Is this a solid build? Need your advice!!

[acrux]

Greetings all,

After tons of research I've decided on the following parts. Please let me know if this is a solid build or not.
The rig will be use for gaming as well as for Mathematica work. I will be installing both Windows and Linux on this
machine so if there's a part here that you think wouldn't run well under Linux please let me know. Also, I plan on keeping this rig for a while (5+ years) so I need something that will last me that long, though I obviously won't be able to play the latest games then.

Motherboard: Abit IP35 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030

Graphics Card: EVGA 8800GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318
I have a 1920x1200 rez screen and would like to play all the latest games at this resolution with everything turned up (except crysis, of course). Is that possible with this card or should I fork over for a more expensive card that will be coming out soon like the HD3870X2 or the 9800GX2?

Sound Card: X-Fi Xtreme Gamer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006
(yes, I realize that this might not work well under linux)

Memory: G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) x 2 (8GB total) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
8GB might seem like overkill but it's so cheap it's worth it in the long run (I will be using a 64 bit OS)

HDD: WD7500AAKS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136131

Case: Antec 900 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec%2b900

CPU Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001&Tpk=Tuniq%2bTower%2b120

Power Supply: Corsair CMPSU-620HX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002&Tpk=Corsair%2bCMPSU-620HX

Optical Drive(s): Samsung SH-S203B x 2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153&Tpk=Samsung%2bSH-S203B

Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

CPU: Intel Pentium E2140 Allendale **(updated thanks to lunyone's advice) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116037&Tpk=Intel%2bPentium%2bE2140%2bAllendale
This is only a temporary solution until the new 45nm quads come out. I need a non-45nm CPU anyway as my board may require a bios update before I can use the penryn quads when they come out. Do you think this cpu would significantly bottleneck my gpu? I can always overclock it...but even with an overclock to say 3 ghz (which is possible with this cpu, see the reviews) would the cpu still limit the gpu?

 

[lunyone]

Well it looks like a pretty good build. I'm not sure on the Linux issues, since I don't use linux. All of the parts look good. Only a couple of things to consider.
* I don't use sound cards, because I'm happy with it. The onboard sound these days is pretty good. You can always add in the sound card later, if you feel that the onboard sound isn't cutting it for you.
* If your only getting a CPU for temporarily than could could save some $ and just get a e2160 or e2180. Since you mentioned OC'ing to 3 gHz you could do that with the e2160 or e2180 pretty easily, especially since your getting the TT120!
* Good to see that someone is getting a quality PSU for a quality build! Since your spending about $170 or so, than consider this one below. It has more amps on the 12V rail (60A vs. 50A on the 620w) and has the same/similar 5 yr. warranty. Just an option to consider.
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Crossfire Edition) EPS12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, RoHS - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

 

[akhilles]

I think the mobo makers should stop printing "45nm support/ready" on the mobo boxes cuz beginners don't know they need a non-45nm cpu to flash the bios & buy a 45nm cpu... unless the bios supports 45nm cpus out of the box. Maybe it'll take 3 Texans to file a class-action lawsuit against the manufacturers...

Now ASUS is using 3DMark06 score on their new GPUs.

And EVGA released a board called 780i FTW!

False advertisements FTL!

On topic, the list looks good, but the psu is overkill unless you crossfire or sli, but you don't. A 450-500W brand name one is sufficient.

The most important is that you're building a gaming pc & you spend how much on the sound card? Please, get at least GTS512 if you want to max out everything in games at that resolution.

I'm not sure if you have any idea of how much the 9800X2 costs. Word is $700+ US.

You'll have to overclock the cpu to 3ghz for Mathematica. A quad core would be best for this application.