Need a final opinion

[b29]

The system will primarily be for gaming, tho it'll get used for everything else I do as well. I put a cap of $2000 for myself, but I certiantly don't mind saving as much as I can. I'm considering OC'ing, but have never attempted it before and would prefer not to screw anything up right after I bought it. So...here's the list....

Intel® Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 4MB Cache Retail ***Free Shipping***
$355.00

Asus P5B P965 Pentium Extreme/Pentium D/P4/Celeron D 1066FSB LGA775 DDR2 ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail ***Free Shipping***
$154.99

Corsair TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB DDR2-675 XMS2-5400 Xtreme Performance Memory w/Black Heat Spreader Retail ***Free Shipping***
$192.80 - $30 rebate

MSI NX7900GT-VT2D256E HD GeForce 7900 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/Dual DVI, VIVO & HDTV-Out Retail ***Free Shipping***
$275.99 - $30 rebate

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer ***Free Shipping***
$105.50

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition (Full Version) Single-Pack OEM ***Free Shipping***
$139.99

Thermaltake Dream Tower Series -Tsunami VA3000BWA Aluminum Mid Tower Case w/Transparent Side Window (Black) Retail ***Free Shipping***
$119.99 - $20 rebate

Enermax ELT500AWT Liberty 500W Power Supply Retail ***Free Shipping***
$104.99 - $15 rebate

Liteon SOHC-5236 DVD 16x + CD-RW 52x32x52 Combo Drive (Black) ***Free Shipping***
$30.99

Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Retail ***Free Shipping***
$72.99
Total 1553.23 - $95 in rebates = $1458.23 (all from ZZF)

Mouse and Monitor I'll be getting at a local Best Buy...
Kensington Wireless Optical Mouse
Model: Ci60 - $29.99

Westinghouse 19" Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD Monitor
Model: LCM-19W4 - $209.99

Grand total ~ $1700+ (not sure about tax rate)
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So how'd I do?

 

[b29]

I'd like to make this purchase today. I'd feel a lot more comfortable about my choices if I got a thumbs up from someone.

 

[WR2]

It's a good looking list. Should be an excellent system.
Can you get by with a PSU that doesnt have Active PFC?
You could get the THERMALTAKE TR2 500W PSU $79.99 -$20 rebate.
And do you actually need WinXP Pro features? XP Home would save $40.

 

[muffins]

thumbs up

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

Well.. I have one comment.

Get rid of the 7900GT card. For about $40USD more you can get a card that performs twice as fast under MANY situations.

Of course you know I'm going to be recommending the X1900XT 😛

It's the best bang for the buck in High End graphics. Especially since your system is not Crossfire or SLI capable (due to the motherboard you've chosen).

CLICK ME! To see for yourself.

 

[nikolokolus]

and whatever the case stick with that enermax PSU vs. thermaltake.

 

[purdueguy]

Couple recommendations.

Video Card. Ditto with ElMoIsEviL.

Considering you can pick up the X1900XT card for ~$280 after shipping and the mail-in-rebate, it would be well worth to spend the extra $34 as compared to the 7900GT card you listed.

MSI X1900XT from Newegg

You'll have to buy the video card by 8/31 to get the rebate. Better hurry.

Power Supply.

Hiper's 530W power supply. You don't have to worry about a rebate and it's $7 cheaper, you get an extra 30W and the cool looking molex cables.

Hiper PSU's

If you want an Enermax PSU, Newegg has some that cost about the same and are more powerful.

Enermax (501W-600W) PSU's

 

[b29]

I thought I'd read somewhere that XP pro was needed to support dual core processors. If I can get by with Home edition, then I'll use that saved cash to go for the better vid card. Thanks guys.

 

[INeedCache]

I'd take this monitor over the Westinghouse.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824009091

 

[shadowduck]

I thought I'd read somewhere that XP pro was needed to support dual core processors. If I can get by with Home edition, then I'll use that saved cash to go for the better vid card. Thanks guys.

No. Home supports a dual core CPU fine, because its one processor. XP Pro is required to support more than one physical CPU.

 

[b29]

That makes sense. Thanks for the clearing that up, and thanks to everyone else for their input. 😀