New Build $500-$700 depending on options

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: with in the next few days BUDGET RANGE: $500-$700

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming/ripping movies/internet surfing etc.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard, Hard drive, PSU Anitec 600w (can't remember the exact model) I have an Operating system and I may or may not stick a new hard drive in there.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: I am leaning towards the Following parts on Newegg.com

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
ASUS P5Q Pro Turbo LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
Current total from new egg $484.96

OVERCLOCKING: Yes SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe in the future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I really like ASUS motherboards and the idea of a 5 sec. boot to a linux for quick check of email, weather, etc. I'm not going to run raid or anything like that. I really want to have a board with eSATA. ASUS makes so many boards I'm wondering if there might be a better combo out there that I have overlooked? ASrock perhaps? Right now I'm pretty sold on the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 but again I'm open to suggestions. I have checked out the ASUS website and the memory I have picked out above is on their qualified vendor list for the P5Q Pro Turbo board. But again, I'm not married to ASUS I just know their rep and like the 5 sec. boot thingy. Will I run into a problem if I use a memory that is not on the qualified vendor list? Can I get a bit more bang for my buck by looking at some different options? I also want to update my DVD ROM And burner to SATA drives but I need something extremely reliable for double layer disks. And finally, I was kicking around the idea of getting a new video card. I think a single card for now will work. I might like to move up to SLI or Crossfire at some point in the future but its not 100% necessary at the moment.

Thanks again for your input and I look forward to reading your opinions.

I have a Palit 8800gt 1gig card that has been meeting my needs pretty well so far. I am considering reusing it in this build but I'm open to suggestions for a replacement. I really haven't read up on video cards in a while so I'm not sure what is considered a good value vs performance these days.

And about the graphics card, if that 8800GT serves your needs well, then don't upgrade your card now...In few months time, both ATI and Nvidia are set to launch newer cards and you can expect even mainstream cards at decent prices...Upgrade then...

AMD "Bulldozer" in 2011 ?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/d [...] _2011.html

@fullmetal Yes there are rumours that there will be newer CPUs from AMD but not any time soon...
And like intel did with i7, AMD would launch those CPUs side-by-side of the old line-up and then slowly phase them out...So with the given scenario, atleast for 2 years AM3 is here to stay and till then they would be launching new CPUs for that socket...

Sorry , but spending more on an intel quad in a socket 775 mb is just not a good choice for a gaming rig .
Socket 775 is at the end of its life . Intel have moved on so why buy their left over stock?

And then www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenom2_955/8.htm

Ok.... that one threw me for a loop. Can anyone point me to a reference where I can bring myself up to speed on that Idea? I'm sure that this is basic info... I "thought" I understood the intro to overclocking thread but I must have missed somthing vital for this to be a new concept for me.

how bout this
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/ [...] hangeQty=0
the phenom 550 black x2 has two extra locked cores that you can unlock real easy


sorry forgot an optical

He may have phrased that wrong. What was meant was that you won't get any real world benefits from running the RAM at higher frequencies than needed. If you are overclocking, then you might need something beyond 800Mhz to match the FSB.

I don't think the Asus quick boot to Linux feature is very important. I thought it was cool when I first got my board, but now it's gone, removed due to lack of use.

The thing is, most modern boards with AMD or Intel chipsets work quite well in sleep mode, providing the rest of your parts are decent. My PC can wake up from a full sleep mode just as fast as it can boot into Linux. The whole Linux thing made a little more sense when I was dual booting XP and Vista, because then I was more likely to boot at least sometimes.