Build Advice please

[tkfrmadmin]

Hey, long time lurker, first time poster here on Tom's. I'm finally looking to put a machine together for fun times at the homestead. I'll be doing to following:
-General Home productivity
-CD/DVD Burning and Duplication
-And gaming, including:
WoW (possibly)
MS Flight Sim
Civ IV and III

I know I want the following:
-Intel Core2Duo (most likely the E6420)
-2GB RAM (maybe even 4GB)
-2x the smallest 16MB Cache SATA HDDs available (In a stripped set), storage has never been a problem for me
-2x SATA DVD-Burners
-1x good quality 21" monitor (I have a Samsung at work that I love, and also a Samsung DLP TV, so I think they are the answer there)
-Wireless (probably draft-N, looking to upgrade my router now)
-400-450w Modular power supply

I know I won't be:
-Overclocking
-Installing Vista
-Needing 2 monitors
-Playing games at Max Res/Max Colors (1280x1024 is about the most my eyes can do)

Now this is where I get confused. 1066FSB is the new standard for Processors and MBs, correct? What memory is best for that setup (533,667,800)?

I have a 6600GT PCI-E card here at work with 256MB Ram that would be free. Is this good enough for my needs.

Nice thing that work will pay for most of the components for me (I'm a network admin and need another PC for home). I have a corp account at Tiger Direct, links from there would be most excellent.[/list]

Any recommendations.

 

[haywood]

Welcome to the forums!

What would be great is if you put together a list of components then ask for a critique. Many of the users here could build you a PC from their head, prices included, but what is the fun in that. Read the forums and give us your ideas first.

/end rant

6600GT would not run Flight Sim well. Minimum recommendation for that would be a ATI 1950 Pro.


Most monitors over 19" would have a recommended resolution greater than 1280x1024. If that is the resolution you want to use then stick to a 19" model.

 

[tkfrmadmin]

OK, did some more research and I'm definitely going to wait until the new processors are released in late July. Heres what I've put together so far, lets get some opinions:

Motherboard
Either of these:
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3038920&CatId=3355
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3109406&CatId=3355

RAM
Some sort of DDR2-1000 2x1GB set (I'll find a good deal in the near future on SlickDeals.net and buy them). Anything I should look for in relation to timings???

Power Supply
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1632005&CatId=1078
This should do the trick I believe

Processor
E6750

HDDs
2x in RAID 0 of http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2851740&CatId=139

DVD Drive
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2911683&CatId=1624

Video Card
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2707972&CatId=1560

Case-I'll find something somewhere that I like. Small, black/silver, toolless preferably.

Monitor-
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2881201&CatId=1410

This is the same monitor I have sitting on my desk at work, and its nice

I do have it set to 1680x1050 which is perfect for me. Let the criticism begin.

 

[Daredevil_8]

Get the Asus motherboard that you chose

That monitor is fantastic.

The card should be fine. As you said, you don't plan on playing any graphic intense games. The only issue I can see is that playing games at that resolution might be a bit much for the card. My x1900xtx gets beaten up at that res (but I do have a crappy CPU, you are going to have a great cpu).

The PSU is decent. Should handle your system fine. Heres a list of PSU's to look at as a reference as well.

 

[tkfrmadmin]

I thought the 7900GS was considered the best of the 7000 series? Is there a better nVidia 7000 card I should look at that can keep the video card under $200. I don't want DirectX 10 in the foreseeable future. I don't plan on upgrading to Vista anytime soon. Maybe in 2 years, then I'd by a newer card anyways.

Also, why the Asus board over the Intel?