help buliding+choosing pc parts

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This is my first time building a pc from scratch. And it would be helpful if anyone can help me out?
heres the current list of PC parts:

Asus P5N32-E PLUS SLi nForce (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.33GHz (1333FSB) (not yet released)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)

BFG BFGR88320GTS OC2EI Graphics Card GeForce 8800 GTS - 320MBPCI
or
The Crucial Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB PCI Express? both just under £200 but which would be better and work with the motherboard selected?

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 160GB ST3160815AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM

Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM

Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro Series -
theres a gameport on the back, but I have no clue if it would work with my microsoft sidewinder non-usb: http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=15854
even if it didnt, has anyone seen gameport to USB converters working?

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case

OCZ GameXStream 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply - can it cope with all the stuff mention above?

cruicial Ballistix tracer two set 1GB ram. Iam bit lost with the ram list I was givin at crucial, as it has two different types of the same ram, one says: DDR2 PC2-5300 NON-ECC and the other: DDR2 PC2-6400 NON-ECC

I know I have left the basic keyboard, mouse but what 15inch tft/lcd monitor should I consider getting under £180?
I had a lcd in the past and has been rubbish, what kind of specs should I be looking for in a TFT/LCD monitor like Contrast Ratio or Response Time?

I still have some questions though, Iam bit concern about the inner cables, as I know I have to buy them separately for the components to connect to the motherboard, however how many inner cables would I need? Would I also need the SATA cable for the harddrive?

I dont have a budget as such, but would like it under a £1000

Thanks in advance for helping me out.


-Mallet

 

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The system doesnt look bad. Have you budgeted for a decent power supply?

According to PCPRO magazine you can get the philips 170B7 17" TFT for £152, or Samsung Syncmaster 940BW 19"widescreen TFT for £134, both are good monitors.

All your cables will come with the mobo.

 

Cheers raffaz, I keep the monitors in mind
Nicely priced too.

I am abit stumped with the PSU, as I put the OCZ GameXStream 700w on the list as most of the PSU I came across where 400w to 500w. I just thought the 700w would compensate for any error if I didnt have enough power.
And would the PSU I chosen work with the motherboard I choose? As it says ATX2 Power Supply.


-Mallet

 

That's a quality box. I'd recommend the Asus mobo with the Intel-based chipset, but that's just my personal preference.

 

You want to be looking at the refresh rate for montiors, the more times it can refresh a second the better the quality of picture, especially of you're gaming.

You should be able to get a fairly decent TFT monitor for £180, maybe a 19" one if you have the desk space.

One thing I would suggest is to download the manual of the mobo you're intersted in before you buy it and check the compatability of the other parts. 9 times out of 10 you'll be ok but it's worth checking cos you don't want any nasty suprises!

 

Here's a good place to start for your psu SLi Zone

 

Ok really good spec, but you are lacking in certain areas:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 160GB ST3160815AS SATA-II 8MB Cache. Ok lets be honest on the spec u got 160GB doesnt cut it...500GB and you are laughing and it will only cost about £60.

And as for the monitors, like the guys have said go for the bigger ones...19" or higher...trust me I have two 19" and im pleased I have them. With the spec u got I would say 4 19" monitors hehe...

I cant fault your choice of case mate, cos I have the exact same one and its the bees knees..

Oh and I would definitely go for two X1900XT graphics cards but only if your motherboard supports Crossfire...otherwise you will have to change the motherboard...I can see u have gone for Intel CPU, I will say this, if u plan to get two ATI cards for Crossfire, an AMD motherboard is your best bet namely the ASUS M2R32-MVP motherboard.

But still its a killer machine u got there mate

 

Seems like a beast, but I would try to find a hard drive with faster cache 16mb

I would go for the nvidia card myself

go for the pc6400 ram its faster

Yeah like Raff said you can get decent 17 and 19" monitors for that price

 

Thanks all for the great responses

However, with the current motherboard I choose fit with the Antec case? as it says its compatible with only atx motherboards.
Do I also need a thermal layer between the cpu and the cpu cooler? or does it come with it already to stop it melting?

-Mallet

 

some HSF come with it already on, but heres a little guide anyway http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

 

I'd recommend Arctic Silver 5.

Unsure about the case.

 

How much money are you spending on your system, as I am going to build one next summer and am going to budget £2000 for it

 

the Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case PSU is at the bottom of the case, so does an normal PSU fit ok i.e will all the cables be long enough?

 

Depends on the PSU you get... the cables are attached to the PSU. Some have long cables... some have short cables. Never skimp on a PSU, and always do your research.

 

That is gonna be a nice system, maybe they'll have quad core CPU's on the market for you by then 2

Agree with the others, 15" TFT is too small, You will get a decent larger one for your budget easy.

I've had no experience with them but those stealth PSU's sound pretty cool, nothing worse than a noisy PSU IMO.

 

what a coincidence, I am gonna start mine round summer too
I like my budget to stick under the £1000 marker, but will likely to go over just abit.
The reason why Iam planning on summer is my pay checks come in monthly contract plus I only just started work. Also Iam gonna sell my budget dell inspiron 1300 on ebay, hate that damn thing

Thanks all for the great feedback, its been really helpfull
Yeah I think I go for the bigger monitors as they give the best value for money.
I will call Overclockers about the fittings of the mobo to the case as they have both of them in stock.

-Mallet

 

just a update on the case, you can have the asus mobo fit in the Antec case. As I called up Overclockers who supply both the units

-Mallet