[Home built System help]

I think Tom had an article on real-world benefits of the PCI-E 2.0.

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 15-10.html

From the looks of it I find mult. points of failure. HD is too small and wont be quick, need to spend $100 on 7200.11 500 GB w/32 cache.

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 - is cheaper and top of the line. Only issue might be that wouldn't fix in your case but I don't think that is the case.

EVGA 8800 GT OC version - for a cheap video card

MB - I go P35 chip set unless you were going to do SLI, which I am guessing you aren't (P5K-E is favorite)

PSU - OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W save you a few bucks as well. You could even go down to a 500 W if it was a solid brand. I like the OCZ because you always want to over do the power and not under.

Case - Antec Nine Hundred has the most review for a good reason on newegg. Could go with others but again A900 is cheaper.

Personally I go with 4 gigs on memory then 2 gigs.. Even running in XP or Vista 32 where they can't see all 4 gigs. They see enough to make a difference. Go with 2 gig card when getting the memory rather then 1 gig card which you have listed. 4 x 1 gig cards makes more heat and uses more energy.

Good luck Chris

From what i've heard, PCI 1.1 is barely used to full potential (if that even) so I would guess no matter what, any PCI 2.0 card is not going to be used to full potential. Can someone confirm/deny this? also, if you are sticking with the 8800gt over the gts, I would be inclined to recommend your first choice (MSI) because it has a nice aftermarket cooler, which is nice since the single slot GT's are notorious for running hot.

Please take my advice with a large grain of salt until someone confirms this fully...