yet another "noob's first build" thread!

[Xione]

Yes, it's another "how does my build look?" thread. I've been running my old rig for about 2 years now and it's getting outdated when playing the latest games, so it's time to upgrade.

The rig is going to be for gaming mostly and I want it to last me as long as possible without upgrading, with a budget of about 2000 euro's (2674 dollars, give or take).

Here's what I conjured up so far:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Mobo: Asus P5W DH Deluxe
GPU: Asus Geforce 8800 GTS 640 mb
Memory: 4048 mb DDR2 PC6400, Kingston HyperX
HDD1: Western Digital Raptor 150 GB, 16 mb cache
HDD2: Western Digital Caviar Raid Edition II, 16 mb cache
Case: Antec Gamersgear 900
PSU: Thermaltake Thoughpower 750 watt, cable management
CPU HSF: Zalman CNPS9700

some notes about the parts:
The Thermaltake thoughpower got a good review from Jonnyguru so it's not like the old thermaltake PSU's wich i've been told are utter crap.

My choice for CPU coolers is very limited as I'm ordering all these parts at the same time from a single store wich will assemble everything in advance, unfortunatly they only have a few decent HSF's so if I wanted something like a tuniq tower i'd have to order it somewhere else and then rip the entire rig apart just to install the backplate, wich kinda defeats the point of the install.
Also I read on these forums that the Zalman comes with one of the best install mechanisms and it doesn't need any lapping to make good use of it.

And some questions I have:
Is it wise to buy the 8800 GTX at this time or are there price-drops or better models coming out very soon? (soon = before the end of april).

Am I better off with 4 gig memory or more expensive 2 gig memory? (I'll be running vista home premium eventually. wich supports up to 4 gig memory with PAE enabled right?) I'm thinking I dont need the more expensive memory as the E6600 has a 9x multiplier.

Is the 8800 GTX overkill for a 1280x1024 resolution? If so would I be better off buying a GTS (320 or 640 version?) and upgrading to a better GPU after a year or so?

There, quite a post, what do you guys think?

 

[inkfx]

I think it looks like a killer system.

 

[Vento1]

The first thing is if you can wait until after April there will be price drops from intel so you may save a bit on your cpu, using an 8800 GTX at 1280x1024 is overkill i would go with the GTS as regards memory unless you plan on overclocking with a high front side bus you wont really get much benefit from faster ram and as you plan on going with vista i would get the 4 gig of ram.

 

[Xione]

Ah forgot to mention I'm waiting for the pricedrop before I'm buying, just want to have the definate configuration done before that so I can order the moment prices go down

Ok I'm thinking I'll drop the GTX for a GTS and upgrade after a year or so, depending on how well the games play by then. Thanks for the advice

 

[Enablingwolf]

This close, you did the right thing holding off on the CPU.
While your waiting maybe you can find a sale or two along the way. Sometimes right before a major price drop, some part makers/vendors will drop prices right before to tempt buyers to pick thier products.