New build Components, suggestions/opinions please.

[halopower67]

Ok well my Christmas present will be the components to a new computer and i cant go over $1800 and i would love to buy it at one place because i don't want hassles buying components from different places. i have the components chosen what do you guys think? Please gimme suggestions on what to change and give me your opinions because this is my first build but i have to buy it from one site and tigerdirect seems like the place to go because of all the stuff they have. Any help is greatly appreciated thanks.

HDDhttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3206259&CatId=139
Video Cardhttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2935588&CatId=2513
CPUhttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3241546
MOBOhttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3089879&CatId=2050
PowerSupplyhttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2937372&CatId=2534
Media Drivehttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3402963&CatId=88
RAMhttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3079597&Sku=O261-7054
Casehttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3198497&Sku=C283-2032

 

[g-paw]

You should look at the P35 mobo. If you need onboard firewire this would be good.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131180

You could save on the CPU going with the E6750 or for you're paying for that you could go quad core
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115017

I also suggest pricing the system at new.egg.com, might be able to save a bit

 

[bs6749]

Here is what I think:

HDD: Not a bargain with what the link you gave. I got a Seagate cuda 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 32MB cache for that price at www.newegg.com 2 weeks ago and that included shipping. I'd look around.

Video card: If you are one of those people that needs the "best" no matter what the price, then this is the card for you. However, the 8800GT 512MB has proven to be extremely close in comparison to the 8800GTX and you can find one of those for roughly $260-$315 (OC'ed ones being the higher end, but you could do that yourself). What size monitor do you play on anyway? That will help determine what you "need" in a video card. You may want to wait until the 8800GTS 512MB gets released on December 11th before purchasing a video card because the GTX may drop in price.

CPU: I'd go for the e6750. newegg has them for $190. You can pair that with a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L or Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R board and OC' the processor to 3.4 no problem with stock cooling. I personally just built a rig with the DS3L. Look and compare the boards to see which would better suit your needs.

Do you plan to do SLI? It's basically a waste of money as most will tell you. With the advance of GPUs and better video cards you truly only need one unless you are running a large screen. In that case you will want a MOBO that supports SLI (full X16 in both slots).

PSU: Ultra is not a "recommended" brand of PSU in the reviews section. I think my OCZ PSU was DOA when I tried to fire it up for the first time today and guess what I bought instead? An Ultra X-Finity 600W PSU. It'll be $28 after the $40 MIR. It should do me just fine. 800W seems like overkill to me but I don't know what you are planning on doing with it. If it were me spending that much on a PSU though, I'd go with a PC Power & Cooling PSU as they are one of the best around.

RAM: Check out www.newegg.com again. I would be wary of OCZ but that's because of my experience. PSU's are one thing but the RAM from them just seems shady to me. I went with Crucial Ballistix 2x1Gb sticks DDR2 800MHz. If you plan on running Vista you might want to go with 4GB total. 2Gb should be okay for XP.

Case: That one should be fine. I personally went with the Antec Nine Hundred as it's one of the most common for "gamers" and newegg has a rebate on it right now. Should be better than the one you listed and about $10 cheaper after rebate. I got mine for $50 after Thanksgiving (after rebates).