First Computer Build, please advise

I'm building a tower for the first time and I would greatly appriciate ANY comments or suggestions for my build. I'll be running XP with the new rig.

P: QX6700

I was thinking of the 6850 but from what I understand, I can simply overclock the 6700 to 3.0 and performance wise, it'll be the same.

MB: ASUS P5QC LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX

Asus are supposedly pretty solid as a MB, or so I've heard. This is probably the best MB I could find for the price range I was looking at.

VC: VisionTek 900241 Radeon HD 4850

I may decide to either run parallel or have it as a single card, not sure yet.

PS: ___

No idea. Some have told me that a 550w will not be enough to run the card, while others said it would be fine. Would I be better off with a 700w+ ps?

C: ___

No clue. I don't need one that's flashy but definitely one that will accommodate future video cards and/or components.

Ram: ____


This has been a huge pain in the ass. I've been getting all kinds of recommendations. I want to run 4gb. Someone told me that XP can only recognize 3gbs....really?



As you can see, i'm still a far ways off before I can start building. Any insight would be great.

I think he meant case, in which id say Antec 900 is probably the most commonly recommended.

However I like the way the antec 1200 looks a bit better, and it has washable filters which I think is pretty cool.

just wondering why the qx6700, why not like the q9550 and overclock that?
dont get a motherboard with both types of ram just get a normal ddr2 motherboard if you are buying before nahelm
i really like my corsair vx550, but the corsair hx620 is modular, a little old but...
get ddr2 800 ram whatever happens to be cheap and a good brand when you buy

both asus and gigabyte have their fanbois but when it comes down to it both are generally very good boards

Ok! So I think i've put together the build. Please critique this system for compatibility and add any suggestions that you may have.

I have a QX6850 processor in wait as the brains.

I am looking at ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX. It has a crossfire function, which I will be taking advantage of later on down the road. I'll only be running 32-bit xp right now, but I will probably upgrade to vista in the future (soon).

The power supply will be a Thermaltake 850-Watt TR2 RX Power Supply. This, I believe, will easily handle everything I throw at it (including a secondary card in the future).

I'll have one 4850 card for now, and in about a couple months, i'll upgrade to two newer cards.

The case i'm going to be using is a Thermaltake Soprano Mid-Tower Case (Mo. 8763126). This was kinda just a random pick, of sorts. I don't want to spend too much on a case (I can get this one for $50).

The ram is up in the air but i'll probably put 4gbs in there even though xp will only recognize 3 (2gbx2). Suggestions?



So thats the build. This is my first computer i've ever put together so i'm kinda nervous about everything but I think i've made some solid choices.