Hi, I'm a noob builder and just had some questions. Below are the parts I'm looking at using, just wanted some feedback. Uses is for gaming and fairly stable. I'm not going to do much OCing at first. Also, a few questions.
First, with DDR3 coming soon, should I wait? I'm not in a huge rush, so a few more months isn't a big deal. Second, I say that the new intel bearlake chipset is coming soon. Wait or not? Last, it it a good future-proof system for a few years? Thanks!

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Foxconn FV-N88XMAD2-ONOC GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 OverClock HDCP Video Card

DIAMOND XtremeSound XS71DDL 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
$49.99

ENERMAX EG851AX-VH(W) EPS12V 660W Power Supply

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ $154.99
$124.99

Foxconn N68S7AA-8EKRS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600

My opinion for waiting for "Bearlake" is not to do it. DDR3 memory is not out and will more likely be very expensive when it does.

DDR2 is so dirt cheap now, it's not really worth waiting.

1. Wait until next Monday before buying a video card. The HD2900XT is coming out. This might have some affect on video card prices.

2. I think that mobo is overkill. The GA-965P-DS3 is an excellent overclocker but it doesn't come with firewire if you need. The ASUS P5B-E is comparable and has firewire. The ABIT AB9 Pro is another good choice. Or look at the 570 chipset series.

3. You can save a little bit of money and get Corsair XMS2 instead.

4. You'll need a hard drive. I have the Seagate 7200.10 Perpendicular Drive 320GB SATA 3.0GB/s version. You can get the 400GB or 500GB on a same cost/per GB basis if you want a bigger hard drive

5. Do you have a mouse, keyboard, OS, monitor? Just some basic questions.

6. Sound card. This is not needed unless you have a really good speaker system to go along with it. The sound that is on the motherboard will more than likely be good enough.

As far a future proofing. If the HD2900XT is really recommended to have a minimum of a 750W PSU, then I would say not really. But that is probably HD2900XT in Xfire. Plus the HD2900XT needs 1x6 pin and 1x8pin connector to run at full speed. It will run with 2x6 pin connectors from what I've read.

There are not very many PSU's that have the 8 pin connector. Though I'm sure there will be a 6 to 8 pin connector available.

Thanks for the help. Have the monitor, speakers, mouse, etc. Planning on XP for now, maybe upgrade to vista later. Thanks for the MOBO advice. I knew I'd forgotten something - hard drives and optical drive! I was thinking the raptor for a OS drive and a WD caviar for storage. I'll pump up the PSU.

Also, I was looking at the nvidia chipsets instead of intel. Was thinking of doing a 650i instead. Any comments on this?

Since your waiting, get ready for AMD's new chips about to be launched. Remember, this is a industry that is tech drivin' and there is no such thing as future proofing. You can wait forever if going for future proof. There are upgrade paths however.

The heart of a system is its power supply, do not take that component lightly....read reviews for them is my advice. PC Power & Cooling is always on or near the top of the HEAP.

My bad. The 570 chipset is for AMD by NVidia. The 650i is a good chipset and a little easier on the wallet.

I would not wait for AMD's next gen. They will not be here until August but the mainstream chips won't be here until November.

According to here.

Barcelona is suppose to be next month but is a server chip and will more than likely be expensive.

Anything new is usually more expensive. And I'm sure that AMD is going to want to recoupe for lost time & money.

purdueguy Posted: (snip) "I would not wait for AMD's next gen. They will not be here until August but the mainstream chips won't be here until November."

So goes without saying, he's not building today. But if he was, the AM2 socket and current chipsets will work with the new CPU's. He could buy an inexpensive cpu today and upgrade to their new cpu's with a definite performance increase seen. Intel changes their chipsets to meet their new architecture in their cpu's, so it's new mobo time then. Just trying to help him in a upgrade path purdue.

I'm slipping this link in here...all is hush hush except it's AM2 config.

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38213