I was going to wait for penryn, but the price point won't be there for me, so I'm going w/ q6600
 
Components:
 
CPU: q6600 $266  
 
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $150  (open for changes, I want a GOOD OC)
 
Case: P180 black $130  
 
PSU: Seasonic S12 Energy Plus SS-650HT (650watts) $160
 
Video: x1900xtx (already own, waiting for GOOD dx10 cards; this should hold me for now ) $0
 
HDD: raptor 150 gig $195 (the speed seems good enough to warrant the price, otherwise, i'd get the WD 750 gig drive)
 
Ram: NO CLUE right now; I want 4 gigs b/c I know I'll have to get vista eventually I think I'll need 2gig x2 sticks b/c its better for overclock. DDR2 is a given. DDR3 costs too much, w/ no extra performance. I just need some ram that will give a great OC thats 2x2gig.
 
Liquid cooling set up:
 
Radiator: MCR-320 (triple radiator) $56
 
Pump: MCP655  $100
 
CPU water block: Apogee GTX $75
 
South and North Bridge block MCW30 $30 x2 (Do you guys think I need these to help keep them cool?)
 
Stand off: Radbox $20
 
Tubing: no more than $10 i assume
 
Price: comonents: $900 + whatever ram costs
Cooling set up: $310
 
Total: about $1400 give or take
 
I have a monitor, keyboard, speakers etc.
 
 
I plan on OCing the q6600 (with G0 stepping) to 3.8ghz or better on water. I've seen 3.8 @ 1.45v w/ the new processors that were leaked, so its possible. A triple rad must be able to handle the CPU and both bridges. Does this seem like a good set up? Any changes to anything?
 
As well, with this set up I can also switch out the q6600 for an e6850 that'll get to 4.7ghz on water or so. I'm not sure which is better, but I think If I keep this computer for a few years, the quad will be a better choice, plus I do enough stuff at once that warrants the use of a quad or at least I'd like to think so.  
 
Any responses are appreciated. I know its annoying seeing tons of q6600 builds for the 22nd price drop.

bump

For ram, G.Skill makes a set of 2x2gig sticks for $209 at Newegg. Now its only DDR2-667, so with your more massive OC, I'd say mushkins 4 gig (2x2gig) set would be best. It is DDR2 800 with a CAS 4 latency, so its uber fast. You could take the processor to 3.6 gigahertz and not even be overclocking the memory. If the $493 that the set runs for is too high, then OCZ makes a set of DDR2-800 RAM with a CAS 5 latency for $229.99.
 
The motherboard is fine, so long as its cooled as well then its all ok.

Excellent, thanks. I'm thinking of changing the mobo to an ABIT IP35 Pro. I doubt that would be a problem for the ram.
 
I'd like to stay around 200 bucks for the ram, but considering its 4 gigs on 2 sticks, 300 isn't SO bad since the timings on the ram are great.
 
Newegg has the mushkin ddr800 5-4-4-12 for 300 (285 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146691
 
If I only have to do change the memory settings a bit to make it run above 3.6ghz, then I'm set. 3.8ghz should be doable and I'm hoping 4.0ghz is possible. That'll make it worthwhile.
 
Thanks...