrow so PM will be doing the changeover and reinstall - glass of wine in hand...

Wish me luck