Dear Santa, I would like a new computer.

[KOOL]

I'm looking to build a new computer to replace a four year old boat anchor that I have.  My target budget is to keep it this thing under $1K.  Below are a list of parts I'm thinking to buy and would like your thumbs up/down or advice/suggestions.  Would these parts make a decent basis of a system to prevent boat anchorage-itis from happening again in another four years?  All I intend to use this system for is AH.  Here are the parts:

MB: $109.99 ($129.99-$20 rebate)  FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

CPU: $189.99  FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

Memory: $75.99 ($105.99-$30 rebate)  FREE SHIPPING
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR10664GK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

Video Card: $179.99  FREE SHIPPING
XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447

Case: $109.99  FREE SHIPPING
NZXT TEMPEST EVO Crafted Series TEVO-001BK Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146062&Tpk=Tempest%20EVO

PS: $137.99 ($157.99-$20 rebate)  FREE SHIPPING
Corsair CMPSU-750HX 750-Watt HX Professional Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply compatible with Core i7 and Core i5
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CMPSU-750HX-Professional-Certified-compatible/dp/B0029F21LK

Heat Sink Fan: $40.99  FREE SHIPPING
OCZ OCZTVEND2 Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler
http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-OCZTVEND2-Vendetta-CPU-Cooler/dp/B00168ZE7E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1260506478&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Thermal Compound: $6.95  FREE SHIPPING
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound 3.5 Grams
http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver-Thermal-Compound-Grams/dp/B000BSLU2S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260508449&sr=1-1

Retention Bracket: $15.99  FREE SHIPPING
OCZ Force OCZTFORCV LGA 775 Retention Brackets for Vendetta Series CPU Coolers
http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-OCZTFORCV-Retention-Brackets-Vendetta/dp/B001O0DR1O/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_c

Total After Rebates: $867.87

That leaves a little left over in the budget for improvements or a new OS if needed.  Currently I have Win XP.  Would the parts above require Win 7?

Thanks for your 2 cents in advance.

[reeb]

i would avoid XFX myself, have heard alot of bad things about their products and their customer service

[Spikes]

Sapphire vid card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858&cm_re=sapphire_5770-_-14-102-858-_-Product

I have both the GFX card and mobo, love em both.

[guncrasher]

I basically have the same set up and worked great with windows xp, everything maxed out ( had the 9800gtx+ vc).  I only got win7  64 bit to use all 4k ram.  u getting a new hd and dvd writer?  btw that mobo has plenty of extra sata connectors in case u wanna get a bare dvd drive.

semp

[cattb]

i have used evga and xfx myself with no problems,they both carry lifetime warranty, xfx carries a double lifetime..I am not trying to say one is better than the other. I like the lifetime warranty the most

[Getback]

I'd grab a PC Power & Cooling power supply while they are in stock (or if in stock).

[gyrene81]

Looks like you made some good choices. Sapphire probably makes a slightly better ATI video card but they can't beat the XFX lifetime warranty.

[caldera]

I have the same motherboard there and it specifies 1.8 volts for the memory sticks.  Not sure but you may have to change the voltage in BIOS to get the full speed from those OCZ sticks.  I had a similar Mushkin product, but chickened out and went with a set of these at 1.8 volts:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145239

Got the same PSU and it has a medusa wig of cables. 1st build and am currently trying to guestimate where they all go. 

Get that at newegg.  Same price but $20 rebate.

[KOOL]

u getting a new hd and dvd writer?

For now I wil be using my existing hd's,  dvd writer and SB X-Fi sound card. Same goes for the monitor.  Later next year I'll update hd's and monitor. Possibly going with a 3x1 monitor setup.

[gyrene81]

Be careful with that X-Fi sound card on that mobo...it's very rare but once in a while there can be a conflict that can cause some serious excedrin moments. The built in Realtek chips are pretty good these days...especially the multi channel jobs. The Realtek lan chips on the other hand...well...50/50.

[TilDeath]

You dont need the retention bracket unless you want to use one.  The Vendetta 2 comes with a very good thermal paste so that is also an option.  Other then that,  loks ok to me.

TD

[Gr8pape]

"That leaves a little left over in the budget for improvements or a new OS if needed.  Currently I have Win XP.  Would the parts above require Win 7?"

I would go with a 64 bit OS to get the full potential of your system, also if you ever want to increase ram you will need it. 32 bit sys. can only handle 4 Gig, so if you got a 64bit, even with 4 gig, you will get a system that you can upgrade again later, and better performance out of the present build, and it personally I would stick with XP until they get the bugs worked out of Vista and 7. Vista also requires more ram to even run, so like I said personal preference XP, and they do have a 64bit XP OS.

[guncrasher]

I have the same motherboard there and it specifies 1.8 volts for the memory sticks.  Not sure but you may have to change the voltage in BIOS to get the full speed from those OCZ sticks.  I had a similar Mushkin product, but chickened out and went with a set of these at 1.8 volts:

ram is set at 800 by default due to some mobo limitation.  u need to go into bios and make a couple of changes to make it run at 1060 (or anything above 800 ). 

also for some reason the sound is way above awesome with win7 compared to how windows xp sounds.  Only real problem i have found with win7 and AH is that every other day for some reason it crashes, think there's a conflict somewhere with sound or sound card.  but that's another thread.

semp

[KOOL]

Thank you everyone for your input and advice.  I really appreciate it.  I'm placing an order today however the OCZ Vendetta 2 Cooler is a non-stocked item and has a very long lead time so I need to look for something else.  Any suggestions/recommendations for a cpu cooler to replace the Vendetta 2?

[gyrene81]

This:

http://www.directron.com/rrb20n620gp.html

or this:

http://www.directron.com/clp0466.html

Similar specs for noise and airflow...a little more expensive though.