First Time Build, Gaming Replacement

[Nezime]

My old computer just died after faithfully serving me many years. My last computer was a pre-built model that i ended up replacing almost everything in, and so hoping to avoid doing that again I'm hoping to build my own computer. After looking at various reviews as well as older posts/topics relating to it I've come up with this build.

The computer will be tower only and my maximum price is $1400. Please inspect it closely and point out all the obvious flaws I've missed / Bad parts I've chosen. Also thank you in advance to anyone who chooses to grace this post with a reply.

Also I really know nothing about card readers and therefore I chose the one i did. However if someone does know something about them and could suggest a more reliable brand or something similar the formats I need supported are SmartMedia, xD, MMC, SD, Compact Flash I/II, MS, and MS PRO. Finally I know the PSU is overkill but i had originally had been considering using a sli mobo. If i where to decide to do that what would be the suggested sli motherboard, and what other changes would be required.

OS - Visa Home Premium (not sure which version to use)
Case - APEVIA X-JUPITER-JR G-Type X-JPJGT-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard
PSU - Antec NeoPower 650 Blue ATX12V / EPS12V 650W Power Supply
HDD - SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Card Reader - LIAN LI CR-25B 20-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Aluminum Card Reader
Ram - G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model HH80562PH0568M
CPU Fan - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
GPU - MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Drive - SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B

[Moosi]

The link to your build is secure Nezime, need to either make it so other people can read it or probably better for feedback link / list all the parts in the thread with links to individual items.

[Katreat]

Agree with Moosi, it is best to name your parts. Linking them is very helpful but naming them in the post makes it much easier for people to comment. Lots of people know the most common parts so they dont need to follow links to make suggestions or recomendations.

kat

[Nezime]

Sorry about the secure link. That should be fixed now, and I also added a list of the individual parts.

[shadowpr]

Looks pretty good.

Few suggestions though.

First, I don't really trust samsung for drives. Get a seagate 7200.11 500gb hard drive sata connection.

Look at lite-on sata retail drives for a dvd drive.

Also, unless you plan on over clocking, get a retail cpu, and then forget about the extra cpu cooler.

[Nezime]

Do you have any suggestions for an sli motherboard? Or any changes i would have to make accordingly?

[shadowpr]

SLI really isn't recommended unless you're willing to buy two top of the line cards now. It's expensive too.

I've also heard that it doesn't offer that much improvement over a single card on monitors under 24.

A good alternative might be the 3800x2 or the 9800gx2.

[Doom]

If you decide to go SLI after all, the EVGA 780i is a good motherboard to go with. Don't equate two video cards with double performance though. It's not a linear relationship like that. There are a few arguments for SLI though... check out this review on www.tomshardware.com for a couple examples of where two cards in SLI are considered to give the best performance in a certain price range. For the most part though... you're better served spending a little more on a single high end card. If you do SLI... go to www.slizone.com and make sure your PSU has enough power (or that you're not going for overkill).

[Nezime]

Switched hdd to this Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
and the Drive to this LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S and i think I'm going to go with the single card. Thanks for helping make that decision. I think this is what I'll go with unless i recieve any further suggestions in the next day or so. Thank you everyone who helped.

[Khalil]

I would go with an Asus motherboard and definately stay away from Evga. They make great video cards but their motherboards are not doing too well.