Suggestions

[Water]

Going to build a computer for college (and gaming) this fall. I need help deciding on my motherboard because I'm not really sure what the difference is other than the price and the pci slots, which I don't know if I need (don't want SLI). Either

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail

or

ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Here's the other stuff

Case- Thermaltake M9 VI1000BWS Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

PSU (I don't think I need this much W but it's not that expensive and has good ratings...)- CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX ATX12V / EPS12V 650W Power Supply - Retail

Processor- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail

Ram- CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX - Retail

Hard Drive (I know people say get the .10 or .11 but this one has a lot better reviews...rather get a working one than the small performance boost)- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Optical- LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail


Any suggestions on the motherboard, and the other parts?

Thanks

Edit- Oh and for the GPU I have a 7800 that I'll use until a game comes out and I'll upgrade.

[Bob123]

Id recomend ddr3 memory if your planning on have it for long. Because if you get ddr3 itll be easier to upgrade later on so you have a comp you can keep upgrading instead of buying a new one everytime that ddr2 becomes bad. Heres a memory i reccomend Its the OCZ ddr3 1600 4gb (2x2gb) its good but really hard to grab. Took me a week to find for a decent price($400). Sites you can look at are Newegg which get them once in a while and Mwave.com which is where i got mine.

[Bob123]

Also plz tell how much your willing to spend. Got some other recomendations but it could be costy.

[Drunner611]

Originally Posted by Bob123 Id recomend ddr3 memory if your planning on have it for long. Because if you get ddr3 itll be easier to upgrade later on so you have a comp you can keep upgrading instead of buying a new one everytime that ddr2 becomes bad. Heres a memory i reccomend Its the OCZ ddr3 1600 4gb (2x2gb) its good but really hard to grab. Took me a week to find for a decent price($400). Sites you can look at are Newegg which get them once in a while and Mwave.com which is where i got mine.

Nah, the 775 socket will soon be obsolete with Nehalem. I wouldn't worry about DDR3 right now. Especially for a college budget build.

[Alaron]

Solid list Water. The PSU will be worth it when you upgrade video cards later. I'd choose Asus brand motherboards over Gigabyte but both are popular and lagerly similar since they use the P35 chipset.

I second skipping DDR3. Not necessary now.

[alex530]

Both of those motherboards are solid choices. The Asus does have a better sound chip though. I would recommend getting 4 GB of RAM, if you can budget for it. Even if you get a 32 bit OS, RAM is so cheap right now it might be worth it. DDR3 is simply not worth it yet as far as cost/benefit. Don't forget an OS.

[Katreat]

Agree with others, both of those MB are solid. I would tend to go Asus for rep but if there was a big price difference gigabytes are also very nice.

DONT GO DDR3. It is expensive and completely under utilized with current processors.

Like Alaron says, the PSU is a bit over kill right now, but with video cards moving as fast as they are lately it is a good bet for future upgrades.

Kat

[perkster]

if you are looking to build in fall then ask again then may be new chipsets and MBs available and new lines of processors.

However Asus are definately the best brand.