Advice on gaming rig

[Sliek]

This will be my first pc build and im not so sure I picked all the right parts.
My budget for this will be about 3,000 (give or take a little)

These are the parts I picked out

Case
APEVIA X-PLEASURE-BK Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case $129.99

Motherboard
MSI P6N Diamond LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Motherboard $279.99

PSU
FSP Group (Fortron Source) FX Series FX760-E ATX | EPS Quad 12V 760W Maximum Power Supply $179.99

CPU
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Kentsfield 2.66GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor $968.00 <- Lol..

Ram
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Kentsfield 2.66GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor $104.99 (A 2gb stick should be enough right?)

Video Card
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card $536.99

Hard Drive
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive $199.99

Dvd/cd
LG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe $30.99

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card $90.99

Monitor
KDS K-22MDWB Black 22" 5ms (2ms gray-to-gray) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP support 300 cd/m2 700:1 Built in Speakers $249.99

Total Cost: 2771.91

I got a pretty good keyboard/mouse already that I'm going to use for this build. But my main focus is that everything is compatible and will work, and last for a decent amount of time. If you know anything I am missing, that can make my build better, or save me money, please let me know.

[blue60007]

There will be an Intel pricing cut on July 22 - your quad core will be coming down quite a bit afterwords. As well, there will be more quad core choices (and some I believe will use a 1333MHz FSB).

Don't get a single 2 gig stick - get two 1 gig sticks. It's a dual channel kit. You'll get some more performance that way.

Also, I haven't heard great things about SLI and Intel CPU's. Will you ever want (or need) to run two video cards? One 8800GTX will play anything out their VERY well. Once it's outdated you'll be better off buying a whole new card. You might look at an ASUS P5B or P5K - I'd go for the P5K for future compatiblity. And it's probably cheaper.

[LeftyAce]

On July 22, the q6600 will go down to $266; the 6700 shouldn't be much more expensive than that, so waiting a month will save you $500+

If you don't plan on overclocking, Corsair ValueSelect DDR2 667 ram is fine:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145098

If you plan on overclocking, Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 would be good.

For maximum stability with an intel cpu, get an intel chipset motherboard (not an nForce like you have listed). You won't be able to do SLI, but the 8800GTX will kill any game out there now. Save some money, and upgrade to the greatest card in 6 or 8 months. 1 next gen card always beats 2 older cards in SLI.

I concur with the ASUS recommendation; very easy to set up, and very reliable.

That PSU is overkill; the 8800GTX is fine on 500W. This Corsair unit is good quality, and looks pretty slick (black, and has modular cabling): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001

If you want some upgrade headroom, get the 620W model.

From everything I've read, the Raptor drives don't significantly outperform the new seagate 7200.10 drives with the large cache. Here's 320GB for $80: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...aate%2b7200.10

If you go with the ASUS motherboard, you'll want to get SATA optical drives; the IDE chipset on the board is non-native, and prone to issues. Grab a LiteOn SATA retail model (retail comes with software).

Unless you're a serious audio nut, or do lots of sound recording, you'll probably be fine with the surround sound built into the motherboard, and you can always decide to add a dedicated sound card later.

[Mr.Ferrari]

And if you really want SLI, go for the P5N32-E SLI from asus. I too would suggest the P5K.

[hagatha]

I recommend the evga 680i LT for the mobo. The Corsair 620 is a REALLY good PSU. And I would get at least DDR2 800 memory.

Ditch the stock cooling and get a Tuniq tower.

Lee

[LeftyAce]

800 speed memory will run at 667 or below unless you overclock the processor.

Using anything but the stock heatsink and fan will void your 3 year warranty on the processor, and is only necessary if you're going to overclock.

[Sliek]

Thanks for all the help so far

But I made a few changes.

I dont think im gonna go SLI anymore.
I really dont plan on doing any overclocking because i have the feelin ill ruin my pc lol
And I switch to 2 sticks of 1gb's ram

And I switch the motherboard to this one as someone suggested earlier:
ASUS P5K WS LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

I also switch the PSU and HDD with the ones suggested by LeftAce.

[maxnik]

ever thought about getting even bigger monitor with your budget? or two?

[hagatha]

Using an aftermarket product, does not void the the CPU warranty... Overclocking will.

Lee

[Sliek]

What are your opinions on 4gb(ram) builds?

[LeftyAce]

32 bit operating systems such as windows XP will only allow you to access/use between 2.75 and 3.5 GB of ram, and nothing but serious video editing benefits much from that much anyway. For gaming you're fine with 2GB.

We suggest sticking with XP for now, and waiting for the first vista service pack before upgrading....with the 64 bit version of vista you can use up to 8GB (Which is a limit microsoft put on, but whatever).

[hagatha]

Go with 2gb of quality ram... wait on the 2nd 2gig till you need it... at this time... it would be wasted. and is some cases can slow things down.

Lee

[marine63]

if ur going to build a computer dont make one so expensive... gain knowledge and experience 1st
plus if you mess up trying to get replacement or refund is a pain in the arse

[LeftyAce]

Not in my experience; if you use quality manufacturers with good tech support reputations, and you take your time, you should be fine. My first motherboard was DOA, but i was able to return it for a replacement, and all worked wonderfully afterwards.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by hagatha Using an aftermarket product, does not void the the CPU warranty... Overclocking will.

No, using anything other than the stock Intel heatsink will void the retail CPU 3 year warranty.

Cricket

[andper10]

I know someone with a Raptor and they are loud. I have heard good things about the Seagate 7200.10 series Hard Drives. And if you get the 520W Corsair PSU get it from Buy.com, its a great deal right now (I got one from there a few weeks ago): http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-520w...203270716.html . Enjoy your build!

[Powertrip]

Cricket how could they tell you used a different heatsink/fan if your CPU did go? Just fire the Stock back in the box when you RMA it?