Ah, how sweet it is to hear the wife say "..oh, just buy it.." YES! After building for my two brothers, I get to build MY OWN! YESSS! Current rig is like 4 years old.... can't re-use much stuff except the newer DVD/RW I just bought last year.

So, my budget is around $900. It's a gaming PC, no plans on OC'ing (if I do, it'll be very little). Also no plans to SLI either. Already have monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.. So, here's my part list;

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply
MB: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35
Memory: 4 gigs total - Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Video: MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
HD: Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA-300
CPU: INTEL Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00 GHz 1333 MHz 775 6MB


For sound card, just going to re-use my SB Audigy, also just going to re-use my DVD/CD/RW (it's IDE, but oh well, it'll do for now).

Price for the above parts comes in just over $900 (that's why I'm re-using the DVD/RW and sound card to keep $$ down).

Look good to ya'll? PSU probably overkill, but I want one that'll last a while and is reliable. And the memory is approved on Gigabyte's website... So, any input? Can't add any more $$$ to the build, so unless I part swap, can't add any more expensive items.

MSI = Rubish
For WD hdd's that a JS/AAJS - 8mb cache, look for the AAKS model - 16mb cache
PSU - double check with other first on that model, i prefer acbell or antec but just see.
CPU - overclocking? you can get like a 2180 or lower and clock it to match for cheaper, or just overclock that 8400 and get ~3.5+?

Don't know much about the MSI, looked good on NewEgg, hehe.. and is factory OC'd.. What 8800GT do you have or recommend? Guess I'll have to hit the reviews again.

Thanks for the heads up on the HDD, will check that out and see the price diff.

As far as OC'ing, I was thinking about a Conroe 2.66 and bumping it up, but the 8400 has a bigger cache... and is only $50 more. But I'm a total OC rookie, and the thought of frying an expensive piece of hardware makes me sweat profusely. lol

then take the E8400...

I bought this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127329

can't beat the performance for 199.99. Plus, it comes OC'ed, with an excellent factory cooler, which the EVGA's etc do not come with, plus the vent in the back that pushes hot air out of the case, rather then into it.

4gb of memory is best in a 2x2gb configuration. It is cheaper, and preserves your option to go to 8gb.
Look at the corsair xms 4gb kit. $74 after rebate. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145184

Love the E8400.

EVGA, XMS, and perhaps BFG are the good vga card vendors.

Get a Evga 8800GTS 512MB. I have the same board and processor with an 8800GT 512MB. I love this setup, absolutely incredible! Good luck!

Btw... don't get 4GB RAM unless you're going to install Vista 64bit. 32bit Vista only reads upto 3GB at most.

If you don't plan to SLI or Crossfire in the near future the GA P35 DS3L is a great board for about $100. It also is supposed to overclock really well.

I just used an E8400 in my build it runs circles around my old P4 2.4ghz. It has issues with the temp readings though, something involving the diodes. Hasn't given me any problems yet.

The 550VX is only $60 at www.buy.com - just in case you were planning to spend more for it.

I like that MSI 8800GT. Whatever flavor of 8800GT you buy, make sure it has a dual-slot cooler. The MSI does have it, Gigabyte too, XFX doesn't, I don't know about eVGA right now.

Even better, the GTS 512MB has 128 stream processors as opposed to 112 in the GT. Also, AFAIK all the 8800GTS 512MB have good coolers, no more worries there. Also, the GTS overclocks better.

Not sure about "3 GB at most". I've seen people with 3.25 or 3.5. It's true though, with a 32-bit Windows you won't use the full 4GB.

Power supply is a good one. Here's the review that locked it in for me. http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/arti [...] VzaWFzdA==

Second on getting 2x2G ram over 4x1G. Ram is cheep, but to throw away 4 sticks if you switch to a 64bit OS... Price range on the egg are $83 - $139 before MIRs. Since you're looking at about ~$100. These are the ones I have on order. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231122

Lol I was laughing at your post, man. See, this is exactly why I'm not married: I don't have to get approval from anyone! muahah! Then again, I'm only 19, maybe someday i'll have to face what you are facing now..oh well, at least now I have my freedom for now haha.

I think your system looks great, I am going to grab an e8400 as soon as I can get the money together.

If you get that case... get an extra 120mm fan to mount in the front for intake... I've got the case and have cooling issues because I'm too lazy to get an extra fan.

If you wanted, you could look at a build like this: (if you OC)
Case: Antec900 (Newegg = $100 with free shipping)
PSU: Antec NeoHE 550w = $75 on the egg
CPU: Intel E2180 (1.8 stock, easy to get 3.0) =$80
Mobo: (Same) $80
Cooler: Arctic Freezer 7 = ~$30
HDD: Seagate 250 GB = $70
RAM: G.Skill 2 x 2gb ddr2 800 = $90
~~~~
All that is $525 before shipping, leaving you quite a bit to spend on GPU, which tends to be the bottleneck of most systems anyway.
~~~~

Hopefully that helps a little, good luck with your build sir.

Go with the wolfdales, i understand the 2180 has a great overclock potential, but for 1. hes doesnt want to overclock a whole lot, and 2. the wolfdales regardless of what you get the 2180 up to is going to out perform it everytime. Another reason to go 2x2 on your ram is it requires less voltage, and doesnt stress out the mobo nearly as much, plus you would have to kick up your voltage to get some stable performance if you went with four sticks.

true on the wolfdale comments, but then again, the wolfdale is a lot more expensive...