Building a system

[Jedikiller]

So, it appears my current system (at bottom) is showing its age. It runs really hot whenever I try to play something made in the last two years, and particle effects and the like aren't rendering well. So, I figure it's about time I start browsing for a new system.

I'm trying to go for something under $800, since I don't have that much money and I doubt I can get anyone else to contribute more than about that sum (birthday's coming up). I don't know anything about choosing parts, only what the most respected names are and which products get the most and best reviews

I've done some Newegging, and here's what I've come up with:

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

Video:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

Case and PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.201633

HD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

DVD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

OS:
Vista Home Premium x64

This comes to $790.

So, my questions- is this a good build? Is this worth 800 dollars? Is this enough to play all games out now and for at least a few years? Do you have any suggestions about the parts I've selected? I've heard there are new ATI cards coming out- should I wait for these?

please don't kill me i know next to nothing about system building and have probably chosen parts that will melt when they come together or have forgotten some critical component

[attekiller]

I was also thinking of building a PC over this summer, but I don't know if I will... Mac > PC  

Well, if I were you, I would stick with the Intel Processors and Mobos. They are smaller, so they won't heat up as quickly, and they have always been lightyears ahead of AMD. (AMD is making somewhat of a comeback now though).

The Ram looks good, plenty of air circulation to keep the components cool. However, a PSU's ability to get power will decrease by about 100W over a period of time. So after a few years, you may only have a 600W PSU. With that mother of a graphics card, there is a possibility that the PSU will fry (and when they do, they usually take most if not everything else with it), but it also may be OK. If you can, maybe try bumping it up another 100W.

The graphics card looks great, HD is good (but do you really need 640 gigs?), and the DVD drive, if you can, switch to SONY. They're well known for high-quality drives.

As far as the OS, 64-bit Vista is not the recommended gaming platform. Most games will work, but some do not. 32-bit is the best way to go, but that system will only recognize 4 gigs of ram, GFX ram included. Check out this site for a detailed list of what will or will not run on 64.
http://www.thinktechno.com/2007/03/13/list-of-vista-compatible-games/
the ones with only the (32-bit) sign by them will not run on your OS.
All in all, it's a good build, switching to Intel and getting a better PSU would be my ideas. Also, do you really want to pay $800 for that? I mean, you're gonna have to replace it in a few years anyway... Also, does it matter what setting you play your games at? Because I was able to conjure up a good gaming system for $500 if you would like to play new games at medium/low settings (older games at high). PM me if you want me to give you the links for them.
Hope this helps!

EDIT: There are also a ton of things to consider when you are actually building your pc... PM me about this too, unless you already know them.

[Jedikiller]

I chose AMD for this theoretical build because that processor is one of the best that they offer, and it's much cheaper than the Core i7s that Intel has been putting out. I would like to go with Intel, but the i7s tend to run a little higher. Price wars aside, Intel would be my choice, but...

The PSU and case were a package deal, so I got a bit of a bargain there. I don't think that it will be a problem.

I already have a 1TB hard drive that I was going to stick in there. I'd rather have too much space and not have to worry about buying a new drive. Games are getting really big, like 20 gigs, and soon enough, that 640 gigs will fill up. I don't care about the drives too much- I have two I can throw in should those break, and those are cheapo generic brand drives that have lasted a good three years.

OS-wise, there is no point in getting such a good processor/mobo combo if you don't take full advantage of them with your OS. I know it's not the advised platform, and to tell you the truth I would MUCH rather have XP, but the only reason I'd get Vista is because of Win7, which is supposed to be absolutely awesome.

The problem is that I would like to be able to play things at high settings. This current system runs pretty much everything out right now at high or medium, but things are starting to break and slow down and I would rather get a whole new system than have to deal with replacing components. I have already replaced a hard drive and a PSU on here.

I am comfortable with this price, because what with the price wars and the economy, parts are cheap as can be and this system would ordinarily cost much more. If I chose a smaller, cheaper system, I would have to do this again in about a year. There is no escaping the fact that there will always be new things to buy and game devs will take advantage of them. I would rather buy the best now and keep it for another three years than buy something midrange and keep it for one year.

Thanks for responding, though!

[attekiller]

Also, i forgot to mention this above, i would advise that you buy a grounding wire or two- it's a kind of wrist bracelet that takes electrical shock away from your body. An example of one is here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899261001

Components like RAM and your GFX card will fry if you touch them with unprotected skin. If you're a control freak (like me) you should probably wear gloves as well, and build it on a wooden table. In addition, it's not a good idea to shake your mobo around too much, they can be really fragile.

And, if you're planning on running Win7 in the near future, you should probably throw in a blu-ray drive as well.

[Radical_Pi]

agreed, if you can afford it, a blu-ray drive is absolutely worth it.

I haven't finished looking over the specs, but I noticed the mobo runs Realtek audio. Not sure if it is just my system, but I have one running realtek and for some reason the HDMI audio control panel only recognizes the surround sound outputs, not the HDMI output. Again, this could just be my setup

Looking at the other parts, I think you'll be happy with the triple-core for gaming since the CPU is almost always the graphics bottleneck.

WARNING!!!!! You are getting DDR2 RAM for a DDR3 mobo. perhaps you should change one of them...

I've got basically the same graphics card except it is a 4850 and only 512 megs, and it works great for me

[attekiller]

One last thing, if you do get a blu-ray drive, which I recommend (if you have the money), you're going to need another SATA cable. Your motherboard only comes with two: one for the dvd/cd drive and one for the HD. An extra one is required for the blu-ray. Luckily, they're very, very cheap.

[Jedikiller]

OK, I've changed my RAM to this. I think it would be compatible. Comes out to about $860 with shipping costs, but have 20 dollars mail-in rebate.

Anyone know what brands to go for ATI? With Nvidia I know EVGA are the people to go with, but not so for ATI.

[attekiller]

XFX is (for me) always the brand to go with for any video card, NVIDIA as well. The only problem is they're a little bit more pricey... about $10-$30 more for a given card. But with the price comes a good card

Also, order the parts ASAP, some sales at Newegg do not last very long, and many of your parts may be back to full price by tomorrow... never a good thing.