Gaming computer build - Need a few reccomendations to finalize it

[Blah DTMM]

Ok so I started a topic about building my computer a few days back and attempted to post this in that topic but it would not let me for some reason. Anyways I've decided not to put together the computer myself as i've found a computer store in my area that can do it and offers cheaper prices for some products than I found on internet sites. The only problem is that they did not have a few of the parts I initially wanted, specifically the motherboard, memory, hard drive and the monitor. I talked to the guy yesterday and he reccomended me a few different products and I just wanted to check and see if anyone could find anything better than what he suggested, or if they are ok.

My CPU is the intel core duo E8500 - This is fine and I'm happy with this, but I thought I should add this.

They did not have the exact version of the motherboard I wanted (ASUS p5q Pro), so he reccomended this:
ASUS® P5Q S775 INT P45/ICH10R ATX 1PCIE X16,4D.DDR2-1200MHZ 1600 /1333FSB,SATA RAID0 1394 GBLAN
http://www.b-com.ca/product.php?productid=223614&page=1

For the hard drive he suggested:
SEAGATE - OEM - ST3500320AS NCQ 500GB SATA 300 HARD DRIVE 9MS 32MB 7200RPM
http://www.b-com.ca/product.php?productid=219328&page=1
I don't think I need that much space, if anyone could suggest a good hard drive with 300GB or so that'd be great.

For the Memory I wanted 4 gb, and he reccomended:
KINGSTON DDR2 NON-ECC PC2-8500 2048MB KVR1066D2N7K2/2G (KIT OF 2) MEMORY
http://www.b-com.ca/product.php?productid=223271&page=2

So basically I just wanted to know if these products are good for a gaming computer, and if anyone could suggest better ones, and possibly cheaper ones that'd be great.

Also, they did not have the monitor I had initially wanted (Samsung 2443BW-HAS 24IN), so if anyone could suggest a similar monitor from that site.

Thanks!

[shadowpr]

I like those parts, except for the ram.

I would look for corsair, g. skill, a-data, or crucial.

[Lord Prism]

All these look fine - I just upgraded to the e8500 and am quite happy with it! Out of curiosity, what video card are you putting in this gaming pc?

[DarkEditioN]

I think you should get GEIL trademarked RAM - Best quality, I know from experience and about the harddisk

space - I think you should take that 500GB HDD because you will make it full before you blink

I thought like you when I was buying and I bought 300GB HDD and after about 4-5 months i need one more

with about 200-300 GB so it is better to buy one big enough. They are not so expensive after all so...

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by shadowpr I like those parts, except for the ram. I would look for corsair, g. skill, a-data, or crucial.

I agree with shadowpr...I'd stay away from Kingston RAM. Over the years I've had to replace a lot of bad sticks of Kingston RAM. I don't use Kingston anymore, I only use Crucial or Corsair RAM now.

Cricket

[Blah DTMM]

Ah okay great! Video card I am going with is the radeon hd 4870, and I will keep the 500 GB as suggested. I will also look into Crucial or Corsair ram as well. Is there any good monitors on that site that you could recommend? Prefferably a 24 inch.

[Blah DTMM]

Alright nevermind, I've found a good monitor. My last question is regarding the ram, I search up crucial on the site and it gives me a whole ton of different options. I'm not too great with the technical parts of things like this, all I know is that I would like 4GB, but which one to choose?

http://www.b-com.ca/search.php?mode=search&page=1

This will be the last question I promise! Haha.

[chuck4456]

Originally Posted by DarkEditioN I think you should get GEIL trademarked RAM

+1.

[Blah DTMM]

Alright, I've decided to go with the Crucial RAM. The B-COM site does not list GEIL as being sold there. I need to ask again, out of all of the choices from Crucial listed on the site, how do I know which one is compatible with my CPU? And I've run into another possible problem, I was initially going to get 4 GB of RAM. But I just read on a few sites that Windows Vista (I'm getting the 32 bit) does not actually use more than 3.2 GB of RAM, so 4 is kinda pointless. It also said that only the 64 bit Vista supports 4 or more GB, but from what I understand the 64 bit version does not support a lot of new drivers. So should I just get 3 GB of RAM or still go for 4? Have I just been reading into some false information?

[shadowpr]

I would still get 4gb of ram.

Look for ddr2-800.

[Blah DTMM]

Alright I will do that, thank you very much, again!

[shadowpr]

And just a fyi: Most programs, if they're new will work on vista. As for the driver situation with vista 64, if it's a new piece of hardware, then it will most likely have drivers that work for it.

I'm running vista 64, and I have newer peripherals so everything works.