First time builder - but no computer amateur

[daedality]

Okay, so I know what I'm doing, and I'm a day or two away from ordering parts for the new computer I'm building. I use pricegrabber (http://www.pricegrabber.com) to get my parts, and I've set up a list. I have a budget of $1370 - tops, and I'd just like some opinions of the parts I've picked, or suggestions on parts that I should pick. I'm not going to really be using my computer for a whole lot of gaming, but I'm looking for a fast graphics machine - I'm a digital artist and I move a lot of big files and have a lot of programs up at once. Here's my list:

Link (http://www.pricegrabber.com/ulists.php?thelist=221306&viewmod=1&challenge=c13695fbcbdcf6eca26367a2285f1077)

(Yes, I know there is no floppy disk) -- and also, I'm ordering 3 of those memory modules. There are 4 slots on the motherboard, and I can always order a 4th later if I need to. If it all looks good, please tell me! I just feel like I need an opinion before I actually order the parts.

[Mr.Ferrari]

I'd HIGHLY suggest www.newegg.com for all your parts. Great service and awesome consistency.

-If you dont have any specific reason for the plextor, go with a lite-on, much cheaper.

-Pentium 4's are old news Performance leader is currently CORE 2 Duo. That is where your best bang/buck is.

-Get some reliable, known memory: 2gb Corsair VS DDR2 667 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145098). And always buy your memory in matched pairs.

-No, stay away from any kind of KIT watercooling. Prebuilt watercooling=Horrible and Thermaltake Watercooling=Death Sentence for your computer.

-The Thermaltake soprano in my opinion is a cheap, overpriced, shoddy case. I would look into Coolermaster personally.

-Get this Powersupply instead: Silverstone ST50EF (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817256001)

-Get this hard drive instead: Seagate 7200.10 250GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148144)

[daedality]

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Intel_Core_2_Duo_E6300_Dual_Core_Processor,__22879554 Is that better? The core 2 duos are pretty expensive and like I said, I only have a budget of $1370

Also, which brand of liquid cooling would you suggest?

[daedality]

Okay, so here it goes:

Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145098 $207.99

Hard Drive: http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Seagate_Barracuda_7200_10_ST3500630AS_500GB_Hard_Drive,__19875530 $179.99

Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817256001 $87.50

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121047 $82.99

Video card:
http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__eVGA_GeForce_7950_GT_KO_Video_Card,__26138120 $261.99

Processor:
http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Intel_Core_2_Duo_E6600_Dual_Core_Processor,__22879556 $316.90

DVD RW:
http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Lite_On_SHM_165H6S_Dual_Layer_DVD_177RW_Writer,__16593112 $34.90

Tower:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119077 $49.99

Please somebody look over this new list for me! I've totally re-vamped it. And I'd have 200 left to spend on a liquid cooling system if I could get a suggestion.

[chuck4456]

That's a good, straightforward board. Meant for tasking. Get the retail version. OEM is usually just the board. You'll be ready to roll. Good luck.

[kram 2.0]

Will you be overclocking or tweaking the processor in any way? If not, you might reconsider your CPU cooling - the fan and heat sink that comes retail with C2D processors work. Keep in mind that by not using the fan and HS provided through retail purchase of the CPU, you will be throwing any sort of warranty by Intel out the window.

If you will be overclocking, you will want to look for a non-Intel motherboard. An overwhelming majority of motherboards branded Intel do not support any sort of FSB push or overclocking.

Don't forget an operating system.

kram

[Mr.Ferrari]

Much improved. Just a few more suggestions:

Swap that motherboard for one of these more proven chipsets:
Asus P5L-MX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131041)
Asus P5LD2 R2.0 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131048)
Asus P5B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131030)

Good choice on lite-on, just make sure you get a retail version of it, not the OEM.

I'd be more then happy to suggest a water loop, but a custom waterloop is another big project. I would highly suggest you first get your computer built and free of any issues before going into this. $200 can get you a decent CPU and MAYBE a videocard loop too. Read this too.. (http://forum.pcmech.com/showpost.php?p=1143288&postcount=8)

And yes do make sure your OS is a legal copy.