First Attempt at New Gaming Rig ~ Please Advise

[Bot2011]

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ - Retail

(x2) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S - Retail

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM

 

[BoysNightOut]

XP Pro > Home

 

[nerdygeek]

Thats almost my exact build. Looks solid.

 

[b1gapl]

Excellent choices Bot. I don't think I would recommend anything else. Sora!!!....you need to come see this, quick!...lol..

Welcome to T.F.!

 

[Bot2011]

XP Pro > Home

I will eventually be switching to Vista, is there really that much difference between Home and Pro? I mean is it that dramatic of a difference that will be worth the $60 extra cost when I will be upgrading to Vista within the next year?

 

[Sora]

Mmmm do I smell a perfect build? Yep heh well done and as with B1gapl no suggestions.

 

[b1gapl]

No dramatic difference. I've used both before, and it doesn't matter, if you're going to Vista later on. So go for Home.

 

[ThirdLeft152]

perfect build and xp home is fine.

p.s. whats the final price tag on that rig?

 

[Sora]

I'm going to guess the build is around $1200?

 

[Bot2011]

I have been reading these forums for the last 3 weeks. I had major concerns about the mit-tower coolmaster case that I was choosing and the ability of fitting the 8800GTS 640mb card. Additionally, I was concerned about the ability to keep the system cool as I plan on OCing the processor.

I will be using a 17in monitor for the time being as I am trying to keep my budget under $1500 yet still have a system that would be high-end and it's my hopes that I was able to do just that.

I have to admit it was tough to create a build and I couldn't have done it without reading these forums and taking advise from many of the folks here.