First Build - Good all-rounder ~$1500 - Any Advice/critique?? Thanks

[ChrisGreen]

Hey guys,
I'm looking to build a new rig for roughly £750 ($1500). I am English so have done most of my research on English websites (which seem to be on average ~30% more expensive than newegg...wot a gip!)Ideally I would like it to be good at multitasking as well as being able to play most new games on max settings. I do have a 32" 1080p LCD screen and so I'd like a graphics card that could supply me with a high enough resolution and refresh rate to do it justice! I already have a wireless card as well as keyboard , mouse, speakers etc. so basically I only need the essential components. I would be very grateful of any help/criticism with my build so far. I have checked and double checked the compatibility of the components but it would be ace if some1 could give me a second opinion(just to ease my mind more
than anythin!) Also if you can help me make it any cheaper or better your help would be greatly appreciated.

CPU: Intel CPU Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz 1333FSB LGA775 6MB cache Retail inc.Fan
? £130
Out of stock most places so not able to post a link sorry! (Sure you're all aware of it anyway!!)

MOBO: Asus Motherboard P5K Intel P35 LGA775 ? £71
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129125

RAM: 2x Kingston 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Non-ecc CL5 Unbuffered 1.8V £65
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129954

GPU : Sapphire HD 3870 XT 512MB GDDR4 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card -
£134
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140852

HARD DRIVE: Samsung 500GB SATA II,16MB cache 7200rpm - £60
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130454

DVD DRIVE: Optiarc AD-7191S 20X DVD±RW/DL/RAM LightScribe ? £18
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136070

CASE: Antec Sonata III with 500W EarthWatts PSU ? £72
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128045

CPU COOLING: Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro ? £16
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994

SOUND CARD: Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Soundcard - Retail Boxed -
£58
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127553
OR
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional Series Soundcard - INCLUDES FREE CREATIVE FATAL1TY PRO HEADSET
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134912
Is it worth the extra £30 for a headset and 64MB of x-ram?!?

OS: Windows Vista 64-bit - £58
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123067

Total: ~ £750 ($1500)

Any advice is welcome, especially on whether the graphics card will b sufficient to give a max resolution on my TV and if the upgrade from the "Gamer" soundcard to "Professional" edition is worthwhile. Also I'm always up for stripping a few pounds off the total so if any1 has seen these parts or equivalent cheaper anywhere I would be very grateful of any info. Finally a cheap Blu-ray player may come in handy , does any1 have any recommendations? Cheers in advance for any help...

[Cricket]

If you need a good multitasker, you may want to look at the Quad-Core Intel processors.

The motherboard you selected is fine.

Don't use Kingston RAM...quality control issues...look at Crucial, Corsair or Mushkin instead.

I wouldn't use a Samsung hard drive too...reliability issues...look at Seagate or Western Digital instead.

That Antec case and power supply are fine.

You don't need a third party heatsink cooler if you get a retail processor. The boxed processor comes with a approved heatsink and you get a 3 year warranty. If you use a third party heatsink on a retail processor, you void the 3 year warranty.

I would pass on a 64bit OS.

Cricket

[shadowpr]

I agree with everything Cricket said.

I'll also add that G.Skill is also good with ram.

Check out lite-on dvd drives. Highly recommended here. Get a retail one.

[Katreat]

Wll add my support for the changes Cricket and Shadow posted, fix those little points and build looks good.

Persoanlly I always tell people to try on-board sound and then add a sound card if you want one. They are easy to add and on-board sound has really improved. But if you have a fantastic set of speakers go for it, I do most my gaming strapped into a set of headphones so maybe I am missing the boat.

Kat

[ChrisGreen]

Cheers Guys, your posts have been loads of help. I have just revised my build, Im gonna go for the:

corsair RAM 4GB pack
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130429 - £80

and

500 GB Seagate ST3500320AS Barracuda 7200.11, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.5 ms, NCQ
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=678208

Im also goin with the OEM version of the Gamer sound card as its cheap at £45.

Again thanks for your help, if there are any rep points I can give on this forum just let me no.

Ta.