suggestions for a $800.00 build

[Jesta]

if i go with the E8400 what is another good place to find one? newegg is sold out.

[Capper]

they should have a shipment in tomorrow, no later than Wednesday.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Jesta

if i go with the E8400 what is another good place to find one? newegg is sold out.

Micro-Center has them for $200.

[Parker]

Looks like a great build so far

But, if your interested, you can save some money and I'll sell you my E6600 for $165 shipped. Heres the thread with it forsale.

It'll clock well up to 3.6-3.8Ghz on your board.
Let me know!

[azianai]

microcenter B&M also have the Q6600 for 199.99 as well.
btw if you're gonna spend 180 on the 9600GT, i'd just spend the 200 on the GT personally

ClubIT Product - MSI GeForce 8800GT (G92) OC 512MB 256bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP & SLI Ready Video Card Retail NX8800GT 512M OC

comes with aftermarket sink/fan too

And if you're gonna spend 240 on the E8400, might as well buy the E3110 Xeon which is the same chip as the E8400 just different voltage meter (i have one next to me right now) for $204 here:
Intel CPU XEON E3110 3.00GHZ FSB1333MHZ 6M (Intel EU80570KJ0806M) : Lagoom.com
or 210 here:
PriceGuideNetwork.com*:*Processors*:*Intel Xeon*:*INTEL CPU XEON E3110 3.00GHZ FSB1333MHZ 6M LGA775 RETAIL

[Jesta]

I'm giving it a day or two to see if the e8400 comes back in stock. (i'd rather buy from newegg cause i trust them.)

So while i wait,

Would a 8800GTS
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P2-N773-AR GeForce 8600GTS 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Be a better buy then then 9600GT?

Or maybe i should go with the ATI card capper suggested?

[Yellowhello]

I'd rather had the 9600GT instead of the 8600GTS you linked to. But then again, I'd go with the HD3870 over the 9600GT.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by Jesta

And i have never put a cooler on, are they difficult? Do you just throw the thermal paste on like glue and set the fan on?

I actually did a review on the BTF90 cooler that Capper reccomended. You can read it HERE. As far as installing the BTF90, you will need a screwdriver and that's about it. Simply put the backplate on the rear of the motherboard, install the front plate with the screws on the front of it (which you will screw down to the cooler first), and then screw the entire assembly down. The review offers a quick tutorial on how to install it. =)

Installation is really easy and should take no more than 5-10 minutes tops. It's a good cooler, and certainly worth the money spent on it versus the stock Intel cooler that comes with your processor.

[RA1D]

EVGA 8800 GT $180 after rebate FTW!

EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR Geforce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Video Card Retail at ZipZoomfly

[screwballl]

relating to motherboard, anything that is the EP35 (note the "E") is an awesome setup from Gigabyte..
DS3R is single PCIe X16 slot (no Crossfire or SLI)
DS3P has dual PCIe x16 slots (supports ATI Crossfire)
DS4 has dual PCIe x16 slots (supports ATI Crossfire)
note that each of the boards with 2 PCIe slots, the second runs at 4x, not 16x which is not a problem nowadays.
There is also a EP35C-DS3R which seems to be the same as the DS3R, except the "C" stands for Combo as it can use either DDR2 or DDR3.

There is a great run down of the P35 boards from gigabyte HERE

Basically:
R = onboard RAID
P = Pair as in dual PCIe x16 video slots
C = Combo, has both DDR2 & DDR3 slots
There is also mention of a P35T, where the T = DDR3 only.
Now add an E in front of the P35 and E = Energy efficient, lower power draw for the same or better overall performance.

Now if you are not planning on ever using a dual video card setup, Newegg has the DS3R for $125 right now but has all the rest of the options.
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard - Retail