I would install this memory, I have personal experance with it and you can clock it up over 1700FSB (on MB that supports 1600 FSB OC) without adding voltage or adjusting timingshttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289 I can sell you the same PSU for 84.99 my everyday price on it but no free shipping (will call OCZ and see if they will give me the rebate too). I would dump the sound card since your gonna be using the E8400 and will Max out at the 60fps on AHII and gain 53.00 for your build to step the video card up a touch into a evga 9800 GTX+ (pn# 512-P3-N879-AR) the two recomendations I made on here would increase the system overall speed greatly without going over budget. If your guy don't mind OPEN BOX from Newegg this is the route to go but probably have to act quickly http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131255R I have the setup you stated just different HDs and this thing screamsE8400 @ 3.72Striker II ForumulaOCZ Reaper 4gbevga 9800GTX+3Dmark score just under 15k
Does EVGA make their boards? I thought they outsourced them to someone else.
I picked up an ASUS P5Q Pro for about $130 before rebates. That would let you stretch your vid card budget a bit further towards an Nvidia GTX 260.I have also seen the intel 8400 for closer to $150 recently, so shop around and check out some sites that have promo deals with newegg to see if they offer free shipping or a discount. hardocp's "hot deals" forums often has good deals, and subscribing to newegg's email ads may get you decent prices on ram, cpus, mobos, etc.If he's into overclocking, consider one of the slower quad core cpus and a good aftermarket heatsink.I'd skip that soundcard. The only soundcard I'd get, based on owning one and what I've read in here (including what I interpreted as a recommendation by skuzzy) would be an audigy 2 ZS. Onboard sound is "good enough" (it's what I'm using right now, on my ASUS P5Q Pro) and you'll get a much better payoff using that money for a better vid card. Go with a $130 mobo and ditch the soundcard and you ought to be able to easily fit a GTX 260 or a better ATI/AMD card into the budget.I recommend against insisting on an SLI or crossfire capable motherboard... Waste of money IMHO unless the guy is a hardcore gamer, but we already know he isn't because of the budget he's set. He'll get a better bang for the buck by saving a few bucks by not insisting on SLI/crossfire compatibility, getting a faster single vid card NOW, and then just replacing it outright when he needs a new one. Buying a slower vid card now just means he'll be dissatisfied with it sooner and then he'll be spending another $150 on a second obsolete card that still won't get him the performance he wants. SLI/crossfire is not a cost effective upgrade path, it's for enthusiasts who have the money to buy speed NOW. I don't think you'll find a single enthusiast website that recommends buying a mid-range vid card now to save money, with the idea of buying a second one later. You're better off buying a cheaper non-SLI mobo and a faster vid card now because you'll be happier with it for longer and can skip a generation or two before upgrading.
Most newer boards support Crossfire but the new (not all that new) X58 boards support both (Crossfire and SLI) but only if the manufacturer pays the licensing fee. Nvidia has gone with a 'cookied' BIOS so any X58 could be hacked to give both anyway.
