Building first pc and need advice

[Stormcrow]

My suggestions for a well rounded gaming-multipurpose build

Processor:
Newest incarnation of the Core2 line. Speedy little beast that overclocks like a pro should you decide to venture that route.
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

Motherboard:
Can't beat the price-performance ratio on this board. We can give better suggestions if you want something with more snazz or features.
Newegg.com - DFI BloodIron P35-T2RL LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

RAM:
I've used Patriot RAM before, and was very satisfied with the results. While Crucial is my favorite brand, these guys are right up there with the best of them.
Newegg.com - Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Video Card:
Outruns the older 8800GTS, gets close into 8800GTX territory at half the price.
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Hard Disk:
Same as the one you listed above but with double the cache.
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Power Supply:
Plenty of juice and a nice helping of +12v amps. Also modular, although the price is on the high side you pay for quality.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail

Case:
Excellent cooling, sleek design and a smaller footprint then other cases. Price isn't bad either.
Newegg.com - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Cooling:
This is debatable and each of us has our own preference, personally I like the Freezers
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

Opticals:
Another that's debatable, I've used Philips, Aopen, Samsung, LiteOn, and NEC, almost all are pretty much the same. Two of these should do fine.
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 - Retail

Any ideas on what OS you plan on using? To use the full amount of system memory, you would need a x64 based OS. Windows XP 64 supports this, but I find Vista Home Premium x64 to be a great OS despite the rabid unfounded hate against it. You could also try any of the free x64 Linux distros, but gaming is really subpar on a Linux system.

[Parker]

BTW, if you don't use a 64-bit OS you'll only see 3.5GB of that 4GB set of RAM, but that's not really a big deal.

Also, all the parts that Stormcrow listed adds up to $1,315.27 Taxed and Shipped

That's a little bit pricy, not sure if you want to go that much, but it would be an excellent system if you did!

[Yellowhello]

Excellent system you've pieced together there Stormy!

[onebxr]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Excellent system you've pieced together there Stormy!

Motherboard:
Can't beat the price-performance ratio on this board. We can give better suggestions if you want something with more snazz or features.
Newegg.com - DFI BloodIron P35-T2RL LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

this is the only reason he likes your build. HA!
-1

[Gig-O-Ram]

I would suggest seriously looking at the many suggestions offered here. You may also want to look at G Skill RAM kits. I've used G Skill in my system for almost two years with no problems at all. I just built a system for my sister using that brand as well - only issue there was that one of the sticks didn't want to work in one of the DIMMs on the mobo. I think that may have been a fluke thing. And you really will get better deals at Newegg - especially on the DVD burner. My sister's computer (see sig) - C2D, 4GB Ram, etc, etc cost her just over $800 with shipping. But then, she's not gaming either. Otherwise, it might've been higher.

[Yellowhello]

G.Skill is good, but for the price you really can't beat the Crucial Ballistix or OCZ Platinum.

[JazzyJake]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Also you may want to look into a quad-core. Video-editing is fairly CPU-intensive and you may see a substantial increase in performance. Check out the Q6600, pretty much the best quad-core for the money.

I second EVERYTHING that has been said, and especially this last statement.
I do a substantial amount of video editing in Sony Vegas 7.0d on the rig listed in my sig....Just last week i edited on a Q6600 with 2gb of ballistix, they are PHENOMENAL processors.
It made the overall experience SO MUCH better, and it's not like my rig is a slug in the first place either.

[Gig-O-Ram]

Actually, when I was picking parts on my system, if I hadn't chosen G Skill, I was going to go with OCZ. It was a toss up, and G Skill won out...

[Parker]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

G.Skill is good, but for the price you really can't beat the Crucial Ballistix or OCZ Platinum.

Uh oh... here we go again.

[JazzyJake]

Originally Posted by Gig-O-Ram

Actually, when I was picking parts on my system, if I hadn't chosen G Skill, I was going to go with OCZ. It was a toss up, and G Skill won out...

I confidently recommend Crucial, OCZ, and G.Skill when people ask about good quality ram, those are my 3 brands of choice generally