PC Customization

[Zephyr1551]

Well I'm not as tech savy as some of the people here but I was planning on customizing a computer. I was doing some research on Newegg and here are some of the things I was looking at tell me if I'm wrong and if you can post a link for a better hardware device for me that would be awesome.

Motherboard:
Well for the motherboard I was thinking the NVIDIA 750i here are the links
Newegg.com - EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i FTW SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
or
Newegg.com - MSI P7N SLI-FI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

GraphicsCard:
I was probably going to get the NVIDIA 8800GT
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

OS:
Obviously I was going to get Windows Vista, but I was debating about whether to get 32bit or 64bit. I heard that 64bit has compatabilty issues with programs and/or hardware. Is that true? Hopefully it won't give me issues if it is true. Also I was debating whether or not to get Home Premium or Ultimate, which would you suggest? I know that Ultimate has all the things that Home Premium has and more, but nothing vital that I need. Just nice to have ya know?

Processor:
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors
A 3.0 processor is pretty good for gaming

Can anyone recommend any good computer cases, cooling devices, and power supplies at a nice affordable price? I mean don't let the price completely get in the way of the product but not one that's way too expensive.

I know I want 4gigs of ram if I'm gonna get 64bit Vista, but which ram should I get? I mean there's so many different choices its hard to choose the best form the average and good.

And if theres anything I missed be sure to tell me.

[Pwnzilla]

If you can throw out a budget amount and state whether that includes monitor, mouse, and/or keyboard will help in the component selection process.

[Zer]

If you dont "need" SLI, please stick with a Intel based chipset:P

[Zephyr1551]

forget the mouse and keyboard right now they're not important. As for the monitor i was thinking of getting a basic one that's not too expensive. Dont worry about those guys focus on the computers internal hardware at the moment!

[Pwnzilla]

You still haven't listed a budget so I'll just spec a solid high end system (~$1500 inc monitor).

Case: Newegg.com - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
$119.99
Optical Drive: Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners
$28.99
Hard Drive: Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
$79.99
Floppy Drive: Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model SFD321B/LBL1 - Floppy Drives
$7.49
Motherboard: Newegg.com - EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i FTW SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
$189.99
Memory: Newegg.com - OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
$94.99
PSU: Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, ULC, CE, CB, RoHS - Power Supplies
$149.99
CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors
$194.99
GPU: Newegg.com - ZOTAC ZT-98XES2P-FCP GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
$199.99
Operating System: Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - Operating Systems
$99.99

$1101.40 + Shipping $45.72 = $1147.12 - Rebates $35.00 = System price $1112.12

Add gaming keyboard, mouse, and monitor should be ~$1500.

[Zephyr1551]

EDIT

[Zephyr1551]

EDIT

[Kink]

If you or anyone looking to upgrade on a budget, what I did was did some special shopping.

I have a fry's near by but I think newegg or tigerdirect would be good to use too.

Keep your eyes open for specials that they have. I know with fry's they usually have 3-4 weekly motherboard+cpu combo deals.

I just needed to upgrade the main components, didnt need new hard drives or monitor or case.

I got a e8400 intel dual core + cheap motherboard combo for $189. Basically the motherboard is free. If you need to budget your computer from the start this is a good way to go. Down the road if you want a super-duper motherboard with sli or crossfire you can do that with some future funds.

I also went with a 9800 gt card. The 8800 cards are a bit more powerful, but honestly you won't notice the difference. Again if you find an 8800 on sale go for it, but I got the 9800 for $129 after rebate of $40 bucks.
I also picked up 2 gigs of ram for about 50 bucks.
So, i went from playing conan at low settings getting 10fps to high settings at 30-50 fps at a little over $400 bucks + tax.

So, if you have hard drives, dvd/cdrom, monitor etc. already. It's fairly cheap to upgrade now.

[Zephyr1551]

And what about 64 bit windows vista? will it have any problems with compatiblity issues?

[Pwnzilla]

I have been using Vista 64-bit Home Premium for about a year now. The only compatibility issue I encountered was with my firewall software (ZoneAlarm). It did not support it, I knew this before I went 64-bit from research. I just went with Comodo instead as they do support Vista 64-bit. That is the only compatibility issue I encountered. Now if you try to run some 5+ year old software you are more likely to encounter an issue, but I have not had any issues.