$1k i7 gaming rig, need advice

[Dmac72]

I'm considering the following components for my first build:

Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU, OEM $266
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=I7-920

MSI X58 Platinum SLI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130220

Corsair TX CMPSU-750TX ATX12V & EPS12V Power Supply - CMPSU-750TX $90 ($20 rebate)
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-750...ply-corsair-tx-cmpsu/q/loc/101/206178325.html

Antec Nine Hundred Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $105
http://www.buy.com/prod/antec-nine-...-case-900-antec-nine/q/loc/101/202997579.html

OCZ XMP Ready Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory $78 ($20 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227388

LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152

XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card $170 ($30 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329

Arctic Cooling Freezer XTREMERev 2 CPU Fan $43
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=FAN-XTREM2

Heres where I cheat. I'm looking at using my current monitor and Hard Drive. I have an 19" monitor that plan on using for the next year or so. It only has a maximum resolution of 1028x1024 resolution, so the video card and CPU may be a bit overkill for the games I plan on using it for at the moment. I haven't seen anyone using their old hard drive in their builds. I have a 3 year old Seagate Barracuda 7200 SATA drive (1.5GB/s?). I realize this is slower than the current 3GB/s drives that most people are putting into their new rigs. The reason for doing this is because I won't need to worry about spending extra money on vista if its going to be replaced by windows 7 less than a year from now. I can get the new hard drive and do a fresh install when windows 7 comes out. Plus I won't need to re-install any of my current software, some of which I may be missing the install disks. My question is will the performance of my computer suffer significantly from these decisions? Also, are there any other components I should consider swapping? Again, I'll be using this rig primarily for gaming.

Thank you in advance for any help!

Prices before shipping:
Total after rebates $997
Total before rebates $1067

 

[Why_Me]

Cut some $$ off that build.

http://www.securemart.com/SMA0092053?mv_pc=61&mv_specials=&mv_stock=y $74.48
Antec Nine Hundred Chassis - Mid-tower

But the antec 900 is a bit small for dual vid cards from what I hear....you might try one of these cases down here...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $79.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

for a deluxe full tower at a real bargain...check this case down below out....

http://www.securemart.com/SMA2101442?mv_pc=294&mv_specials=&mv_stock=y $119.99 Price After Rebate(s): $99.99 Shipping: FREE
Corsair TX CMPSU-750TX ATX12V & EPS12V Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 <=== better pics, specs, and customer reviews of that case on this link

mobo....

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/gigabyte-nvidia-sli-motherboard,7463.html <=== Gigabyte X58 SLI tweak.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375 $199.99 ($184.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate)
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

ok, for a better heatsink for cheaper....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $39.99
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 $6.99
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail

don't skimp on your RAM...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247 $94.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

 

[skpman]

not quite sure what an i7 rig can do for a 1024 resolution monitor.. with an old 1.5gb/s HDD. it's like having a supermodel girlfriend.. that you can never see and can only chat with.
monitors and HDD are so cheap right now... and i'm not sure i'd use the same hdd in a different system... just get a new hdd and do a fresh install. when windows 7 comes out, do it again.
you can get a 1600res monitor for around $100~150 nowadays.. 1920=even better. i got a 26" at buy.com recently for $250. there's a 25" on tigerdirect for $200

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236050 $169.99 ($149.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
ASUS VW224U Black 22" 2ms(GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 5000:1) Built in Speakers - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $69.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

 

[irkjab]

Personally I'd get a new hard drive. Even going from a year old 320gb WD to a newer 640gb one I got a 10 MB/s gain in read speed, or about 20% increase in my case.

Also, you might have to reinstall windows anyway because of the major hardware change. That, and having an old install of windows will always bog down your system anyway.