Are there any glaring flaws with this build?

Preamble: Skip down to the system configuration. The setup is boring, but I tend to be verbose. I can't help it. I tend to be more of a Dickens than a Hemingway in my writing.

I need to replace my four-year-old Compaq. The fans are dying, the components are all but obsolete and it will barely run The Sims 2. The 3D games my brother plays, or rather wants to play, are unplayable. For the time being, we're stuck with the XBox 360 for 3D intensive games, which looks fine and has all the advantages of being playable on the home theater, but not everything is available in that format, and we're needing a new computer anyway, so it's time to go brand new.

I starting by looking at the inexpensive online builders, and found that I could configure a pretty decent gaming computer at Cyberpower or Ibuypower, but a little searching revealed remarkably poor reliability. To compare things, I configured an identical system at Newegg and found that it cost either a few hundred less for exactly the same components, including shipping, or that for the same price I could get better memory, a better video card, etc. Some components were cheaper through the system builders, but some had a ridiculous markup. Memory and power supplies were ridiculous. Round cables, two bucks at Newegg, were twenty from a system builder.Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz

So I decided to do a do-it-yourself build with the better components. I've added memory, sound cards, a new video card, replaced CD drives, etc. After reading some online tutorials, I think I'm competent enough to tackle this myself.

I get my summer paycheck in about two weeks, so this is tentative for now. I'm especially curious as to what the pricing on the 4870 X2 will be and whether the 4870 will go down any when this happens.

We want to be able to play 3d games, do general productivity stuff, and have some room for upgrades and expansion over the next two to three years until it's time to buy new again. I don't give a hoot how it performs in Crysis.

I'm tentatively shooting for $1500 with shipping, not counting productivity software. I did a lot of reading here and at Andandtech and The Guru of 3D, and this is what I have so far.

System (tentative):

Case: NZXT Zero Black/Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775

Processer: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz

Processer cooling: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler

Video Card: MSI R4870-T2D512 OC Radeon HD 4870

Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) (2, for a total of 8gb memory).

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 100

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 20X SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe

Card Reader: SUPER TALENT INTAIN1MCR All-in-one Card Reader

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD

Productivity: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Licensed for 3 PCs - Retail

Questions:

1. Are there any glaring problems, omissions, or places I can save money without a loss of quality?

2. What do I need to install the OEM hard drive? I can pay extra for a retail version, but that means giving up size or paying quite a bit more. I'm assuming I can get drivers from the web, and that I need an extra SATA II cable. What else, if anything, do I need? If it's too complex, I can just head out to my local Best Buy and get a retail boxed version of the 500mb version for $130, an extra $40 will a loss of storage capacity.

3. Am I missing anything?

Not counting mouse, keyboard, and the Microsoft Office Student edition, I get in under my $1500 goal including shipping. From the cheapest builder, this build is about $1900-$2000, so if I can get this done, I'm going to have a good amount left for games or a new monitor.

If you read all that, I apologize, and I thank you for your time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would get this Power supply instead:
PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Continuous @ 40°C EPS12V Power Supply - Retail
on sale for 89 bucks after mail rebate $110.00 before
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703005

Other then that its a nice build.

nice build there.

if you want to save a little money off of your bottom line try this case/hard drive combo:

NZXT TEMPEST / Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811146047

newegg has a combo great combo deal, you get $25 off for the combo and the case has a small $10 rebate. that should save ya about $50. i ordered that combo myself!

i had my heart set on full tower myself but i found that great mid tower deal and that case can hold 2 4870's in crossfire. someone left a comment on the newegg site stating so.

=)

There is not driver for a hard drive, only the controller. Vista has it built in for SATA/AHCI/RAID. XP had it built in for IDE(and sata in IDE mode).

Still always update you drivers from the Asus website. When you install CD's(drivers) select custom, that will let you avoid getting extra software. You can also type msconfig(use with care) in the run menu to stop things from starting with the computer if they do not have an option to shut it off.

Give Open Office a try on your current machine. It is compatible with Microsoft Office 97/2000/XP(Writer is Word, Impress is Power Point][for the most part] and Calc is Excel). Just select the format when saving.

After poking around a bit, I found a combo Asus P5Q-E board with the E8500 for $15 off, so I've switched there. The board is ten bucks more, but the combo offers a $15 savings. So far as I can tell, the only differences are that the P5Q-E supports up to 16gb of memory, has a slightly different set of output jacks, and a different onboard sound system, and otherwise is about the same, so I think I'll save the $15. I don't get the free World at War game, but screw it.

nukemaster: Thank you. This relieves any concerns I might have had regarding the hard drive. I'll try Open Office. So long as the files will open in Word and Excel and look the same as they did when I saved them, it'll be fine.

Wanker79: I do plan to overclock the processor a bit, but not to extremes. I picked the E8500 because I've read that it's easy to overclock and stable.

That memory does look like a good value, but, alas, the paycheck I'll be using for this system won't be arriving until after the rebate expires. I picked the G.Skill because I had downloaded the user manual for the motherboard I'm using and that particular model was listed as being supported on the motherboard. If I don't need the DDR 1066, I do see these DDR2 800 sets listed as supported for 8gb (4 x 2gb) on this motherboard:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (5-5-5-15)

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (4-4-4-12)

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

The OCZ memory has a nice rebate, but it ends before I'll be ready to buy, so it comes out more expensive, so I'm looking at the two G.Skill sets. The difference is that the first is timed at 5-5-5-15 at 1.8-1.9v, and the second is 4-4-4-12 at 2.0-2.1v. I assume the higher voltage means it runs hotter, and the lower timing numbers means it runs faster. It's a difference of five bucks, so I don't care about the money part. Is the difference in timing going to show any difference in performance when running a game?

Anyone: These are probably stupid questions, but I'd rather sound stupid once than go around ignorant.

1. Is it important to stick with the vendor specifications in the users manual, or will any good quality memory work so long as it's compatible with the motherboard? I assume it's the latter, that any good quality memory will be fine, but I can't be sure.

2. Would there be any advantage to getting my 4870 from Asus instead of MSI, better driver compatability perhaps? I assume they're all pretty much the same, and the brand won't make any difference in compatability with the motherboard, but I'm not sure.

3. Would there be an advantage to getting a second, smaller hard drive just for the operating system? I've read that this makes doing a reinstall of the OS easier if that's needed, as the data files are all on a different disk. This one: Western Digital Caviar SE WD800AAJS 80GB 7200 RPM is less than $40, so I might consider that if it offers an advantage.

Thank you for having patience with the newbie. I don't want to screw this up.