I am about to build me a new system.
Most of the time I will be playing games with it.
Please review the parts. I am not an expert and I could make big mistakes…
Thanks for any help.
I will not use SLI and I will not OC the system.
CPU: Intel E8500 (from the benchmarks here at tom’s looks ok)
Motherboard: please advice.
RAM: 4GB should it be. Here are my options… (DDR2 800MHZ) Lower CL is better? 2x1GB Kingston HyperX CL4
2x1GB Corsair XMS2 TwinX CL5
2x1GB Corsair XMS2 TwinX CL4
2x1GB Corsair DHX TwinX CL5
2x1GB Corsair DHX TwinX CL4
2x2GB OCZ Vista Upgrade Copper Mirrored XTC Heatspreader
2x2GB Corsair DHX TwinX CL5
Power supply: here are my options
Thermaltake
TR2 Power W0101 550W Silent (24pin)
ToughPower W0103 600W PFC (24pin)
Enermax
Noisetaker II EG701AX-VE 600W Dual Fan
Antec
TruePower Trio 650W Active PFC (12cm Fan) (24pin)
I would personally go for an E8400 and Corsair Ballistix DDR2-800 memory.
As far as a video card, you can't do much better than an 8800 GT right now. Of course, if you take my advice and go for the E8400, you can grab an 8800 GTS 512 with the money you save. Also, I would get an EVGA card rather than one made by ASUS. Better warranty, and you get the Step-Up program to boot.
I like the looks of that Antec PSU. Of course, I prefer Corsair, but it looks like that might not be an option for you for some reason.
Hard drive looks great. Can't do better than Seagate.
Oh, forgot the motherboard. Go for a Gigabyte with a P35 chipset. Their P35s range from $90 to ~$200. Personally, I would just grab the P35-DS3L for $90 (especially if you are not overclocking), but they make the same chipset with nicer features for a bit more. Just depends on how much you can/want to spend.
Looks like you've got a good list of choices. Have to agree with Cpt Deadboots. Video card looks good, Antec PSU is good. I'm personally a Corsair memory fan, but I've read lots of folks like their OCZ memory.
Definitely do an intel based motherboard. Don't go for an nForce board like I did. At least not with an Intel CPU.
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Intel Q6600 / XFX 680i LT SLI / 8800 GTS (G92)
4x1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-6400 (800Mhz) / WD 400GB SATA 3.0
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit SP1