Help Building my first system for gaming !

I'm looking at building my own system for gaming for $1000 aus ( $ 750 US ) for games like call of duty 2, Age of Empires 3 and Starwars games etc... on medium- low detail.

I recently won a Thermaltake Matrix vb2430Bns with a thermaltake 430w power supply , it hasn't arrived yet though. Thermaltake Matrix Vb2430bns

I also have a couple of optical drives, and 2 40gb ide hard drives- should i upgrade to sata?

I already have a lil 17' monitor and in the future i may want a tv card- any recomendations there?

What Motherboard, Graphics, Ram, cpu, hard drives should i get?
Cheers in advance

X1900 XT 256 MB Edidtion kicks 7900 GT A--

If you are in ausi u mean Aus $ right.OMG i tot US

www.megapc.com.au

Christmas isn't too far away so i'm bound to get some money then, i just might have to wash my parents car and do some extra stuff at home to earn a few more bucks, also dad loves ebaying so i think i can get an e6300 for about $290 Aus, in a couple of mags i read they also said an inno3d 7600gt has a good power/performance ratio and that is only $280.
Is that a good card? I may also do some LIGHT overclocking

Im not that familiar to overclocking much so it's not a must to have a board good for overclocking, i think the 430w powersupply has some pci e connectors- but i'm not certain.

Capacity isn't too much of a problem coz this pc is just for taking round to lan parties and stuff, so it won't be packed full of music, videos, photos etc..

Cheers

I downloaded the manual for the case, lol and it said the optional powersupply included is a purepower silent one, i think it's this 1 not sure because this seems to flashy for the tiny price tag Thermaltake PurePower Silent

What's the price of those graphics cards in aus coz i don't realy have access to newegg because it's American, also do you know nething about inno3d 7600gt

I'll probably purchase an 80gb Sata then just to be on the safe side.
I don't think ill be upgrading to vista that soon but i will eventually!
Cheers

Huh, does that mean with the 965 and an ide dvd drive i won't be able to install xp? or can i?

Cheers

Phewf lol, can't have a comp without an OS.
I've sorta got a list starting to come together can't decide on graphics.

Core 2 Duo E6300 - Approx $300 Aus
Msi P965 Neo-F - Approx $180 Aus
1GB Corsair Value Select PC-5300 667mhz Ram - Approx $160 Aus
Seagate 250GB SATA II 8MB Hard Drive 7100.10 - Approx $115 Aus
Graphics can't decide but only have $245 left.. Pushing 300 max lol
http://www.megapc.com.au/product_details_and_order.php?select_part_indx=6264
Help!

I'm not really much of an overclocker but I will get a decent fan like that 1 after i've assembled the whole pc. Do u know nething about inno3d geforce 7600gt performance wise, because it seems to be a nice price and magazines recomend.

Cheers!

As long as silent doesnt mean more heat and less performance (are they clocked the same as the same card with active cooling), also, if you're not going to OC heavily, then dont worry about a better HSF like big tycoon. It's not needed.

The graphics card you keep mentioning, the Inno3d 7600GT - should keep you happy for a good while yet. It's not going to be "mind blowing" performance, but it'll get you smooth gameplay at nice settings and resolutions.

PS, if you're only going to use single-channel memory (ie. 1 stick of ram instead of a matched PAIR), then be sure to try to force 1T command rate via the bios as it may boost your memory bandwidth significantly, and hence give you a little more performance for your money.

PSS - damn, australian money makes everything look crazy expensive. And I thought it was bad shopping here in Canada. lol.

Lol yea when i first started reading these forums I thought evertything was so cheap! lol then i realised everything was USD.
I think i will get the inno3d coz it has a cool name and is cheap, and you say it will run smoothly, that's all i need for now.

That search engine comes up with some reallly cheap deals i'll have a look around and see how much cash i can save!

Cheers