Ok so here is my idea for getting the top value for my current planned set up. I have read enough to know more and more about branding and how so often it is like comparing a red ball to a red ball so all products I will be buying will be a brand that is both known and well reviewed ohh and gives me the best price at the time I will be buying them
I plan on waiting till at least the October release of the new Intel cpu series and hope for some kind of a price drop on the current 775 socket cpus and motherboards. Preferably the 1-2 month wait may very well see price reduction in other areas of my computer purchases; i.e.: “obsolete” ddr2 ram may become even cheaper yippee the graphics card/s I am interested in will have been on the market for at least a little while that’s all I can really foresee realistically

Ok so with my ideal price reducing plan in hand I would be looking to but together

A p45 or x38/48 based motherboard ddr2 compatible (p45 if I decide 1 gpu is enough)

A q9550 which I would like to have pushed to 3.0 or 3.2 GB if the heat increase is nominal (They must already have large overstocks with the current price of this cpu) is buying the cpu retail if you are building a good idea? Does the stock heat sink/fan suck or make a lot of noise? Would I get my 3 or 3.2 on the stock cooler? Is it simply better/safer/quieter to buy oem and stick on a nice aftermarket cooler?

4 or 8 Gigs ddr2 800 ram seems to be the way to go – curious if I would be capable of keeping a nice 1:1 ratio if bumping the q9550 to a 3 or 3.2? Would I see much of a multitask performance increase going from 4-8 GB? If going 8 GB is a reasonable option what would be the best way to divide the cards in the dimm slots 2-2-2-2 or 4-4-0-0 or a 4-2-2-0? (I know the mother board I choose will have to support all this)

I think a 1tb Seagate hdd will do quite nicely (could add as necessary) but I have some questions mainly what kind of a real performance increase does the extra rpm on a performance drive like the raptor really yield? Solid states are out simply because they are much too new therefore expensive and potentially buggy and I would be losing way too much storage capacity as my current understanding is they are very small capacity drives with outstanding data transfer rates. I was reading someone else’s build and they commented on getting a performance raptor to run just the os out of; now I immediately understood in concept what they were trying to do but I am completely unsure if this concept translates into any noticeable performance gains or is more enthusiasm than anything else

I fell in love with the t240 24” Samsung monitor and have chosen to settle on a 245 or 245bw 24” Samsung if I have to. I see OLED’s really dominating the monitor market but not for at least a while and 30” while very nice especially with the even higher resolutions are also very very expensive and are lacking in other areas in my opinion

For a graphics solution I am thinking 4870 (I can’t find a 1 GB model for sale anywhere) or 4870x2 (especially if I go p45 and would be stuck without the possibility of crossfire) My home work tells me that a 4870 especially x2 will play to the full resolution of the above mentioned monitor with a respectable enough frame rate as to make for at least a normal game play in games even with higher game settings and even aa and af filters on and would also be more then capable of playing back full hd video to again the monitor and a 42”+ hdtv so I’m not to sure I would be all the interested in crossfire anyway

I’m thinking 700-800 watt if I go p45 and 1 4870/4870x2 or 850-1000watt if I can get convinced that leaving the door at least open for crossfire would be a good idea. No messing around here it must have enough power, enough connectors, cool, efficient80% min, quiet am I on the right track?

As far as case goes I really have no idea exactly what I want aside from it being an atx full tower cheap cool good air flow and quiet. I see a lot of cases trying to make your computer look like a disco I am not all that interested in appearance (I look at the screen not the box). Assuming that the case comes with the usual 2 120mil intake/outtake fans will I have to add any fans to this set up?

I will put in any regular dvd write rewriter and wait till both the price of bluray burners comes down and when blu ray players specifically a certain game platform “accommodate” burnt blu ray disks a little better to add one

I believe dependant on available slots I could consider a sound card if the on board sound is not all that good and maybe a blutooth card reader should the need arise with perhipials

Finally when building your own system how exactly does one go about purchasing operating systems is it just like anything else? If so I would be needing a 64bit version (with 4- 8 GB ram) of windows now I hear a lot of crap about vista but ultimately it comes down to the fact that more and more we will in fact probably see xp become more and more antiquated so would an ultimate version of vista be a good idea or worth it? Thank you very much I appreciate all help as obviously I am new to this but clearly really want to learn

In terms of plan especially if can feel that price drop of the corei7 I imagine that this computer set up would more then last me the next full tick tock of the 32nm tech and if the 22nm tech really outdates me at the time upgrade with the tick hardware on the tock of the 22nm release same concept as now

After that the rest is all pretty much going to be ignored. Come back in Oct. with a list and not a wall of text if you want help

What Proximon said. Oh, forget Bluetooth on a computer considering the only things you could use it for are mice, keyboards, and printers.

i think you are on the right track with a lot of your ideas on what you are thinking abuot choosing. but it is best to wait until you are closer to ordering an dthen put the list on here. may be a different gpu solution at that point or significant price drops may occur in certain areas and not others. sorry not more help but it just won't be worth it to you right now as things can change significantly. see you in a few months.