Hey guys im new to the forum and so far this forum has been very helpful. I’ve been reading around but I going to explain my whole situation from start to end and hope this helps me and whoever else may need the same type of help.

Would Like To Purchase The Desktop Computer Before Christmas But (Say there was AMAZING Components coming out really soon for cheap please tell me to wait and i will)

I Game A LOT Like Every Game, (BF2, WOW, CS:S, I would like to be able to play crysis) I know its going to take a lot to get a computer to play that but basicly thats what i want my desktop computer to do for me. Also i would like it to be able to last for a couple years i mean i know Gamers on average buy a new computer every 3-5 years so lets make it last 3-5 years .

Also It does not need to be top of the line at the moment and maybe even expandable for later on Like a mother board with 2 pci-e 16x slots and ill buy one card now and one card later or 2gigs of ram now and 2 later.

My price limit i would love to be no more then 1200 but if there is amazing things for a little bit more i wouldnt mind going for it.

Ok so where to start?

( ALSO I MAY BE WRONG WITH SOME THINGS SO PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG)

Processor:
I was thinking starting out with the core2duo 3.0 wolfdale with a FSB of 1333.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc…82E16819115037

Also i found it to be pointless to pay more for the 3.16 or the 3.3 since you can always just O/C it to there easily.
But it seems fast enough that maybe you dont even need to o/c it.

To me that seems like the best bang for your buck
My reasoning behind it was because core2 quad does not seem to be that great at the moment it seems like to make the core 2 quad being worth getting you have to have programs run at quad core. Kind of like 64-bit processing because most of the programs do not use 64-bit processing it really is not that much of a help.

Also the core i7 is out and i dont know how that compares but if someone could inform me with the best processor for the price please let me know.

Motherboard:
Now obviously If I were to go with the core2 duo processor i need a motherboard that supports LGA 775 1333FSB and ethier 2 pci-e 16x slots or 3 But i would like both 16x slots running at 16x and not one running at 8x. also support for ethier crossfire or SLI would be nice for later on. (go to graphics card to decide which one to go with) Now my question is also about the ram I don’t know that much about ram to understand which kind i should go with. I believe that windows XP supports 4gigs of ram and vista up to 8 gigs? but should i go with ddr2 or ddr3 i have never heard great things about ddr3 and its a little bit more pricy and if its not worth it then no point in getting it. Also i saw ddr2 800 is like dirt cheap so you could get so much ram for so little price. So if someone could get me a good motherboard to match a good processor that would be great help.
I was thinking maybe this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc…82E16813131219

Let me know what you think.

Ram: Again like i said in the motherboard section please let me know everything there is to know about ram.

GPU/Video Card
I have always thought nVidia when i think video card Because the 8800s and the 9800s supposed to be amazing but now there is crossfire and sli and i dont know which on to go with IF go with any. With this computer i was probably going to start with one graphics card and have it expanidble to 2 or 3 and put more in later. But i saw like the 9800 gx2 and that seemed like the best one nvidia had to offer but then the second i went to ati i saw that graphics cards for the same price went from nvidias 256 core processors to about 800? Thats so much more from what i saw so is ATI now just like destroying Nvidia?

Please let me know about this situation with graphics cards so i can know weather to go with SLI or Crossfire or niether. ALSO HDMI would be nice to go into a monitor with HDMI if that really helps Let me know about that too.

Harddrive:
SATA
300gigs + seems like enough
7200 rpm?
Anything else to know?

CD-DVD-BLURAY
For my opitical drive i just need something to be able to read everything and be able to write everything one to do it all
I dont think i need a bluray drive so i think i just need a DVD Burner one to do it all maybe with lightscribe to make the tops look cool? lol but just let me know about that too

ALMOST DONE

Case And Power Supply

I know not to get the combos because the psu with the case are usually junk i was looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc…82E16817139006 the corsair because they have good stuff and fairly cheap i need enough power to power everything and then some so i can always expand without worrying. also i heard that atx12v means has the 4pin power connector and eps12v means has 8 pin so if you get the atx12v/eps12v then you cant go wrong? also needs enough connectors to plug into everything.

And to the Case
Full tower or mid-tower?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc…82E16811119068
I saw this had quite a bit of reviews and purcheses for fairly cheap and dont know so much about cases but screwless is pretty cool and drive trays that can move are quite helpfull.

Keyboard:
I thought the logitech g15 is that cool? lol

Mouse: I saw the microsoft 9vv-00001 black 7 button gaming mouse was awesome but let me know what you guys think.

And LASTLY MONITOR!!!!
If the graphics card supports HDMI then a hdmi monitor would seem reasonable to get i would like a 22inch or so and i saw this one its 21.5 inches but is fairly cheap and seems to have everything i need?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc…82E16824236051

And then AFTER ALL THAT is there anything else that would be nice to get i already have vista and xp and microsoft office 2007 and macafee and all that stuff.

but like to protect the pc should i purchase a usp i think thats what they are to protect against power surges and things the last thing i want is a new pc to get burned out by something dumb.

SORRY If this is to much and this is my little pc i kinda went with but with hundreds of people looking and helping im sure there is a better one out there.

ASUS VH226H Black 21.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor – RetailModel #:VH226HItem #:N82E16824236051Return Policy:LCD Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return PolicyIn Stock $239.99 -$40.00 Instant $199.99 Update Recertified: EVGA 01G-P3-N891-RX GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video CardModel #:01G-P3-N891-RXItem #:N82E16814130402Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return PolicyOut Of Stock Auto-Notify $219.99 $219.99 Update SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q – OEMModel #:SH-S223QItem #:N82E16827151173Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return PolicyIn Stock $28.99 $28.99 Update Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 – RetailModel #:BX80570E8400Item #:N82E16819115037Return Policy:Processors (CPUs) Return PolicyIn Stock $164.99 $164.99 Update Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive – OEMModel #:WD6400AAKSItem #:N82E16822136218Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return PolicyIn Stock $74.99 $74.99 Update OCZ Flex XLC 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1200 (PC2 9600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2FX12002GK – RetailModel #:OCZ2FX12002GKItem #:N82E16820227230Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return PolicyOut Of Stock
ETA: 12/12/2008 4:28:00 PMMail-in Rebate
Auto-Notify $95.99 -$5.00 Instant $90.99 Update COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case – RetailModel #:CAC-T05-UWItem #:N82E16811119068Return Policy:Standard Return PolicyIn Stock $54.99 -$5.00 Instant $49.99 Update CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply – RetailModel #:CMPSU-750TXItem #:N82E16817139006Return Policy:Standard Return PolicyIn StockMail-in Rebate
$179.99 -$60.00 Instant $119.99 Update ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard – RetailModel #:P5EItem #:N82E16813131219Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return PolicyIn Stock $199.99 $199.99 Subtotal: $1,149.91