I'm building my first computer from scratch and would appreciate some feedback on what I've picked out.

Use: I want this primarily for gaming but also for other various uses such as multimedia (I use it t control all the music in my house as well as displaying movies on my tv etc.

Budget: I want to spend about 1400-1500 (for tower alone not including the extras)

Things to keep in mind: I am planning on adding onto this as time goes by. I'm going to add a second HD, a second graphics card and more ram as necessary. So i need the power to be able to do that.

What I really need help with: Really if you know of a better component than what I have for a comparable price I'd love to hear about it. But what I really worry about is both how much power I need (i'm kind of clueless) and making sure that it will all work together. I think that I have EVERYTHING that I need listed and that it will all plug in and work as soon as its all shipped to me (sans the OS).

This is what I'm thinking so far:

NZXT LEXA-NP Black/ Silver Aluminum Construction Plastic Front Panel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6811146018
I like the look of this case and it seems to be able to fit everything I need solidly. I changed cases for better air flow.

ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX $289.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6813131074
I chose this guy because I want a fast mobo that will be able to work with a second graphics card some day. I changed which one I was using because this one uses a type of ram that I'd rather work with.

EVGA 512-P3-N841-A3 GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card $319.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6814130312
Seems to be the best out there for the price. I hope to double up on this guy eventually.

OCZ Silencer 750W Quad SLI Ready Power Supply $139.99
http://www.buy.com/prod/ocz-silenc [...] 39780.html
I picked this one because it was well reviewed I have no idea about power supplies. I hope that 700 will be enough.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 $229.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6819115037
This seems like the best bet for gaming without costing a ridiculous amount.

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6820146565
I could be swayed to change this choice but this seemed like the best bet for the money. Going to go to 4g later on.

Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive $174.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6822136011
I wanted a high speed HD for gaming and later on I'll buy a bigger storage HD.

PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner 2-Tone SATA Model SPD2513BD $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6827248008
Seems like a good price. I don't care too much I'll never use it practically.

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound $5.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6835100007
I know nothing about thermal compound it was just rated well.

ARCTIC COOLING ALPINE 7 92mm CPU Cooler $13.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6835186009
I read really good reviews on this.

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor $309.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6824001096
Ooh purty. And also cheap...

Thanks!

The Raptor is noisy and will ruin your music/TV experience.

I'd pick a CoolerMaster Stacker or an Armor for a SLI build - excellent cooling.

Good mobo/GPU/monitor.

The E8400 will probably require a BIOS flash. I'll try to find out one of these days, but don't know yet.

Get a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W (actually, they call it OCZ Silencer 750W now) from www.buy.com for $10 more than the GameXStream 700W, it's worth it.

Next time you see the friend who recommended the Masscool for an HTPC kick him hard. You choose where.
Get something quiet. www.Anandtech.com has some excellent comparative reviews showing performance and noise for the best coolers out there. If you'd rather just get some names, here: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro (cheap, good performance), Scythe Ninja (medium price, very good performance), Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme+Scythe S-Flex SFF21F fan (expensive, #1 performance among air coolers). All 3 are under 39 dBA even under load. Look at the reviews of the Masscool at newegg, the first 3 all complain.

^^^ Agreed on the cooler. Get a good one.

No, you don't need a bios update. It works with Wolfdales out of the box, but for Yorkfields, a bios update is in order:

http://evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=230745

i updated my first post to reflect the changes that I've made to the build. Please let me know what you think. I'm going to start buying it up really soon.

Samsung SH-S203B is a very good burner and check out this drive and see what you think Seagate Barracuda ST3500320AS 500GB 7200.11 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive.

The cooler is not good enough to get 4ghz. If you don't overclock, scrap the cooler & use Intel's.

Get 780i instead. Or the EVGA 780i for about $280:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131255