Ive got a grand for those components. Whats the best bang for my buck? Ive got a CPU Im gonna beat on until the 45nm's come out.

Im thinking

Case: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] dpNo=12157 68&CatId=1510
$80

GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - $160

OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR8002GK - $118

APEVIA ATX-AS680W-BL ATX12V / EPS12V 680W Power Supply 115/230 V CB IEC 950/ TUV EN 60950/ UL 1950/ CSA 950 - $99 (Great amperage at a great price)

ATI HD2900 XT - $400 (Im open for non DX10 cards here. I do want something with 512mb on board though. I figured for a few bucks more than a x1950xtx I could buy the 2900)

Cooling? I dont know. Maybe the cooling tower from my Dell XPS 410 and some extra exhaust fans?

whats the cpu? and the name of the case?

Oh..........I see the link only half posted.......

Ultra Black Aluminus ATX Full-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports

Im going to use the Pentium D 830 I have now. I know its old and slow and it'll bottleneck but Im still going to wait for the 45s to come out. I'll push the limits of that chip until then.

sounds great, i would get a couple of 120mm fans.

Forget that PSU.

You can get the OCGameXstream (Spelling) 700 or the Corsair 620 for $89 if you shop around. Both are better PSUs.

Apevia = Aspire, which is on Tier-5 ("do not buy" ) of the PSU list at:
http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiere [...] ngs?t=anon

To be fair to Aspire, I had two of their 550W units perform flawlessly, although I did not stress them, and they were the last cheap PSUs I risked. These days, the cheapest I'd buy are FSP units; there's a tier-3 unit for $58 that should work.

Both of the PSUs mentioned by Zenmaster would be better choices; both are on Tier-2.