New comp build, help appreciated...

[jbowman101]

How's it going, i'm a australian looking at building a new computer for around $3500AUD ($2600-2700USD). I'm fairly computer literate and i've done a little research so far and come up with the following:

Case: Antec p180
PSU: OCZ GameXstream 700w, SLI ready
MOBO: ASUS P5N32-E SLI rev2
CPU: Intel E6700 - 2.66ghz
CPU Cooling: Zalman CNPS9700 Copper
Case Cooling: Coolink SWIF 120mm Fans (x2)
Memory: OCZ 5-5-5 PC2-6400 2GB SOE, DDR2 - 800mhz
Hard Drive: Seagate 320GB 7200rpm SataII 16mb cache
Gfx Card: EVGA 7950GT KO Superclocked 512mb
DVD drive: ASUS Sata 18x dual layer burner
Monitor: Panasonic Viera TX-23LX60A, 23" Widescreen
OS: Vista Ultimate

-Recommendations, opinions, changes welcome please...

-Is there any new technology on the horizon i should wait for ?

-Considering i'm not going to bother with SLI/crossfire, is the 8800 really worth the extra cash?

-Is buying a 15000rpm HDD to run the OS of going to make much difference in performance ?

Question about the monitor: I can't find a decent 23" monitor so i went with the Viera, it seems to fit my criteria, do you think it will be sufficient for gaming ?

Cheers all...

 

[Sora]

Not bad but an E6700 is not recommended. Drop it get the E6600 and work in an 8800GTS and a better mobo such as a P5B Deluxe.

Also 700w's is overkill. I'd recommend a good 550w PSU if you dont plan on going SLI.

 

[jbowman101]

why is the e6700 not recommended? Is the 8800 really worth the extra money, the 7950GT is $490AUD, whereas the 8800GTS starts at $690AUD. Is the extra $200AUD worth the increase in performance if there is any?
What about the 600W gameXstream instead of the 700...

 

[jbowman101]

another question, whats the view on the Corsair 620W ATX PSU? and what's the view on the Asus Commando 965: R.O.G. Edition vs DFI LanParty UT ICFX3200-T2R/G CROSSFIRE Motherboard?
cheers

 

[darkop16]

you can overclock the C2D very easily. Ive got my e6600 at 3.4ghz and it is FAST. If your afraid to overclock (no need to be but i was a scared at one point too), then all you need to do is increase the fsb just a little to reach 2.66hz (e6700 speed) without upping the voltage either meaning no life taken from the processor. And you save alot of money.

The 600w version is PLENTY.

The asus commando is the same thing as the p5b-deluxe to me. Its supposed to overclock better but i haven't even reached my p5b-deluxe's potential yet so i don't count it (unless you were on phase change ).

The p5b-deluxe is a solid mobo.

Shoot for the 8800gts. It is dx10 ready (seeing as you are getting vista i would count that as a plus) and it beats the 7950gt.

Here is a benchy and yes it is ok to drool .

 

[Apokalipse]

see if you live near an MSY store. they sell things pretty cheap.
www.msy.com.au