Alright like every else I need help building a system. This is my first build, so your guidance is absolutely crucial.

Budget: $1300

Usage and goals: I plan on doing a little over clocking, enjoy counterstrike:source (and now that I will have something adequate new games), need good multitasking for when I am doing research and have a million things open music running etc, fast video conversion a plus as well. I want to make this system as future proof as possible as I don't get to upgrade my system that often (I'm poor) and when an advance becomes reasonable (quad core) I'll be ready.

What I have: I already own a hitachi sata 250 gb , a dvd-rom (though I'll probably end up getting a dvd-rw not a pressing concern), a 19" LCD @ 1200 x 1000.

Here is some idea of where I'm at

CASE: COOLER MASTER Centurion $49.99
Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI $214.99
GPU: EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB $279.99
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V $149.99
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 $226.00 (Read they are not overclocking as well, should I reconsider)
Ram: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB)DDR2 800 $124.99
HD: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200 RPM SATA $79.99
Cooling: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro $34.99
Paste: Artic Silver 5

Total: $1,186.92

I want to try to come up with the best balance, but as I said remain future minded. Here are some questions that come to mind.

I heard talk that you do need a 600 W PSU with this kind of system and other say that you do not. Can anyone comment?

I have heard discussion of generic ram being just as adequate for an intel build as the ram I have selected. Is this true?

Also with new releases to the intel's processor line is the 6600 the best option anymore?

Finally, at the moment I won't be served by the highest end video card as my monitor's native is only 1200 x 1000, but with the falling monitor prices this may be upgraded. Can anyone speculate on the price drops due to the R600? I have little extra in my budget, but I must also cover shipping, but if the GTX drops it may be acceptable.

Please comment![/code][/list]

$1300 is for the box, no monitor?
I wouldn't spent the $ for an SLI rig your better off with a faster single card solution and spend the saved $ on a faster CPU, and a PS that will suit future needs.
e8400 cpu $204
8800 GTS 512 (92) $230
Gigabyte GA -P35 $90
4 Gigs PC800/1033 ram $90
so I get ~$630 with shipping for the primary guts of the machine, this will OC extremely well and play all your games (except Crysis) maxed out. For SLI you should wait until the 790i boards make sense. Spend the extra $ on a PS and case that will support a future SLI setup, 800 watts is a minimum, 1000 is preferred. The problem with 790I is you have to run DDR3 and its still expensive vs DDR2 and isn't any faster.

OP...that build isn't recommended... E6600 is an older CPU and its v expensive ... get the E8400 for ~$200. Its the sweetest CPU out there.

Do you need an SLI board? Asus Maximus is a better SLI board. If not, get the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L.

Also, get the 8800GT ... its available for $159 at tigerdirect....the 8800GTS isn't very much faster than the GT.

That PSU isn't quite worth the money... i suggest you get the Corsair 550vx/520hx instead.

As for the Cooler, get the Xigmatek HDT S1283..its the boss out there.

You'll need more than 2gb of ram. Page file is slow and lags down the whole computer.

680i is very bad for overclocking. At $215, it's also an absymal value. You can get a x38 board for $207, a p35 for less than $100, and a 780i for just over $250. 780i ocs similarily to p35, while x38 far outperform both. 780i support sli but no crossfire. P35 and x38 support crossfire, no sli.

Keep in mind Nvidia and ATI trade places as graphics leader, Nvidia is currently ahead, but it may not last forever.