Alright, i know this is my third query, but i have decided on most of my system and need help with a few parts.

-What i know?
--Antec 900 (Already ordered)
--evga 650i
--8800gtx
--e6420+tuniq tower (will be overclocking)
??2gigs of ram to start (but past here im clueless... read something about 1:1 ratio?)
??Power supply at least 450 watts needed (looking for $100 or less, modular is preferred. Cord must reach motherboard in weird antec 900 case)
??Drives (no clue where to start on hard drive. don't want to deal with raid unless not having it will bottleneck the rest. As far as CD/DVD goes, i assume generics are fine?)
??OS (don't want to deal with vista. what do i need? XP 64bit? Any advantage to buying this instead of dl'ing?)

Thanks for the help.

Also, its easier for me and ill be able to build it quicker if i order a major component each week. A friend brought up tho that if one of the first things i order is messed up, i wont know until new egg's warranty is up. Should i be alright or is there a major risk when ordering parts.

I've had a little bit of fun

I have a local computer chain in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (so ignore the CAD pricing or use XE.
they have a great online quote generator that allows you to pick out all of your OEM components
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index [...] 1.php&SID=
for the most part it select the conponents that are compatible

as for 450 watts power supply, the number is only the power consumption not the output so check the energy efficiency first,
http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/manu_psu.htm
personally I like the Enermax Liberty & Infiniti series

DON'T Buy Vista unless you like the eye candy or want to buy Direct X 10 only games in 2009-2010; It is slow.

you don't need 64-bit anything unless your running 64-bit apps: you need double the ram requirements to run the same 32-bit software.


I like Seagate for Hard-drives, IF you need Speed do a RAID 1 + RAID 0 combo or RAID 5, cheaper and better than buying 15,000 RPM drives
oh and have a your OS partitioned, if the OS partition goes FUBAR than the other partitions have a good chance at serviving, EROGRAMS, F:GAMES, G:FILES.
get an external Hard Drive if your data is important.

do get a DVD–/+RW drive that has SATA {death to IDE} check out http://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters for some reviews or problems that happen.

I'm an Antec fanboy so nice choice!

And manufacturer warranties are sometimes good if you remember to register and can afford the S&H.

FOR Dual DDR2 - 1:1 so you can double your ram speed if your using 50% of the ram; it only works with 1:1.

why don't you just throw the money in a savings account each week and do auto deposit.

with week to week buy the Video card last: they depreciate the quickest