Help a Rookie: compatibility issues in my first build?

Thanks much hunter.
Definitley am looking at the DDR3 you showed me
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145242

GTX 275: Easy to OC? I have NO clue on overclocking, whether it's done in software or whatever, I don't expect you to explain it completley.. will I need better/afterpurchase cooling? Will OC'ing a GTX 275 be worth it in the long run? I know OC'ing kills some of it's life
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130475

The PSU, also, I'm not buying yet. Awesome discount on NEWEGG right now, just not going to be able to take advantage. I will keep it in mind!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] &Tpk=750tx

I haven't bought the monitor yet. Figured I'd wait until I buy the video card for sure.

Well consider what size monitor you want, 19" is generally 1280x1024 or 1440x990, 20-22" tends to be 1680x1050, 22+ 1920x1080/1200, 30+ 2560x1600(costs more than my whole rig so i doubt its in your price range). Your monitor resolution determines what GPU you should get for good FPS at high detail, which determines what PSU you need to power the system.

When are you planning to be buying? There are a couple of things due out soon that will shake up the playfield a bit processor and GPU wise. If you arent going to be buying for a month or two make sure to stop back about 2 weeks before you buy and use this template, someone will update your build to the best deals and combos at the time.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ild-advice

Monitor: will want a 22", so 1680x1050.

And I will definitley check in again. I'm buying it in pieces really. At the end of September, depending on what's new/on sale I'll buy one or two pieces depending on the prices, and so forth for October and November. This is my Xmas gift so I've got time!

Two DVD drives only because I want to be able to copy with no disc changing. Thought that I absolutley NEED a DVD drive in both if I were copying one DVD to another, if you know what I mean.

I may have bought it uneccessarily, but it's too late. At 29.99, with 8 dollars shipping, I'll just keep it as a second drive, maybe a replacement (hope not!).

Plus I feel like buying computer parts is an addiction, since I can't stop looking at them and wanting more.

Good thing I don't have any money to feed this addiction.

Buying top notch stuff isnt a good idea, get the mid to high end stuff that provides you lots of upgrade potential and will allow you to use them for years like a roomy case or a nice large monitor. Thats why i suggested dropping down from the GTX285, while it is the best single gpu card available, it is also very expensive, and will get beaten by the new generation of cards ATI has due out in a couple months. Top of the line comes with top notch pricing, where as the second tier stuff will give you very similar performance for a very dissimilar cost.

You should easily be able to fit a monitor and i7 into a 1500 budget, keyboard and mouse depend on the person, i dont see the difference between a $30 keyboard and a $70 keyboard and really dont think its worth the price increase but some do.

What really bugs me about the dominators is that they cost so much more but perform WORSE, the are CL8 not CL7 like many of the cheaper kits, you are paying almost entirely for the heat spreaders. These two kits have identical performance numbers yet are $66 apart.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 25%3A29367
Some people are willing to pay 50% more for cool heatsinks, but most us cant afford it.

Actually with your timeline, I'd keep an eye out for the new ATI cards. Rumors have it that a press launch may be this month, well before christmas. If you want to keep this for a long time and gaming might occur, DX11 may be valuable.

Thanks for the replies.

DX11, is an ATI VGA?

DX11 is Direct X 11, its microsofts graphics language that most games talk to graphics cards using. There are many features in direct x that use a dedicated portion of the graphics card to greatly speed up execution time. The ATI 5xxx series and the nVidia G300 series of chips will be the first to support it. The 5xxx series is supposed to be due out by late october, the G300 series has no speculated release date for now.

ha DX11 = DirectX 11 sorry didn't pick up on that. honestly guys, last time I was really on my computer, dual cores were a thing of the future for regular people and DiX 8 was calling for an update from my desktop.

i'm really glad i got on this first, because i researched only bits and pieces. no doubt if DiX11 compatible video cards are necessary for the near future, gotta wait until they come out!

Am I going to have to make any specific choice changes for my hardware (besides VGA) to operate/maximize DiX 11 ?

heard. yes of course price is going to go down on the cards im looking at now.. i think with all of the economic roller coasters, holidays coming around, things are going to be very cheap by end of october.

I looked at this newbuilder. i like this board, and it's 60-80 dollars cheaper than the eVGA board i'm looking at. only, i see it has 2 onboard usb 2.0 ports that can support 4? how is this? a clip-in adapter?

^^ I really like that the eVGA board has 4 USB 2.0 onboard ports, and not just plenty on the rear. I may get a display for the unused 5.25 drive bays, and want to make sure that my USB 2.0 connects are all there for me in case.. I don't see running a USB cord from the back to the interior... right? my lingo is lacking so tear me an asshole if i need it! want to make sure i'm not cut short in inside USB-hookups.

That motherboard sells out fast. It just arrived back in stock yesterday. Its the cheapest decent i7 board available and got good reviews here.

*and once again I typed too slow. usb blather deleted *

I believe the $239 EVGA you have in the OP and that ASRock are the best i7 boards at that price point. It jumps up to near $300 for other good i7 MBs.

yeah maybe i will get everything at the same time, no point in me looking at it. it's just harder to save the money STRICTLY for the computer, because i'm the kind of person that will not save it smartly. i can always find a way to resell the parts, i work for an electronics component distribution company that doesn't deal with PC parts but regardless, i understand your point.

maybe will buy the power supply, core processor together first, in a combo if i can, beings those are things less-likely to completley not work.. at least i would think so. also i can test parts myself, i haven't travelled this building path yet but i can find out if these parts are running properly or not.