Closed back and great for bass? The first thing that always comes to mind is Beyer Dynamic DT770 PRO.

Being from the US, I'm honestly not sure what places are available for headphone purchases in the UK, so I just used Amazon.co.uk as an 'example'. Feel free to shop around, you should be able to find the DT770 PROs for about the price you're looking to spend, and they match your criteria perfectly.

[QUOTE="markop2003"]Skullcandy don't actually make any headphones, all they are are a bunch of designers and marketers. The headphones are repackaged versions of a Chinese company. They're a fasion icon and should be ignored if you're looking for quality listening devices.Almighty-mints

Quite true. But they're 15$ line cant be beat by the others in that price range.

Sennheiser HD201 says hi.

As for SkullCandy, as Markop said, they are nothing more than "hip" fashion accessories. Sound quality is mediocre at best.

And I will end this with cold hard #'s...

The E7600 is 3.06GHz and cost $149.

The cheapest quad is theQ8200 at a pitiful 2.33GHz for $159.

The equivalent quad is the Q9650 at 3.00 GHZ and a price tag of $309!!

Go ahead and try to talk, rationalize, and benchmark your way to saying anything we all really do often will be better on that pitiful Q8200 or is worth the extra $110 for the Q965!

Goodnight.

Store24

Apples and oranges. You can't compare the two based solely on clock speed. That would be like saying a 3.8GHz P4 beats them all.

Also, this isn't 2007, quads don't cost that much more than duals anymore. Heck, the C2D E8600 costs more than most quads at $295 USD. And I've seen people on several tech forums that own that CPU. Meanwhile, Q9550 costs $230, Q9400 costs $220, Q8400 is $185. On the AMD side, PII 920 is $160, PII 940 is $190 and PII 955 is $245. These aren't that much more than say, E8400 or E8500. You're comparing them to budget dual core parts based on price alone. Also, it's fair to say that if someone is looking to spend somewhere between $100~200, then they might be willing to step up even to the $200~300 bracket. If not, there are still great quads available in their price range. You act as if the only quads available are the $1000+ Extreme Editions.

Oh and, here is a review that shows various quads performing at the same level as, or better than, dual core parts such as E7500 and E8200. Here is another one that shows the same thing to be true compared to an E8600. Feel free to browse the reviews to see how quads outperform duals on pretty much every other multithreaded application and benchmark.

The point is, at this point, the quad core CPUs are offering performance that is greater than or equal to dual cores, for about the same price. So why not get a quad these days?

You seem to just have a bias against quad cores for some reason. Did a group of quad core CPUs beat you up on the street or something?

First off, in regards to overclocking, you're gonna have trouble with that Phenom 9500. The original Phenoms were notoriously poor overclockers, and most reviewers barely managed to eek out an extra 200 MHz over the stock speed.

Next, there's no reason to overspend on anything. Especially overpriced things, such as that Creative sound card. For most people, the modern integrated audio is enough. If you're an audiophile though, you'd do well to check out some of the offerings from Auzentech, Asus or HT|Omega. Also, there's really no reason to spend $550 on a 24" monitor when they can be had for much less.

Also, if you get that barebones setup, you'd be better off sticking to an Nvidia graphics card since you'd have an SLI mobo.

Too bad E8400 can get to 4.3-4.5 Ghz with the new stepping. And I don't mind paying $100 for a very overclockable motherboard, and then pay another $100 for the P55 chipset when it comes out instead of $250 on a mainstream "future-proof" board.

Hanass

Except that P55 boards are socket 1156, which isn't compatible with socket 775 CPU's...

Also, check any review, such as this one and you can clearly see that quad cores perform equal to or better than dual cores in gaming for near the same price. They also outperform duals in any other multithreaded application and multitasking.

To the topic creator, I would highly recommend looking into an AMD Phenom II X4 940. A great processor for a great price.

ah ok I was wrong it is crossfire ready, infact the reviews say it isnt SLI but crossfire! One guy says you need to flash the mobo to make it SLI capable. Is that a big deal to achieve? Also if the last set of questions I posted could be answered I would much appreciate it! (some have been somewhat in the last couple posts)
@gigatrainer - when you said to drop the GTX260's for the Raedon why did you say drop vista as well? do you mean run of the windows 7 RC until its released?

@bane_v2. Now that you say that I'm thinking I should get one. thus allowing me to choose a higher end video card. Thing is I wanted two montiors because I do alot of work in Adobe's creative suit and wanted to make use of the dual monitor features in games such as Supreme Commander. I even am thinking of getting three becuase I'm a huge fligh sim player and would love it for ArmA2.

Single 24in at 1920x1200 or a couple/three smaller ones....

and if anyone can help answer these outstanding questions

- Do I want the 64bit version of Vista? That's what I've selected.
- A couple of you mentioned something to do with my RAM and its compatibility with my MOBO selection. But I choose new RAM sticks. Is this mobo and ram good to go?
- Someone also mentioned that my MOBO doesn't say what speeds it has? Not sure what's being talked about there, but I'd like to cover everything.
- Is a second and third monitor something done based on the plugs in the back of the mobo? Is my mobo capable of that?

OnDeMa

Dual monitors are nice, but largely unnecessary expense. One 24" 1920x1200 should be plenty for most people.

Yes, you want 64-bit Vista, the one you selected is perfect.

Don't worry about the RAM or motherboard, both that are currently selected are compatible. Both are great choices.

They were referring to the speed of RAM the motherboard supports, don't worry about it, you're fine as-is.

Multiple monitors are driven by the graphics card(s).

As for the video card selection, if you can afford it then do as others suggested and go for two 4890s. Go for whichever would best fit your budget. Alternatively, if you want to save some money, you could just get one 4890 now and then crossfire at a later date.

Better video card, only a little more expensive.

Also, so that you understand the way they are pricing these video cards: They show up in the cart $50 cheaper. This is because they come with Call of Duty: WaW "free". What Newegg is doing to accomplish this is subtracting $50 from the price of the video card and charging you the full $50 for the game. So, in reality, you are paying full price for the video card, but getting the game free.

Also, the motherboard is good, but you'll only ever really be able to have 3 DIMMs (in triple-channel mode) installed. However, this shouldn't be a big deal since I doubt you'll need anymore than 6GB (3 x 2GB) anytime soon. Unless you plan to run AutoCAD or something. :P

Speaking of the RAM, why does everyone always pick that overpriced Dominator kit? Here you go, cheaper and better. Alternatively, this DDR3-1333 kit would be great as well.

[QUOTE="EightD"]

[QUOTE="ferret-gamer"]i have had good experiences with them before. they will exchange your card if you burn it out when overclockingferret-gamer

I've heard a couple people say this before, but the warranty specifically states otherwise, so I am not sure.

"This warranty is VOID if the product:

* Has evidence of the serial number sticker being altered, removed, replaced, or defaced.

* Was damaged while being installed.

* Was damaged by software or hardware from a company or individual other than BFG Technologies or by motherboard incompatibility.

* Was not operated in accordance with BFG Technologies specifications, instructions and any technical support directions.

* Was modified or damaged by overclocking, tampering, user error, accident, disaster, abuse, misuse, power supply, power application, alteration, repair, modification, a fix or replacement by someone other than BFG Technologies."

Could be. The warranty does state Video Cards bought after Feb. 2008. As far as I know, EVGA is the only one that still "allows" overclocking. xD

i have had good experiences with them before. they will exchange your card if you burn it out when overclockingferret-gamer

I've heard a couple people say this before, but the warranty specifically states otherwise, so I am not sure.

"This warranty is VOID if the product:

* Has evidence of the serial number sticker being altered, removed, replaced, or defaced.

* Was damaged while being installed.

* Was damaged by software or hardware from a company or individual other than BFG Technologies or by motherboard incompatibility.

* Was not operated in accordance with BFG Technologies specifications, instructions and any technical support directions.

* Was modified or damaged by overclocking, tampering, user error, accident, disaster, abuse, misuse, power supply, power application, alteration, repair, modification, a fix or replacement by someone other than BFG Technologies."

Regardless, they are one of the three top video card manufacturers. (BFG, XFX, EVGA)

Lifetime warranty, great support and 100 Day step-up program. Good stuff.

Everything about GT300 is speculation at this point, so take anything you read about it with a grain of salt.

I remember reading rumors last year stating that a single GT200 would be able to play Crysis at max on 1920x1200 at 80+ fps. So, yeah...

:P