Well -- I'm gonna try it! Here is what I'm thinking... any red flags? Is it ok that I picked the OEM Vista? I really wanna keep this as straight forward as possible.  
 
Ultra m998
 
PC Power & cooling 610
 
Intel e8400
 
EVGA nForce 780i
 
G.Skill 2x2g
 
EVGA 8800GTS 512 (g92)
 
Creative Labs X-FI X-Gamer
 
WD 500g SATA
 
Asus 20/32 Lightscribe
 
Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit DVD - OEM

OEM is fine.  I would never buy a retail OS (except OSX its cheap anyway).  Unless your the kind of person who needs tech support from some moron on a phone (forums are better).  
 
everything looks fine, only thing is your links aren't working (for me anyway).  But I have looked at most of those components myself when I built my own just a few days ago and look as everything works together.  Only thing is, do you want to do SLI?  if not you could go with a cheaper Mobo.  
 
good luck.  

OK, lemme see iffin' i got this right... if ya ain't gonna use sli right away -- then there are better mobo options than 780i?
 
Whatcha tink of this... GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R?

^Agreed with P35-DS3R. Check out:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] w=0&nojs=0
for OCing help. The settings are very smiler/same for DS3R.

Another vote on dropping that MOBO, unless you plan on sli soon.
Nice choice of PSU though. I would recomend this HDD,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148288

Oh-tay... this is good stuff!
 
Is there any advantage to using a gigabyte video card on a gigabyte mb... they play nicer with each other?
 
Also -- I can pick faster memory?  up from 800 to 1066?

 
its the 790i that is causing data corruption: http://en.hardspell.com/doc/showcont.asp?news_id=3166

This beats a WD5000AAKS in performance and cost/gigabyte
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136218
 
http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3279&p=1
All 7x0i boards have issues.

 
No comment on the sanity or lack thereof, but I would avoid the 7xx series motherboards like the plague as well. Until or unless Nvidia figures out how to cure the problems, they are just too unreliable for my taste.

^Agreed.

Welp -- how about these adjustments...
 
GA-EP35-DS3R
 
OCZ Reaper (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066
 
WD640
 
Any advantage to pairing a gigabyte mobo with a gigabyte gpu?
 
Do ya'll think I need to upgrade the fam and anti-heat slime or is stock good enough?

The motherboard & harddrive are good choices.
That RAM is good if you intend to overclock beyond 3.6GHz otherwise it's a waste (2x2GB DDR2, PC2-6400 would do).
Also keep in mind that if you intend to overclock beyond 3.6-4.0GHz an aftermarket heatsink and fan would be wise.
Cheap but good : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186134
Great performance : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233003
Another option is the Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme + Scythe S-Flex SFF21F 120mm  
 
There is no real advantage from pairing a gigabyte mobo with a gigabyte gpu.
 
Have fun and good luck.