New to building.... Advice needed

[DH20]

I have never built a computer before and basically dont know anything about computer parts so i need advice.
i have a list of the parts below that i have come up with. I will be using this computer mostly for gaming. I have been playing WoW for about 2 years on 15 fps and its really getting to me. I am looking to play CSS and Bf2 in the near future and want a computer that will run these games with no lag at medium to high settings. I want this computer to last me a while and mainly have room for upgradability. Like I said i dont know much about building so I need to know if everything is compatible with everything and if there are any suggestions please let me know. In terms of price i am just looking for the best bang for the buck.

So this is what I have come up with so far
(NOte: I will not be buying anything until after conroe comes out)
(NOte2: AM I ok with ok with cooling?)
CPU- AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2000MHz HT 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103735
-(I chose this because I think amd is coming out with a new cpu? in the winter and I dont want to buy something expensive that is going to be outdated very soon)

MOBO- ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131011
or

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131013
-(Not sure here..)

RAM- Crucial Technology 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146569
-(Just saw good reviews and chose it)

CASE- GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ATS Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811233004

HD - Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144160
-(Have no idea if this is good or not.. advice needed)

OD - NEC Silver 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152060

PSU- Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931
-(Not sure if this can handle sli or not)

GPU- CHAINTECH Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145098
or
XFX Geforce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150140
-(BIt confused on this also.. Im not sure if i should just scrap sli for right now and just use a single card or take one of the above)

All help greatly appreciated

 

[Ronnie]

if i were you i would change your ram to corsair xms2 and use the extra money left over to upgrade to an evga 7900gt ko just my thoughts tho

 

[Nitestick]

if i were you i would get DDR2-800 memory if possible as i have heard of talk to do with the Integrated Memory Controller glitching due to the odd numbered DDR2 frequencies. have heard of no trouble with DDR2-800.

out of those two graphics cards you would be better with the 7600gt, but it would be a good idea to get a 7900gt if possible.

as for the raptor you may as well get two larger but cheaper drives and use them in RAID 0 if you are willing to look into it. unless you plan on buying another Raptor to use in RAID a RAID 0 with 7200rpm drives would be better. not many things are faster than Raptors in RAID

 

[lancec2c30]

well I was thinking he could just runn the raptor for games, and put in a 200gig 7200rpm for regular file storage.?? I thinbk thats how it would work to do something like that.

 

[ITZBVAN005]

just a fyi the ram u chose for the pc is not the right kind of ram u need for the pc u need a ddr2 800 not ddr2 533 if i am correct it will not work correctly but i aint positive