Hi all, I do not upgrade frequently due to financial limitations so I would like my new build to last as long as possible. It goes like this:
 
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512mb
RAM: 2x 6400/800 Crucial DDR2 1gb
PSU: Antec EarthWatts 500W
 
I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could evaluate the parts one by one. However if you do not wish to, my key concern is with the motherboard and CPU, since Intel Nehalem series is coming out at Q4 2008, utilising different sockets, which would mean that the LGA775 socket wouldn't suffice for future CPU upgrades. Also, the P45 chipset would be coming out very soon, so I wonder whether that will be more future proof than the P35 chipset (at a good price of course). Thanks in advance.

With new socket on the way, there really isn't a way for you to get a truly future-proof motherboard at this point. P45 would offer no real advantage if the board still uses LGA775. Technically, x38 chipset supports 1600mhz fsb natively, a step up, but the only chip using it is the high costing QX9000s series, so it's really mostly for overclocking. If you really want a Nehalem, might as well get a cheap p35 board and switch mobo later.

Thanks for the advice. Considering the suggestion on getting "a cheap p35 board", would it then be worth it to get a p35 board with support for both DDR2 RAM & DDR3 RAM or would it be better to get a cheaper one that just supports DDR2 RAM?
 
Also I would greatly appreciate it if anybody could comment on the other parts.

If you are going to switch board that soon, get the ddr2. DDR3 is too expensive, not the best bang for the buck.

Other parts are fine, except you might need more than 2gb ram, which is already not enough for gaming, especially in Vista.

I see... but from what I observe the GA-P35C-DS3R isn't much more expensive than the other P35 motherboards. Also, if my CPU and motherboard combination can handle programs and games 2-3 years down the road, then maybe then it may not hurt to upgrade to DDR3 (though I doubt that the performance increase then would be significant).

6-9 months
 
Since there will be a socket changeover for Nehelam, I don't see why P45/P35 will even matter for upgrading to the next Intel release.  I don't know if we have heard about the Tylersburg chipset yet.
 
DDR3 prices and latencies should continue to drop, the shift from DDR2 should pick up momentum.
 
The 8800GT is the least future proof item, but the easiest upgrade - the 9800GT should be out in less than 2 months and by Q4, if not sooner, we should see both ATi's and nVidia's next generation architectures (RV770 and GT200)
 

Hmm so when do you recommend is the best time to upgrade this year? Also will the 9800GT have that much bang for buck as the 8800GT when it first came out?

Regarding the Nehelam, when it comes out, I think it will be rather pricey, and will probably take a while more for the mainstream ones to come out. So I don't think I'll consider it since I'm not quite able to wait till next year to upgrade my amazingly aged computer. How long do you think my build would be able to handle programs and moderate gaming needs?

Don't know where you plan on getting your parts, but you may want to look at Antec's Sonata 3 case at the egg.  It's only like $30-40 more than the Earthwatts 500, and it actually comes with the EA500 as it's PS.  I'd pay the extra $30-40 for that great, quiet case.....
 
As for the rest of your picks, here's my $.02.....
 
Stay with DDR2.  2GB kits are on the cheap now.  Great board, but also look at the Gigabyte board that ends with an "L".  You might be paying for features you don't need with the "R" version.  
 
While I can't really say you've made a bad choice with that CPU, here's what I did....get the E2160 (as well as a ~$25 Acrtic Cooling Freezer 7 cooler).  That total cost was right at $100.  I set the BIOS for FSB 333, and I've got a 3.0 Ghz core 2 Duo.  That's the same as a stock E8400 for ~$100-150 less!!  Only difference is less cache on the chip.  If you want, clock the 2160 up to 3.2 or even 3.4, and should perform fairly close to the stock E8400.  That savings will pay for the MOBO and RAM......
 
Good pick on the GPU, but the 9600GT isn't a bad choice either.
 
When you say that you don't upgrade a lot due to financial limitations, why spend more money than you need to when you do upgrade?
 
As for future proof, just drop in a 45nm quad in a year or two (the MOBO will work with it) when the prices go down to around what the E8400 is today (or less), and plug in a more powerful GPU (all PCI-e 2.0 boards are backwards compatible with the slots on the MOBO you picked).  You can even drop in some more RAM with a 64-bit operating system.
 
Bottom line is, you can still keep the MOBO, PSU, case.....when you upgrade again to a quad with better graphics later.

Thanks for the great advice. I'm getting my parts from my local stores. I'm located in Singapore so it sucks to buy online with the shipping costs. I can get my build for around S$1200 which is around US$800. Guess that isn't a very bad deal.

Regarding the case, I have considered the Sonata III considering that it comes with my desired PSU. But instead I chose the NZXT Apollo due to generally positive reviews (even on Tom's Hardware) whilst not being much more expensive than the Sonata III.

About the financial limitations, that may be a misunderstanding. I can't upgrade very often but when I should I feel I should buy a high-mid end system that can last a decent amount of time.

Hmm and I forgot to add that I'm not extremely ready to overclock my components. And I'm looking at the 45nm's amazing power consumption and temperature levels.

With your advice, I may be looking at the GA-P35-DS3L. It has significantly lesser features, but my main concern is the lack of DDR3 support in case I want to upgrade in the future. Would it be recommended to have DDR3 support, or do you reckon that when DDR3 prices drop to affordable level, it would be time to get a new motherboard?

Thanks for the advice again.

get the gigabyte you want to get at first but get a q6600 instead.as you want future proof as the next years to come application and games will go above dual core.ddr3 doesnt offer much more performance gain.high speed ddr2 with low latency will win ddr3.unless the ddr3 is clocked above 1600mhz.

I think you should stop worrying about DDR3. If you already have 2 GB of DDR2, it's smarter to add another 2 GB of DDR2 than to replace it with 2GB of DDR3. That is, 4 GB of DDR2 beats 2 GB of DDR3.  
 
For example I have a GA-P35C-DS3R with 4 GB of DDR2, and my next RAM upgrade will be to add 4 more GB of DDR2, not to replace the DDR2 with DDR3. If the mobo could support both DDR2 and DDR3 at the same time it would be worth it, but you have to take out the DDR2 before you add the DDR3. I got the GA-P35C-DS3R because I wanted eSATA and because the GA-P35-DS3R was then hard to find where I live, not for the DDR3 support.
 
The GA-P35-DS3L is fine if you can live with at most 3 hard drives and a DVD burner, and you don't need RAID support. Otherwise look at the GA-P35-DS3R or the GA-P35-DS4.
 
Another vote for the Q6600. Maybe a Q9300, if you want. That should last you for several years. The Q9300, compared to Q6600, means: $50 more, better overclocking (which you won't use), about 9% faster (thanks to 4% higher clock, more cache, some internal improvements).
 

yeah q6600 with high speed ddr2 along with low latency!thats the way to go!

Thanks for all the advice. At my side, the Q6600 is slightly more expensive than the E8400. However, I still need more advice as to whether I should spend more money on the Q6600, or whether I should get the E8400 first, then wait till the Yorksfield Quad processors prices drop to a suitable standard, then upgrade. Also, I also wonder whether the 1066 FSB of the Q6600 would affect it significantly compared to the 1333 FSB of the E8400.

you are one of those people who get fool by intel's fsb marketing strategy.with higher fsb the actual cpu performance would be different.but of course memory performance will be effected.but to over come that you can overclock the fsb to gain extra performance.and if you already got e8400 for now.its not worth the ungrade to yorksfield.it will be worth it until the price drop as you said.but dont expect it until next summer.

I'd say go for Q6600. Once more quad optimized applications appear, the performance difference between quad and dual core would be massive. Q9450 performs better than Q6600, but not significantly, and it cost $140 more. Q9330 performs worse than Q6600 for more money, which doesn't make sense.

 
Don't worry about the fsb. I remember some articles long ago comparing a slightly overclocked E6600 with an E6750 at stock. They had the same clock, the fsb was the only difference, and the performance difference was negligible, something like 0% to 7% depending on the type of benchmark. Same story with Q6600 and QX6850.

Wow thanks a lot guys your advice is great. By the way I am thinking of pushing my build to June. Do you estimate there would be any changes that I should take note of?

I heard intel is cutting price around end of april. so you might save maybe
maybe around 80$ or so by June because tech prices drop quickly and June is pretty far off. Im just guessing all this so it might not be accurate just a guess.
=]

I heard that too, but rumors like that are always around, and don't come true very often. Might as well just get what's best bang for the buck now.