First time PC Builder

[alheezy]

Hey all, in the near future I'm going to be attempting to build my very first PC from scratch. Right now I'm just doing some research to find out what all I need, what's compatible with what, etc. I just wanted to run this by you experts and get your opinion on what I've got so far. Also, I'm going to be using this PC mainly for gaming. I didn't go all out when picking my parts, but I did have that in mind as well as price and quality. Thanks for any input!

Case: NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146047

Mobo: ASUS P5QC LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131327

Power: CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK (I'm going to be getting 2 of these for 8GB total)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231189

Video: EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130339

HD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136284

DVD: LG Black 6X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Model GGC-H20L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136133

Monitor: Acer X203Wbd Black 20" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2500:1 ACM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009126

The total comes to $1378.81. That includes Windows, a keyboard/mouse, and speakers, as well as shipping. Do you guys think this build would work? What could I improve upon?

[glc]

A couple suggestions - look at the standard P5Q or P5Q Pro, and DDR2-800 ram. The Socket 775 platform doesn't really benefit from DDR3. Look at the alternatives to that Nvidia video card - the ATI cards in the same price range are equaling or outperforming Nvidias these days.

[alheezy]

Would this video card be a better choice?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102801

This is what I have for the mobo and memory now:

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131377

Mem: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227291


Also, is the Quad Core worth it, or should I just go with the Core 2 Duo?

[LeftyAce]

For gaming, a dual core is all most games are able to take advantage of right now. Within a year that will change. For a quad core gamer you'd want the Q9950, which is almost double what the e8400 costs.

That video card looks good.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by alheezy Would this video card be a better choice? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102801 This is what I have for the mobo and memory now: Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131377 Mem: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227291 Also, is the Quad Core worth it, or should I just go with the Core 2 Duo?

Much better choices.