Opinions/Suggestions on this System

[g-unit]

I'm building a system for a friend of mine. He's getting ready for college and has about $1200 for a new system. He needs it mostly for school and games but also some photoshop work and maybe other photo/video editing. He's into a little of everything. I've picked out what I thought would make a pretty good system, I just wanted to hear from the peanut gallery. If anyone has any experience with any or all of these pieces I'd love to hear what you think. All suggestions, opinions, rants and raves are welcome but some will be more appreciated than others.

Here's what I got

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor - Retail $273.00
MOBO: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $178
RAM: mushkin High-Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory - Retail $289.00
GPU: BFG Tech Geforce 6600GT BFGR6600GTX Video Card - Retail $195.00
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $122.00
DVD: NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - OEM $40.99
PSU: Antec NeoPower ATX 480W Power Supply - Retail $99.99
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Computer Case - Retail $49.99

Total: $1247.97

So, what do you think? If all looks good then all I need now is the OS. The cost of the OS is separate from the $1200 system price. If anyone knows of a site where I can get XP cheaper than newegg I would greatly appreciate a link.

All views all welcome. Even if you think that this system sucks, by all means let me know.

Thanks

 

[Counter-Strike]

Fine build, but for that price you can go with a eVGA Vanilla 6800.

 

[g-unit]

Where can I find a PCI-e 6800 for $195. I don't think I saw one on newegg? I'm more than willing to get a better card for the same price.

 

[Flanker]

Its an excellent system. If he could afford it, a 6800GT would look beautiful in that system. If not;

The vanilla 6800 PCIexpress x16 - $229-30 (mail-in rebate).

Incase you don't want to deal with mail-in rebates, this one is $5 more @ $205.

 

[g-unit]

What about an OS? I was thinking of getting XP Pro. Anybody know where you can get it the cheapest? I know you get a discount at newegg if you order with computer hardware but I'm lookin for the lowest, rock bottom price.

Also, thanks for the links. I'm considering getting the $205 Gigabyte one, I hate dealing with rebates, but I don't know anything about Gigabyte. Are they a good company? Are their products reliable? Who here has experience with them?

Thanks for all the help though.

 

[g-unit]

Actually scratch that Gigabyte. I just realized it doesn't support SLI, and my buddy would like that option in case he wants to upgrade later on.

But still where do I get a cheap OS?

 

[[SC]Hawk]

i dont really now where you are gonna get an "orignal" os cheap as they are expensive in very shop. you may have to look around on then et or from friends for an OS, but other wise the systemis very nice

 

[g-unit]

I know I probably shouldn't, but I'm assuming by the lack of responses everyone is cool with this system? I mean, if you had $1200 would this be something similar to what you would get? I think I'm gonna order it tomorrow, unless someone has a good suggestion.

BTW, anyone know where I can get XP Pro the cheapest?

Thanks

 

[PZEROFGH]

eVGA 6600GT 130 dollars with 30 dollar mail in rebate at www.monachcomputer.com

the cheapest xp pro would probably be newegg.com i guess