Another virgin heading to prom..

[HeightenedSensei]

I am prolonging the beginning of my first-ever build to coincide with the imminent intel price drops. This question (among a thousand others) is currently digging at my brain- if the quads come down to the level where the duos are at now, would it be silly not to just buy that instead? Some info reguarding my build-

I'm planning on spending around 2-2.5k w/ monitor on a high-end gaming rig. Was shooting for--

c2duo E6600
Corsair 2 or 4gig DDR2 800
8800GTX
raptor for XP
seagate for storage
SATA dvdrw
I need much help with selecting a PSU
I want the MB to be as future-proof and newbie-proof as possible.

Am I looking at reasonable gains by going quad as opposed to sticking with the duo?

What are some of your suggestions for my Power Supply, and most importantly, are there any specific Motherboards that would work best for this configuration? I was looking at Asus P5B Deluxe?

Any and all help is much appreciated

[blue60007]

The ASUS P5K would probably be the most future proof mobo (as it supports upcoming 1333 FSB CPU's)...if you are waiting till the July 22 price drops you might wait till then on deciding on a CPU. See what dual core and quad core options are within your price range.

Take a look at a 520W Corsair power supply.

[Cricket]

I agree with what blue60007 has posted...the ASUS P5K for the motherboard and the Corair for the power supply.

Other options would be the ASUS P5B for the motherboard and Fortron Source or SeaSonic for the power supply.

Cricket

[doubledragon5]

For the hard drive, I'd go with a Segate 7200.10 size your choice, there performance is about the same as WD Raptors and a lot less.... For the video card the Corsair 520w would be suffecient since this looks to be a high end build..

[HeightenedSensei]

Now.. I know that I will be getting 2 gigs of Corsair ram, but what specific make would be best for me?

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

would this choice be effective?

Also what Lite-On Dvdrw would you recommend?

thanks!

[Stuey]

I can't answer your ram question, but agree with all the other suggestions made.

As for quad core vs. dual core, I'd say go with whatever's available after the price drop.

Also, there's absolutely no reason to go for a raptor these days. I'd suggest one or two Seagate 7200.10 320Gb drives and @ $75 each, they'll together cost less than the raptor.

Also, what a ridiculous thread title; you don't need to beg for help here or try to attract people in this manner. If I hadn't hovered over the title and saw what your question about, I'd have skipped right over it.

[blue60007]

DDR2-800 would probably be a good match for a 1333MHz FSB.

What DVD-RW? What ever the standard Lite-on is...I'd get one with a SATA interface. That should narrow it down for you.

[LeftyAce]

Make sure you get a retail lite on; they come with software, whereas the OEM versions don't.