new build

Well do you have a budget? that would make things easier.
Nice PSU choice though.

I would recommend Crusial memory, I have Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

- - - - - -
Palit 8800GT Super 1GB 700/950 SLI
E6600 @ 3.6 1.47v
Asus P5N-e SLI @ 400
GSkill 2x1Gb DDR800
WD 74GB Raptor
Audigy ZS
Hiper TypeR 580 PSU
Antec 900 v.2
LG L226WTY-BF
3Dmark06 16200

Crysis & CoD4 are pretty taxing on the GPU. And at the future higher resolution of 1080-1200.

Assuming you're the kind of guy that maxes out everything in games, and you're not upgrading in a few years:

E8400/E3110 (same thing)
ASUS P5E3 Premium
2X1GB DDR3 1066-1333MHZ
9800GTX
Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620 watt
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.11 SATAII
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
LG 20X DVD+R E-IDE
Thermaltake Armor Series Black Full Tower

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx? [...] 3=640&l4=0

Since you're gonna overclock the cpu moderately to extremely, I suggest you look at a pre-built watercooling cpu cooling kit like:

Swiftech H20-220 Compact CPU Liquid Cooling Kit
Corsair Nautilus 500 Water Cooler

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g3 [...] _Kits.html
http://www.jab-tech.com/Water-Cool [...] -c-58.html
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cat [...] &cPath=202
http://www.petrastechshop.com/wacoki.html
http://www.svc.com/water-cooling-kit.html

or if you're comfortable with DIY kits:

Petra'sTech CoolKit Elite - Rev.2

Or better yet, a TEC kit which uses more power to cool better than H2O:

Ultra ChillTec Thermo Electric CPU Cooler
CoolIT Freezone Refurb $150 US or new $180

http://www.coolitsystems.com/ (click where to buy, buy direct)
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cat [...] s_id=21604

The best cooling would be phase change for $700-$1000+ per unit. It's basically an AC for PC. Sub-zero temps. But some cpus won't work due to cold-bug (cpu stops working at certain temps). LN2 & DICE for less are not maintenance-free (babysit the cooling as long as the pc is on). So a H2O or TEC kit would be the best for most every cpu. You can overclock the E8400/X3110 to 4.2-4.5ghz on H2O/TEC. On air, it's 4.2ghz tops.

I would wait for the new platform if you really want DDR3. There is an interesting article on Tom's homepage about DDR2/DDR3. I am not basing my opinion strictly on that article though, just don't think you gain anything over DDR2 for the price you have to pay.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/0 [...] eed_tests/

These coolers are really getting a following, to me water and computers don't go together;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233012

ok well how about the quad core?

which of those quads is easiest to OC?

If you are going to use any kind of liquid cooling, I would suggest swapping out the conventional wall outlet and replacing it with a GFCI outlet.

I confirm akhilles' figures or estimates, whichever they may be, about the Q6600.

I have a Q6600/TR Ultra 120 Ext. in a Gigabyte EP35-DS3P breadboarded on my work table. Loaded with Prime95 at 1.45 volts, it will run at 3.6 GHz. However, the motherboard temp alarm, set to 70 deg. C, occasionally goes off. And temps under load sit at about 65 C. That's too high for my comfort. Ambient is about 24 C.

At 3.3 GHz and 1.35 volts (where I will settle), temps are running at about 52 - 55 C. on the four cores. I would not be surprised if temps rise a little after installing the system in a case - Antec 900. I suspect that with really good cooling, this particular chip will run at 3.8 GHz.

To prevent electrical shocks/fires? But you can get a non-conductive coolant.