Just looking for a second opinion, first build

[ManButter2K6]

Hi. This'll be my second post, so bear with me...

I'm looking to build my first computer, and I'm EXTREMELY excited. I'm buying everything from NxxExx.com (<-- I see people do that, so I figured I would too), and I'm looking for a second opinion before I give it a go.

Processor - Intel Pentium D 945 (it's on sale, and I hear it's pretty powerful, but runs hot, right now it's going for $155, and it looks like a good pick-up)

Processor Fan - Thermaltake CL-P0257 CPU Cooler (it looked extremely popular, the only thing is that everyone talks about how the stock coolers suck, and I figured this would do a better job)

CPU Thermal Paste - Arctic Silver 5 Compound (it looks like everyone and their mom has bought this...it's only $5, so if I end up not needing it, no big deal)

Motherboard - Asus P5ND2 SLI Socket T (LGA 775) Nvidia NForce 4 SLI Intel Edition ATX Intel Motherboard (this is probably the piece I'm most confused on...I want a motherboard that's nice and easy to get going, but I don't think I'm gonna be dipping into the whole SLI two video cards game quite yet...is this something I really need?....)

Memory - Corsair ValueSelect 2GB (2 X 1GB) 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR 667 (PCS 5300) (I hear Corsair is never a bad choice, and good RAM is needed for a good system...I would just get 1 GB, but if I end up upgrading it later, it looks like it would cost more...why not just get 2 GB now, right?)

Video Card - BFG Tech GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card (It's got good reviews, it's not too expensive, and it looks like it'll handle anything I throw at it...I like games, video editing, and tons of other stuff, so this looks like it might be a good choice, but still, throw in your opinion if you want...that applies for everything, not just my video card selection)

Case - Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black w/ 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply (this is another thing where I'm not sure what the right choice would be...hopefully 450 watts is enough power for the system, and hopefully this case won't give me too much trouble...it looks nice, but to be honest, as long as the computer doesn't blow up or anything, i don't care what it looks like...suggestions for a case would be GREATLY APPRECIATED)

That's all the part I think....I'll probably get a Seagate SATA hard drive (looking at a 320 GB right now), I already have a copy of Windows Pro, and I plan on using my old monitor (it's a Dell UltraSharp 17" flat panel display). If I'm missing anything, totally looking in the wrong direction, or just plain clueless, any help would be appreciated. This will be my first build, and I just want it to go smoothly, but I know that probably won't happen. Sorry to make you read all the fine print, but you'd read this much already, and if you'd like to help me out, feel free to do so. I'm putting myself on a budget (i'm thinking no more than $1000).

Thanks again everyone .

 

[ManButter2K6]

Also, quick note...

Building a computer....with somewhat limited knowledge....

On a rating of 1-10 (1 being scratching your butt, 10 being quantam physics), how hard is it to build a computer?

My buddy plans on helping me out, but I'd rather have an idea how tough it would be...

Also, if it's help me, should I go out an buy some sort of tool kit for this? I don't have one, and I'd hate to get all the parts and then not be able to put them together. Please, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[The_Prophecy]

On that scale, building a computer is about a 2 - 2.5.

Here are a couple suggestions though:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3

The only tool you should need is a Phillips head screw driver....

 

[ManButter2K6]

so Core 2 Duo instead of a cheap Pentium D 945...

I do try to do a million things at once on my computer, so maybe that's the best choice

the Gigabyte Motherboard looks good as well...my buddy just made his compy (maybe that's I want to make one, insane jealousy), and he bought a Gigabyte motherboard and ran across no problems

well, it's great to hear from an actual person instead of depending on reviews on Newegg.com, so thanks for the info I'll keep that in mind

another note: is now a good time to get a dual-core? i try to stay abreast of computer news and whatnot, but I can't tell whether I should do it now or wait or what....i don't know, feel free to comment

thanks for the advice Prophecy

 

[davelakecity]

I'm in process of ordering parts as well.

After much thought and discussion I'm going with the e6300.
Thought about saving a little money by getting a D series, but the c2d's just seem to be awesome, cool running, well designed cpus.

Your mobo choice- I'm looking at that asus board as well. My concern is future upgradability regarding the nforce4 chipset. I'd like to be able to pop in a quad core down the road. Rumor is the 965/975 chipsets will be able to do that, but no definitive answers.
Any know any more about the nforce4 chipset.. I havnt really researched that yet.

Also looking at the gigabyte ds3 like you are and the s3.
Planning on buying the same ram, corsair value select. I have that (ddr version) in my current system.
Funny.. also planning on the same video card. Good deal at newegg.

Building computer difficulty: Built my first 3 years ago. It's really not that hard. You will most likely run into a couple of frustrations, but you'll fiqure them out. Example: When I first started I had no idea about "jumpers" on hard drives and it caused me some problems.

 

[AddictiveHerring]

depends on if something goes wrong, which is probably will