well for starters im using a alienware for the last 6 years... its a 2.8 P4 1 gig ram piece of **** and its gotta go...
 
As of right now i play star wars galaxies, and mostly always play MMO's.
 
I know for a fact that in the future im gonna be playin games like warhammer online even kotor online in 09... but what im tryin to build is a PC that i wont regret in a year or 2... I absolutely hate that regretful feeling when buying stuff and this is whats made me hold back on makin a new pc.
 
another thing that kinda scares me is overclocking... alot of ppl tell me the q6600 benefits alot from being overclocked and well... im just ordering the parts, i aint even building the damn thing. i got another guy who does it and he dont overclock cause he dont wanna be blamed for any dmg to the parts.
 
what i got so far is:
 
I value good reviews and this board seems to fit right in w/ that... its got everything i want except for the PCI x 16 2.0 slot, but im not sure if i really do need that... do i?
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6813128059
 
i hear this cards probably the best budget/performance card. again awesome reviews and looks sick.
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6814130325
 
Again lol great reviews, might be more power than i need tho. ide prefer a modular to keep the case cleaner.
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6817341002
 
My only fear here is the Go stepping... not exactly sure what it is and how exactly im gonna get it w/o a hassle.
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6819115017
 
Has good Cas, a $35 mail in rebate and great reviews.
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6820146565 x2
 
Dont really care about how much it holds. i use an 80 gig right now and im only using half of it.
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6822136012
 
w/ a case and dvd burner this comes out to about $1100 and theres then a $130 in rebates so im liking the price, just not sure on the actual performance of the machine... mainly will it bottleneck anywhere or give me any trouble down the road.
 
Edit** i forgot i only use a 22" LCD monitor, and never plan on going past that. i run 1440x900 (just a preference)  
i was told that SLI is only really an option once u hit the 24" range, other than that it isnt really worth it. any truth to this?

Yes.. True about SLI.. And it is still in an early phase... So, for resolutions below 1680X1050, you just need a good card.. The one you have picked out seems right to me, IMO... And it will still perform well above these resolutions..

PS.... Do u really need a 10,000rpm HDD?? Save some more cash by getting Seagate Barracuda..  
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148288
 
See if u like this one..

Get this modular power supply, good deal;
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-52 [...] 70716.html
 
 
 
 
 

Here's copy of a build that I put together recently, but will give you an idea on a $1k build.
 
Okay here it goes. This will give you plenty of power for now and give you good GPU power for the $.  
 
CPU - $250  
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 8MB cache Retail ***Free Shipping***  
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] Code=80864  
 
Mobo - $98 - $30 MIR = $68!! One of the best budget p35 mobo's out there.  
ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813127031  
 
GPU - $277 - $30 MIR = $307!! You can upgrade within 90 days using the "Step Up" program, if you want to get the latest GPU. Limited Lifetime Warranty!  
EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130325  
 
PSU - $120 - $20 MIR = $100!!! One of the best PSU's you can get in this price range. Has plenty of connections for your upgrade needs! Has 5 yr. warranty too!  
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX ATX12V / EPS12V 650W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC, CCC - Retail  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139005  
 
Memory - $107 - $15 MIR = $92!! Cheap and fast CAS 4 DDR2. Allows you to upgrade to 8gb's later, if you like.  
Patriot Viper 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220293  
 
HD - $100!! You'll enjoy the extra space. If you need more, just buy more now or just buy another HD later.  
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136073  
 
DVD Burner - $29 shipped!! This is the retail version, so you can view/burn DVD's, because the software is included!  
PHILIPS 2-Tone 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - Retail  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827248008  
 
Case - $57 shipped! One of the better budget cases out there. Currently there aren't any really good steals, so this is what I found. I'd go for a Antec 900 or Cooler Master 690 case, if they were on sale. They usually are around $60-70 when they are on sale, so consider those when they hit the sales rack!  
COOLER MASTER CAC-T05-UB Centurion 5 Mid Tower Case (Blue) Retail  
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] ode=141783  
 
Total ~$1,023 - $95 MIR's = $928!!! Not bad for under $1k. You can obviously find better deals if you go hunting for them, but these are from reputable online vendors, so take that into consideration. Newegg seems to have the best customer service, but doesn't always have a good price on things, so shop around before you purchase.  

@lunyone ive read thru a bunch of other posts on the forums and have seen you post that same build before, but what really is the difference between that one and mine?

also i was going to get a 10k rpm HD w/ less capacity simply for performance reasons, are u sure it wont make a big difference?

@chuckm also while that modular PSU looks nice, its alot less power than the one i had... do i really need 700w or will 520 be more than enough? i kinda want it to be more than enough considering they are the same price

it won't... the new seagate drives as well as the samsung spinpoint Ts are within miliseconds of the Raptors speeds, but a whole lot cheaper... so in terms of [performance it's the same thing but cheaper...

oh and for memory, is there really a speed difference between the 800's and the 1066's?

ok i removed my HD and Ram from my wishlist and im adding these 2
 
 
probably gonna go w/ the ram that was suggested, the patriot, for the upgrade option down the line whenever i get vista and its the closest price to my $60 ram (if i ever do upgrade tho, will 8 gigs or ram ever bottleneck from the old parts?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220293
 
and im goin w/ this barracuda HD from what everyone says
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6822148288

I have owned 4 Raptors and no matter what anyone tries to tell you, they do improve the overall performance of your system. I have owned others from Seagate and Western Digital, even ones with more cache and they don't perform like the Raptors. Systems seem quicker with a Raptor. Not ALL but most people that try to detour people from owning Raptors have never owned one. I will always run a Raptor as my main drive. I don't think RAID is worth it but a single Raptor is great. I have never had a Raptor fail, enterprise level means it's built to last. I have had drives fail from every other maker at some point. If reliability is an absolute necessity and you don't need 500GB of storage then the Raptor is an excellent choice. I've owned a 36GB, 2x74GB, and a 150GB Raptor X, all excellent drives. You can always add a slower large capacity drive for storage later.

Cisco, I don't think anyone is disagreeing to the fact that raptors are faster.  But the new sata drives with Perpendicular recording technology are closing that gap in performance and at a much cheaper cost.  
 
Considering that you can get a 250GB Barracuda with Perpendicular technology for 69.99 shipped vs a 150GB raptor for 169.99 shipped people find it's better to have more storage and put that $100 into things like a GPU or more memory where they would see a huge in game performance increase instead of just load times.
 
I think it all comes down to budget.  If you have the money I am sure Raptors are great but if someone is on a strict budget that $100 is better spent else where.

still alota newb questions unanswered, anyone, anyone at all?

I think it's a great build IMO!  For me, personally, I'd go with the 8800GT 512 over the 8800GTS, but everything you read and hear seems to have a different take on which card is better.  Some say 8800GT, some say 8800GTS, ATi cards, some say 9600GT, and so on goes the list...
 
Based on your statement of having newbie questions, it sounds to me like you want a system that is going to last you the long haul and you do not intend to overclock (at least not right now).  Well, here's the bad news...no matter what you buy today, two years from now, you're going to be scratching your head going "what the hell?"  You're heading in the right direction to play the games you see on the horizon, but its the games just after those that are going to leave you with that feeling again.
 
The one true benefit you will have is the satisfaction of building it yourself and saving a good $1000.00 for doing so, but no matter what...your PC will eventually become obsolete as Intel, AMD, nVidia and ATi continue to break barriers with new technology at a damn cheetah's pace.  You dive in and buy today, the new processor technology drops tomorrow.  You wait until tomorrow, you pay a premium price for the newest technology.  
 
Onto your HD.  I have never owned a Raptor, but I agree with many other people...the cost isn't really worth it for the performance gains.  Do the 2 second decrease in load times mean enough for $100 increase in price?  If you have the cash, drop it then...otherwise, follow the suggestions of some of the others and redirect the money into another part of your PC.  Maybe get 4gigs of RAM...maybe wait a month and get the 9800GX2 video card when it drops on us...maybe get yourself a sound card and some nice 5.1 headphones...whatever you decide to do, it's all relative.
 
What you have originally started with is a good build and you should make sure you are happy and content when you click "purchase" on newegg and get those parts you've decided on.  
 
Good luck!  And remember...have fun!  Get yourself a nice bottle of wine for when you sit down to actually piece this bad boy together....but drink slowly...just to get loose...don't get getting tipsy and f-ing something up.

Pci ex-2 is nothing (at least today), but crossfire going to be a great deal.

If you do not want overclock.... still you have the benefits of Q6600.But today I recommend a  GA-MA790FX mobo that supports Quad crossfire and upcomming 45n phenoms.if you want a value product try this chipset (790fx) and (770) in gigabyte/biostar or foxconn but be sure they are am2+ ready!!!!! .taday buy a 6000+  or 6400+ (not black edition which is nothing) as a value product and wait for next phenoms.

I am talking about buying a better m/b than buying a quad cpu.(to have the choice of crossfire and you can buy a better cpu next year )

I never recommend  very low-priced vga cards because:
many of them changed the default clocks to lower clocks
many of them are noisy because the campany used low quality coolers.
for this time 3870 x2 performs faster with better picture quality.it costs around 450$.
or 3870 in around 190$.This is the most importent choice for gaming.
If you are nvidia fan 8800 gts is a good performed product and Evga and XFX are trusted brands.but be careful picture quality of nvidia is lower than Ati all the times in same detail option of the game and crossfire performance gain is higher than SLI.

for ATI use at least  400 watt power or higher. be sure the power have two of +12V system voltage not a shared 12V.you can find it under 100$
For nVidia you should buy a 600+ watt power.
250 gig hdd is a valuable product .you can find it under 60$

SLI and crossfire are not depend on your monitor.they improve performance .
SLI:50 % for two and nothing! gain for triple
Crossfire :80% for one and 60% gain for any more.

you can choose low priced valu rams from this or other brands. PC6400 is the only thing you need. So rebate is not importent there.

Agreed. That drive is a 7200.11 so it is only a few miliseconds slower than a Raptor.

but milliseconds is going to seconds when you use a hug data to load:
1000 millisecond=1 second
Imagine flight sim X (2006 game) with 8 GB texture in one load!

He still won't be able to tell a difference.