Inexpensive gaming rig built around the nvidia gtx 260 core 216

[Dmac72]

Here's the challenge:

Build a gaming rig around the nvdia gtx 260 core 216 (got a great deal on one)
Must be able to run most games at 1920x1200 at moderate to high settings.
Maximize the GPU for games. i.e. the CPU should almost never be the bottleneck.
Specify recommended overclock values, but must be performance/energy efficient
Includes a Blu-ray player/DVD burner
Minimize cost.

Tom's "System Builder Marathon, May '09: $600 Gaming PC" was a great start, except that it seemed the CPU used was the bottleneck in several situations, so I'm looking for a CPU that is a little more robust and a case that enables a little better cooling.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-2-overclock,2310.html

Your thoughts?

 

[Why_Me]

Here's the challenge:

Build a gaming rig around the nvdia gtx 260 core 216 (got a great deal on one)
Must be able to run most games at 1920x1200 at moderate to high settings.
Maximize the GPU for games. i.e. the CPU should almost never be the bottleneck.
Specify recommended overclock values, but must be performance/energy efficient
Includes a Blu-ray player/DVD burner
Minimize cost.

Tom's "System Builder Marathon, May '09: $600 Gaming PC" was a great start, except that it seemed the CPU used was the bottleneck in several situations, so I'm looking for a CPU that is a little more robust and a case that enables a little better cooling.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-2-overclock,2310.html

Your thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 $59.95 Free Shipping*
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009795 $74.99 ($49.99 after MIR) Free Shipping
OCZ OCZ550FTY 550W Active Power Supply Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380 $79.99
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Product of preference with 2 Oz Copper PCB & DualBIOS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115206 $119.99 Free Shipping*
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207006 $29.99 ($19.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate)
Sunbeam CR-CCTF92-4 92mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 $46.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $69.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136154 $99.99
LG Black 6X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Combo LG Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Model GGC-H20L - OEM

Total: $581.88 | $556.88 w/mail in rebates

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc <--- Save yourself some money on an o/s until March 2010 and dl the 64 bit version of Windows RC 7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022 <--- more pics, specs, and customer reviews of that OCZ psu in this build

 

[Dmac72]

Ok so I built this rig as described, with the only exception being this drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

When I go to boot up the computer I get an error:
disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter.

The hard drive and dvd drive show up fine in the BIOS, and I've already tried changing the boot order, making both the the dvd drive first and the hard drive first. I burned a copy of Windows RC 7 as described in the link above, and I'm trying to use it to install the O/S during the bootup. What am I missing? Do I need to format the hard drive first?

Can someone who's done a fresh build and tried to install Windows RC 7 give me some advice?

I'm new to this, so any step by step instructions would be very helpful.

Thanks,