$1600 Build

[Frankenstyle]

I am planning to spend about $1600 in the next couple of weeks. I'll list the components I was planning to get.


Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB Kentsfield
I am fairly set on the processor. I didn't want to go with a dual core because I probably won't be upgrading for a while.

EVGA nForce 680i SLI NVIDIA Socket 775 ATX Motherboard
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.as p?EdpNo=2945261&CatId=1533
The motherboard is something I would consider changing. I am under the impression that a 680i will work better with an nvidia graphics card, instead of a P35 card. Ideally I would have a 1333Mhz fsb board with 1066 Mhz ram support for future upgrades. 45nm support would be nice too. Any suggestions?

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148144
I plan to have 2 of these. I don't know a whole lot about Raid or anything, I have to do some research there, but if anyone has any suggestions about better hard drives, I would love to hear.

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130038
I probably won't change this guy unless someone has a real good reason why I should. I don't plan on spending anything more than about $300 for the graphics card.

OCZ SLI Dual Channel 2048 PC6400 DDR2 800MHz (2 x 1024)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpN o=3079597&CatId=2368
I had originally planned on just 2 gig of RAM. I will be running Vista, against of lot of people's warnings. Will I have enough RAM or need more?

I will have about 600-Watt power supply.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp? EdpNo=2943299
I dont know much about CPU Cooling fans, what do you suggest?

I am open to any and all radical changes in my plan as long as they are justified. Thanks for all your future input!

 

[Solariscs]

looks good, but if you aren't going to do sli anytime soon, I'd get a cheaper p35 motherboard. It would be a lot more upgradeable in the future.

 

[Dior]

First, I wouldn't touch SLI. It's not worth it, adding another 8 series nvidia card in the future would be an equivalent of running two 6600GT's in SLI right now. I suggest going with a solid single card motherboard with the newest P35 chipset, Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R is great in all aspects, DDR2 & DDR3 and 45nm support for the future, great features, rock stability. 2GB of quality DDR2800 ram with very nice timings. The reason I picked a GTX is because I believe that if you spend this much on a PC and plan to game on it, you might as well enjoy your experience, also, DX10 games released later this year will need atleast 512MB of VRAM to run on high settings. Corsair 620HX is one of the best PSU's ever made and a clear winner @ $110-140 mark, it's almost silent and can even handle two 8800 GTx's in SLI mode. You can see the video review of it here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TrEHFpP7Y4
I don't know if you are into overclocking or not, if you are, Tuniq 120 Tower is well worth the money, your quad core is going to work 20 degrees celcius cooler compared to the stock heat sink and will allow you to Overclock your Q6600 to around 3.2Ghz or more. Case & the sound card are my personal choices, the motherboard comes with onboard audio and if you don't have nice speakers or headphones, you probably shouldn't get an X-fi, but once you hear the sound of X-fi you don't go back to onboard The Lian-Li case comes at a price but the quality they build their cases with is unbeatable, but again, you can pick any case you want ofcourse. Here are the links and good luck:

LIAN LI PC-65B $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112040
Q6600 $295
http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A1938452
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R $158
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048
Super Talent 2GB DDR2 800 4-4-3-8 $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609026
Corsair 620HX $108
http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A6200027
EVGA 8800 GTX $480
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322843
Creati ve X-fi XtremeGamer $91
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006
Tuniq 120 Tower $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001
Arctic Cooling MX-1 $6
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100401

$1408 total after rebates.

 

[Maziar]

i totaly agree with Dior ,
Supertalent is good , but u may look @ OCZ, CRUCIAL ,
also for mobo , u can get ASYS P5KC , its like the GA P35C DS3R and its cheaper ,
everything elese looks fine

 

[deusex]

Mushkin's D9 series are also fine for Ocing..

 

[Maziar]

thats right , mushkin is a good and cheap brand and does well in OCing