Possible Home Build Windows Vista Premium Ready Design

All prices are from www.newegg.com 11/05/2006

I was bored earlier today and thought, I want to design a Vista Premium Ready System with these general rules.

1. Vista Premium Ready (or as close as I could get)
2. 2500.00 USD total price
3. Must be a complete system
4. Must be a gaming and modest multimedia system.
5. The system must be upgradeable over time.
6. I wanted your opinions, feed back is very much wanted.

I list the part description
The price
Rebate if available
and finally the estimated shipping cost.

[code:1:2f91fe7bc6]
LIAN LI Classical Silent PC-767 Silver/Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
220.00
0.00

OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply - Retail
4 x 18A +12V Rails
119.99
-15.00 Mail in Rebate
0.00

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DQ6 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
197.99
6.13

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
312.99
0.00

OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P800R22GK - Retail
263.99
-30.00 Mail in Rebate
0.00

XFX PVT71JYPE7 GeForce 7950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Extreme Edition Video Card - Retail
329.99
-30.00 Mail In Rebate
6.13

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
94.99
0.00

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
94.99
0.00

PLEXTOR Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 10X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache SATA DVD Burner With White bezel,AUTOSTRATEGY,PoweRec - Retail
105.99
-20.00 Mail in Rebate
0.00

SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model MPF920 Black - OEM
7.99
4.99

SAMSUNG 205BW Black 20" 6ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with Height Adjustments 300 cd/m2 700:1 - Retail
289.99
14.56

RAZER Tarantula Black 104 Normal Keys 20 Function Keys USB Standard Ultimate Gaming Keyboard - Retail
99.99
7.32

Logitech G5 Laser 931376-0403 2-Tone 6 Buttons 1x Wheel USB Laser Mouse - Retail
45.99
5.64

OCZ RALLY 2 4GB High Performance Dual Channel Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) Model OCZUSBR2DC-4GB - Retail
84.99
-15.00 Mail In Rebate
4.99

Creative I-TRIGUE L3800 51MF0305AA002 48 Watts 2.1 Speaker - Retail
129.99
0.00

Total W/Shipping after Rebates: $2339.62
[/code:1:2f91fe7bc6]

Notice I listed 2 hard drives. I will probably go with RAID 1 as I am a software developer and consider data protection important, but not extremely critical.

I'm worried about the SATA DVD/RW drive and if it would be compatible with the listed components and Windows Vista Premium.

This is my first attempt at designing a system with VISTA in mind. I'm hoping for your opinions.

Should I spend the 30.00 - 40.00 more for the XEON equivalent to the C2D 6600? If so would I need to consider a different motherboard and/or RAM?

Thanks in advance for your hints, tips and feedback.
-Jeff

Well, I spent 70.00 on the case on this computer and it feels cheap, the power button requires you pray first and then touch the button 14 - 20 different times before it will come on.

I agree it is a little excessive, but it will out last all the other components in the PC. So I could always reuse it in the next 2 to 3 builds.

Do you know of a decent case for less money?
-Jeff

I would suggest you spend a little less on your case and use that money to buy better RAM like the Corsair 2x1 Gb PC-6400 C4 or C3.

Why are you blowing $329 on the graphics card now? I would suggest you either opt for a 256Mb version of the 7950 or X1900 XT / GT for around $250. You can look at the newer 1650 or 1950 series also. Will see you through till DX10 cards become mainstream.

Its not my money, but $150 on a keyboard + mouse? Do you need a floppy drive? 8O

I have a full tower lian li case and it is the bomb guys, dont listen to people telling you to spend less on a case. Go out and buy the lian-li beasties cos they rock.

As for how much to spend and thinking about updates. Personally I know that tomorrow or the next day there will be something better out and you just have to live with that. Buy the best performing parts that fit within your budget at the time you decide your ready to buy the parts, dont look to Q2/3 2007 because by then something will be completely different guaranteed.

If you look to the future everytime you would never buy anythiing because something new is on the horizon and then where would we be.