Newbie first build in a long time - Learning to OC

Firstly lemme post what I was thinking about:

Case : Antec Nine Hundred
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600
Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120
Mobo: Asus P5b Deluxe $180
RAM: Crucial Ballistix PC8000 (1000Mhz) 2x1GB $310
GPU: BFG 8800GTX $550 (after rebate)
PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI $125 (after rebate)

Now, I plan to do a ton of gaming, and I want to do some OCing. I havent really done much before but I want to be sure this build would be good to try to learn to OC. I have a few serious questions mostly pertaining to OCing.

RAM: I listed PC8000 RAM above, and below is some PC6400. Is it worth the extra $$ to get the PC8000 RAM for OCing? Is there performance to be gained when OCing by using the PC8000 RAM? I dunno when the sales end so I am itching to make this decision ASAP

Mobo: I've seen people talk about the P5B Deluxe and the DS3 alot. Any other Suggestions for Motherboards?

PSU: This one seems really popular atm

GPU: I've listed a secondary 8800GTX mostly because I recall people saying some companies have better warranties than others. I didnt see any difference between the 2 so I went with the BFG cause it was $10 less on NewEgg.

Newb OC stuff: I need a Floppy to flash the Bios iirc, and depending on my mobo I need to either have a PATA Optical drive to boot from to install windows on a SATA HD or make sure the mobo I get doesnt have issues booting off of a SATA optical drive. Am I missing anything else simple along these lines?

So those are my major questions. An aside would be, anyone seen any of these parts cheaper anywhere. I will do some more digging myself for sales and whatnot. Any other information would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!


Alternate Ram: OCZ Platinum PC6400 (800Mhz) 2x1Gb $208 (after rebate)
Alternate GPU: eVGA 8800GTX $560 (After rebate)
Alternate Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-965G-DS3 $135
Alternate Mobo: ABIT AW9D-MAX Socket T (LGA 775) $210

Now I was wondering if anyone had a similar setup and experienced my current machines specs before. If so what kinda of performance upgrade do you think I will experience, before the OC. Specs Below:

P4 2.6Ghz 533Mhz FSB Northwood
i845D based Motherboard
1GB 133Mhz DDR RAM
x850XT Platinum Edition GPU

Personally not my cup of tea since I prefer the Thermaltake Kandalf or the Silverstone TJ09, but case preference is the only thing that no one should really mess with. But thats just me.
Yeah I just really like this case, I've seen a lot of positives and negatives and I still think I am going for it.

Again a good choice.

Good for OCing. Good choice. Personally, I like the Gigabyte DQ6, but the
P5B Deluxe is also a good board.
Now I was stuck between 3 boards P5 Deluxe, D6Q and AW9D, I like them all. The problem I had with the DQ6 was it has a backplate already due to the chipset(right?) cooling. I am concerned that the Tunic Tower which also as I read has a backplate wont fit well? Any notion of this? Also I reexamined the ABIT AW9D-MAX and I really liked it as well what do you think of that board?

Err, it might be a better idea to save the money and go with DDR 667 or 800 instead. And as for super low latency RAM, Intel processors have never really had there performance based on RAM latency. I'd definetly go with your alternative RAM. Just be aware that OCZ and Asus always have problems with boot voltages, and can cause you some serious headaches.

I was considering OCZ Platinum PC6400 2x1GB as an option but I see you worry about OCZ and initial problems, which I do recall seeing a few posted in the newegg reviews. So would you prefer SuperTalent PC6400 2x1GB ? I had originally intended on going this route but saw 2 sales and wanted to hear what people thought about them. 2 Gigs of 800Mhz ram for $210 after rebate seems pretty good, but if I will just get an easier first time build outta the SuperTalent its probably worth the price difference.

Thanks for the reply, and Thanks in Advance for the next one I hope!

If you plan to go quad, the 680i is a good chipset. But the DQ6 and any 975X Intel chipset motherboard can do the same for possibly less.
But, I'll wait for Asus's 680i solution before jumping on the nForce chipset.

It could work. But the Abit board is also pretty good.