I'm building a new desktop, just wondering if anyone has any opinions on where I could go cheaper/etc. (It's already <$800!!)

Gigabyte GA-P35 DS3L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128059

Core 2 Duo E6550
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115030

G. Skill 2GB DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098

Corsair 550W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139004

GeForce 7900GS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814186013

Seagate 320GB HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148215

DVDRW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106100

Total: $708.93 excluding shipping and handling.

none of those links work for me, but what are you going to use for a CPU cooler?

For gaming, no? Personally I would opt for a different family of CPU. (But, I don't know what kind of a budget you're on.) If you're going to do a DC CPU you might as well ditch the RAM for DDR2 and the Mobo for something like the new EVGA LGA775 boards (I don't remember the part #, but it won the buyers choice awards or something to that effect.) Also, I would ditch the single HDD in favor of 2-4 smaller HDDs on a mirrored array. You will be surprised at the increase in throughput. I would also recommend shying away from a single video card setup; If you're planning on building a new rig for gaming you'll definately want to take advantage of an SLI configuration. Lastly, make sure you get something that can use DX10 if you're planning on going Vista. You're shopping in the right place though, Newegg is definately the way to go.

I agree with everything ^^^ stated, except the following:

That proc is pretty nice. The only thing really above that is the quad core, or server-class procs (dual/quad core xeons). Don't bring up AMD vs Intel, as it's apples to oranges, 420a to 4g63...

That 1333 MHz bus fuckin screams. Even though the proc is only 2.33 GHz, it runs circles around a 3.0 GHz proc with a bus speed of 800 Mhz.

Originally posted by Fallen4ng31
If you're going to do a DC CPU you might as well ditch the RAM for DDR2

It is DDR2

Instead of going with a mirror where you have a 50% overhead, I'd go with 4 drives of something like 120 GB with the most amount of cache you can afford, along with highest RPM. Run a RAID5 and you lose 1 disk for overhead, it's redundant, and it's fast. That will give you 360 GB of unformatted space, and when one disk fails, you're still up and running.

You can do a RAID5 with as little as 3 disks, but your overhead is 33% at that point. With 4 disks, you're overhead drops to 25%.

Well, it's not for true 'hardcore' gaming. My budget isn't that high. I want something that will run, and handle nearly anything I throw at it.

That proc is by far my favorite. I have heard great things about that proc, including a stable OC to 3.2ghz. That screams.

I'll fix the links too:

mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

proc:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115030

ram (yes it is ddr2, i would go with nothing else:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

psu: (seems a bit excessive, i may find a cheaper one that will deliver the same as this)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

vid card: (i have used this card in the past, kickass card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814186013

HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148215



I thought I'd ask you guys, since you are amazing with computers. This will be my second one built, and I don't have that much experience with hardcore gaming systems. This one is similar to the one I built for a friend, just a bit better. I want something that I can do alot of things media related on, as well as play CS, hitman, WoW (yes I play wow, or used to. looking to get started again), get what I'm saying? I'm kinda rambling here. My budget is anywhere from $700-$1K, and this fits right in.

Thanks guys for your input (and continued advice) it is much appreciated.

**edit** Is it possible to upgrade to an sli setup and a mirrored array in the future? the graphics card I want is good for sli setups.

Originally posted by cc8balla
Is it possible to upgrade to an sli setup and a mirrored array in the future? the graphics card I want is good for sli setups.

Video, yes; mirror, no.

Ideally, for performance, you want either a stripe or a RAID5. The mirror will help with read performance if the hardware controller can optimize for multi-seeks. There is a very mild decrease in performance when it comes to writes on a mirror, but not much to really notice. A mirror is specifically to eliminate a single point of failure with some increase in performance. A stripe increases performance, but if either drive fails, you lose all your data.

You have to start out with the RAID setup to begin with because it erases the disks when you set it up. What you could do is install on your hard drive, then when you're ready to go RAIDx (0 for stripe, 1 for mirror, 5 for stripe with parity), image your drive to another location, build your RAID array, then put the image onto that volume.

Sometimes the hardware will support mirroring a current drive, but most do not. You can break a mirror to get two identical drives, but typically not go the other way.

^^^ :thumbsup
If you can hold out on your CPU, there will be a price drop at the end of next month.

Originally posted by Fallen4ng31
^^^ :thumbsup If you can hold out on your CPU, there will be a price drop at the end of next month.

I think I can, this is a preliminary list. I will be exploring all options, etc., to get the best price/performance.

Why will there be a price drop?

90% of the time at the end of Q4 there is a price drop as new models get rolled out and inventory liquidated for Q1 of next year.