all input is welcome

I am about to purchase components to replace my P4 system, here is all the info

-gaming (call of duty 4, ghost recon 2, unreal tournment 3, gears of war...try crysis since i already got it..thats it for the current games i got all the others are a little bit older)
-lots of downloading large files, movies, software, lots of multitasking ie, downloading several large files at once, girlfriend watching a movie on the tv that is connected and me doing something on the PC while listening to music on the headphones all at the same time
-Definitely under CAN$700 tax IN
-Canada, nothing will be bought online
-Intel and Nvidia fanboy, as far as anything else it does not matter
-My large case, Video Card for now will remain XFX 7800 GTX leaving an upgrade path for the 9XXX series, logitech controlls (kb, m), LCD monitor, DVD burner, Floppy drive, sound is driven by my HT receiver 5.1 jbl/pioneer thx system using a digital out on the MB, so no need for tiny PC speakers
-run it default at the beginning, once i get bored or need more performance i will over clock everything i can to safe limits

here is what i have chosen so far (using 32bit XP btw), all prices in canadian dollars not including 13% tax ;-(
Intel E8400 $219.95
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R ; DDR2/DDR3, P35 + ICH9R $154.99
Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4 ; DDR2 800MHz 4-4-4-12 E.P.P. $79.97 - 40 rebate = 39.97
Seagate 7200.11 SATA NCQ 3.0Gb/s 500GB 32MB Cache $124.99
OCZ 600W Stealth XStream Power Supply $82.95 - 8 rebate = 74.95

Total with tax minus rebates = $701.05

Should i bite the bullet and go for it ? thanx a lot guys...

PS: btw the LCD i am using is 17" so max resolution is 1280x1024 for now so i think the video card will be ok untill i save more funds for something faster

yep... that sounds pretty solid, from a quick lookover ... be aware that your mobo may not support the newer nVidia cards (i'm no mobo expert - ask someone else) but other than that i think it's solid .

ofc, you could go quad... since you seem to multitask

yeah thats a good point, will the new nVidia's work only on PCIe 2.0 ? i think the gigabyte board is PCIe 1.0 ?

quad is not so good for games, all my applications are designed for single core, games are best on dual core, so hence the e8400, i think its better for me but i have thought about it, and like the e8400 more for the price

also is the PSU overkill >? right now i am using a 450W unit but i think its a 20 pin MB connector on it, not 24 pin, not too sure

thanks

dunno actually; i think they may still be pcie backwards compatible but i have no real idea... so don't quote me on it

also, yeh, stick with the E8400 then... bang for buck game-wise... doubt your PSU will cut it though, upgrade to something better, esp if you plan to sli/overclock

I think the mobo is PCIe 1.0, which means if the GPU is 2.0 it will only run at 1.0 but should work. I think you may have to get a X38 mobo for 2.0

so the 9 series is definitely 2.0 ?

sucks, i cannot afford a X38, so i will have to settle for the fastest 8800 available at the time of upgrade then...

no i dont plan SLI, but overclocking is an option, i hear the Gigabyte MB i have chosen is a great overclocker

bump help me with my future system

From what I know the 9 series will be a PCIe2.0 card but it still supports the older PCIe1.0, so no worries there. If you want to upgrade later on it should be fine.

Keep in mind that the PCIe2.0 is said to have a decent performance increase.

Actually PCIe 2.0 has no performance increase.
Top cards right now use just over 1/2 the bandwidth of PCIE 1.0, so it's unlikely any new PCIe cards coming out anytime soon will significantly flood it.

There are rumors of temperature problems with the e8400.
You might want to consider the Q6600.