I am finely upgrading from my 2002 alienware.  Here is what I am thinking.
MB:   Asus Maximus Formulahttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131227
Cpu:  E8400
Gpu:  3870X2
Memory:  2G of something in the $130 price range. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145043
PSU:  Need recommendations.  Also in the $130 price range.
HDD:  250gb seagate sata http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148262
OS:  Win xp pro because I already have.
 
I like the Maximus Formula because it supports ddr2 and two x16 crossfire.  I won't be using cross fire right now so If I have to upgrade the psu latter that is okay.  I do with that it had a sata port on the back.
 
Any suggestions for changing anything
 
Thankyou

make sure the board ships with 0907 bios or it wont post with the E8400 (knows from experience).
 
Any corsair modular PSU is great, but if you're upgrading later then it doesn't really matter then does it.

So what do you think about this psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817153038
It also looks like the e8400 is in high demand, I could go with the E8400 oem or a q6600.  besides no heat sink what is different about the oem?
Any other thoughts about the motherboard?
Also a zeotherm nirvana http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835887011
For the gpu I'm thinking vision tech.
I'm going to use my antec case from my alienware.
 
Any comments?

Sidd, go with the Xeon E3110,its the same chip, its in stock(not for long), and its cheaper.

Too late, I'll dig deeper, but  a quick search shows it our of stock.  I think I will order the E8400 oem if I can find out what the difference is.

think a seagate 7200.11 will be faster and have 500 gigs. I got two open box for $100 a piece. Even new still worth it.

q6600 price droped a few bucks over past few days. Personally in future is better pick IMO.

Sidd, WOW you are right. I got mine a few days ago for 212 off of amazon. Now, sold out.

Running that mobo with a q6600. The mothboard is very nice and even has a reset CMOS button on the i/o plate. You will need to flash the bios to run the e8400 (ez-flash can do that). If you go for the q6600 you'll want the G0 stepping version.

Newegg doesn't say what the stepping is.  Is there any other way to tell the stepping besides the slacr?
 
Stupid question:  when running programs that don't utilize multiple cores, how much slower will the Q6600 be compared to the E8400 or 3110.
 
I notice toms charts say that the Q6600 is faster.  Is that four cores against two?
 
Last night of midnights.  It's getting so hard to think. Sry

I ordered it.  I ended up ordering the q6600 from tigerdirect so I could get the stepping.  Everything else was from newegg.

The reason the e8400 is sought after is that it overclocks to 4ghz+ EASY only using an air cooler, which then has it ahead of the NON Overclock q6600.  To push the q6600 clock speeds high, water cooling is preffered.
 
 
 

All put together now.  Seems to be working except for the sound card.  I get the hda audio bus driver error.  I found the fix however I can't install it.  When I do I get an error saying something about wnt_5.1p. I'm stumped.  Does anyone out there have a fix for this?

What OS are you running? Check for compatibility. Also what sound card are you using

bad move, u went with a slower cpu q6600 instead of a much faster e8400. Screw quad, they are not many software utilize all 4 cores, not even gaming.Even if is future proof, i still wouldnt go for q6600, by then they will be much faster cpus, and q6600 will be obsolete, and q6600 its kinda old now.

 
Don't worry you did right by getting the Q6600, you can easily get 3GHz-3.6GHz. Have a look at Supreme Comander using the QX6850 (which is = to a Q6600 at 3GHz) @ 3GHz, it beats the E8400. Look at Prey same, Q6600 @ 3GHz wins. Even Microsoft's Flight Sim eats up all for cores.  

and e8400 beats q6600 at an easy overclock at 3.6, and badly beats it at 4.0.

Couldn't find a E8400, or a 3110.  Besides.  I don't need a fast computer, I spent all my money on a computer so the games will have to wait for now.  JK.  For right now the q6600 at 3.0 will be fine for me.  Maybe I should have gotten the 8400, but, it's not all that bad.  I think that my temp prob might be broken.  I'm getting 16C on the cpu.  
 
xp pro

 
Show me where the E8400 badly beats it at 4.0GHz, some links please. Most Q6600's (with a good cooling system) can get to 3.6GHz, 400MHz more isn't much of a gain.