Newbie system gaming rig build question?

[Wyldstyle]

Alright Overclockers and Upgraders,

I have $800 dollars allotted for this month to spend on computer parts. Attached is a list of the parts I already have purchased.

I need a video card, Motherboard, CPU, Memory, and Hard Drive to round out the purchases for this month. This system goal is be be flexible for future upgrades and mild stable overclocking ability.

As for Motherboards, I have read a lot of good reviews and not so good about the EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI. I have been a long time ASUS user so this MB maker is unfamiliar. I am also leaning toward the ASUS Striker MB. Any thought on either board and or another boards I should be looking at?

Video Card I want to purchase the EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB. Any suggest here would be greatly appreciated as well.

CPU I was considering a C2D E6600, however, switching to a E6400 and waiting for Quad Cores to drop in price would be a better solution. Correct?

Memory I need some guidance in this area. I want 4GB, but 2GB will do just fine under XP Pro for right now. As to what type of Memory is another issue. DDR2800 vs. DDR2 1000 and the like are confusing to me. I need suggestions. Please help!

Hard Drive I am leaning toward having two Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB, because of cost. However, I read online these drives are loud. All I really need are loud, hot drives to ruin game play or working in MS office. Is their any truth to this claim Seagate drives are loud?

Thank You all whom reply with help with this project!



Already Bought List:

Case: Lian Li PC-7Bplus
Sound: Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS
DVD #1: Plextor PX755SA
DVD #2:Samsung SATA SH-S183L/BSBN
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural 4000
Speakers: Klipsch 4.1 (from older system)
PSU: PC Power Silencer 750 Quad SLI

[flanzig1]

The Evga series of 680i boards have had issues. The Asus 680i are a bit better. If your not going to do SLI now, would look to a non-Sli board.
As for ram with the C2D CPUs, DDR2 667 is standard and will take some mild OC, if doing aggresive OC, then up to the DDR2 800. For the 667 Corsair Value Select and the 800, Corsair XMS cas5.

[Duffasaurus]

The Evga series of 680i boards have had issues. The Asus 680i are a bit better. If your not going to do SLI now, would look to a non-Sli board.
As for ram with the C2D CPUs, DDR2 667 is standard and will take some mild OC, if doing aggresive OC, then up to the DDR2 800. For the 667 Corsair Value Select and the 800, Corsair XMS cas5.
Didn't the pc enthusiast community collectively decide Crossfire/SLI was the biggest pile of unnescessary rubbish ever?

[Alaron]

Yes, but if someone is going to do it, the eVGA boards are too new to be reliable. Asus 680i boards are better.
I agree with flanzig though, one video card is plenty of power, especially the 8800s. The Asus P5B is a great board.

Seagate drives are actually quiet in my experience. I've got quite a few of them.

[Mr.Ferrari]

For the power user who will game at high resolutions with the monitor to support and the $$$, its worth it. But for 80% of us, dual video setups are a waste of cash.

[Wyldstyle]

Thank You all for the help!! After reading reviews and everyone's advice, I ordered the following. Tell me what you think?

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=4594292&WishListTitle=Gaming+System+2007%2E5

[Staren]

For the same price I would have done a Seagate hard drive, but I have a Samsung hard drive in my first build so you should be fine with it. Looks good other then that. Be sure to post how the build went after your done. We could use some hands on experience for that board around here, and I'd like to see it.

[minsonngo]

Looks good to me too... is there a reason you going with such a powerful PSU?

It also looks like your ordering TWO of the Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 processors. :D

[Wyldstyle]

Thanks again. Yes I will post a review of the board. I have had different response on different boards concerning this build. In light of everything, the following post has been my default response:

Well truth be told the budget was not $800. It is the amount I had to spend for parts this month. I have been piecing a system together for months. Find a part on sale, case here, sound card there. As a college student working 2 jobs, one for bills and the other for this system. I have not had a major update in the last 6 years or so. my current system is pretty dated. You could understand how my new gaming rig will compare to what I am using now. Cry if you want to...I know I am, but trying any gaming using the following:

Current Rig
-----------

Current System Spec:
Processor: Intel Pentium 3 - 1Ghz
Motherboard: ASUS CUSL2
Memory: 512 PC133 7ns (Mushkin/Crucial)
Hard Drive: 80GB WD Special Editon 8mb Dirve 7200RPM
Hard Drive #2: 120 GB WD Special Edition
Video: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX4000
Sound: SoundBlaster Live Platinum w/Live Drive
PSU: PC Power Cooling Turbo-Cool 300
HSF: Thermaltake Golden Orb
SCSI: Adaptec (AHA) 2940uw
CDrom: Plextor UltraPLEX 32 (scsi)
CDR: Plextor PLEXWriter 4/32(scsi)
DVD: Pioneer 106s (Slot load)
Removable storage: Syquest Syjet 1.5GB
NIC: 3com Etherlink 10/100 (3c905c)
Keyboard: Microsoft Internet Natural
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse 3.0 USB
Monitor: Viewsonic P815 21'
Speakers: Klipsch 4.1
Case: Full ATX Tower

[LeftyAce]

Well, what can I say. You're in for a nice change :-)