Opinions on DIY Build List

[M3Drivers]

Hello all -
Below is my initial pass at a build list (first time for me) for a high-powered, somewhat future-proofed PC that can do all kinds of tasks very quickly. Likely to at least mildly OC. I chose a very roomy ATX case for future component swaps down the road. Really looking for feedback on optimal compatibility between and among the listed items. If anyone sees any glaring missteps, I'd love to hear about that as well. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback from you guys.

SS TJ09
SS 750W Strider
SS FP34 Card Reader
SS FM121B Case Fans (X 3)
E6600 Conroe
ASUS 680i SLI Striker Extreme
Corsair Dominator 2G (1066 - PC8500 w/microfans)
Barracuda 7200.10 320G (X 2)
EVGA 8800GTS 320
Plextor 755SA (X 2)
Zalman 9700 LED
Enermax Aurora Keyboard
MX Rev Mouse
XP Pro SP2

Totals out a little shy of $2500...

 

[lostandwandering]

It all looks really good. I would say drop the Corsair Dominator and get something cheaper unless you are going for heavy overclocking. DDR2-800 will overclock nicely. Otherwise, you will have a lot of fun with that system.

 

[proof]

E6600: Wait and get the E6700 after April 22.

ASUS Striker Extreme: Overpriced and not worth it. Just get a Gigabyte DS3 or an ASUS P5B. Cheaper boards but will perform pretty much the same. They just don't have all the unecessary stuff the Striker does and they are not "Republic of Gamers" boards.

Corsair Dominator 1066: Just get OCZ DDR2 800 or Buffalo Firestix with the D9s and overclock them.

Zalman 9700 LED: Get a Tuniq Tower or a Noctua NH-U12F.

 

[akhilles]

I concur with pretty much everything said about. Taco would tell you he wouldn't get a low-to-mid end cpu if he's building a $2500 rig.

The Silverstone case is a bit expensive, IMO. You could get an Antec P180 for less than half the price. In silver & black.

The PSU is very good. Make sure you get the SLI certified ST75F.

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

Unless you're a Republican , get something else more Demo. If your mind is set on 680i, which I'd get if I have the money, get the Evga 680i revision T1. If you prefer asus, get the ASUS P5N32-E SLI 680i.

As to ram, Dominator is overpriced IMO. Get either 2x1gb G.Skill HZ or Buffalo Firestix. They all have the same Micron D9 chips for extreme overclocking. Heck, for the price of Dominator, you can get 4 gigs of either ram.

F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ
FSX1000D2C-K2G

 

[M3Drivers]

Thanks for the feedback.

I'll look into the Striker alternatives. I like the 680i chipset for flexibility and perf but hope I can get it stable in whatever mobo I wind up with. Seems like I've read an awful lot of horror stories - kind of scary to a first-time builder. Surely going with XP (vs Vista) would help with driver stability - I actually do need this PC to function reliably!