Building a Gaming Machine - Some Help Please!

[Zoom7000]

This is the spec I have put together for a gaming machine for my brothers:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - OEM
BFG GeForce GTX 260 OC MAXCORE 896MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black (No PSU)
Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant PSU
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ)
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
Samsung SH-S223Q/BEBN 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Samsung SM-2233BW Cream 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black

I've gone for the Antec P182 and the Tuniq Tower because it looks nice and I want a relatively silent system seeing as it will be sitting in the living room.

I'm stuck between the last 2 items, motherboard and RAM:

Initially I was thinking of going for the Asus Rampage Formula and 8Gb RAM - OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Platinum Series DDR2 (OCZ2P10664GK)

But a few folks on other forums have said go for a P45 board, so, should I get the Asus Maximus II Formula with cheaper RAM - OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK)

The only reason I'd be going for the cheaper RAM is to bring the price down a little. And I always thought the Rampage was better than the Maximus II. The big advantage I see with the Maximus II is the 16Gb max RAM as opposed to the 8Gb limit on the Rampage.

So, what do you guys think overall and specifically, what Mobo and RAM should I go for?

The max price limit is £1300. Can I do better for the price?

 

[lunarwolf]

1. if you are a gamer then forget quad, get a e8xxx series dual core. games use 1 core (barely use second core at best) and will benefit from higher clock on a e8600 or OC e8xxx chip. This is unlikely to change in near future since 99% of games are designed for consoles as lead platform, the pc version is just a port. Maybe once the new versions of consoles will come out will we see games that use quads or more.

2. if you go for an intel based board then get a ATi card 4870 1gb cheaper than the nvidia 260max for the same performance. also a p45 or x48 will allow you to add a second in future if you feel the urge to go crossfire. If you are sure you will crossfire then probably best to go for x48 (ddr2 board) since you will get 2x16, whereas a p45 will give you 2x8 in crossfire mode. If you have your heart set on nvidia then you need a sli board if you ever want to add a second card

3. 8gb for games is overkill, 4gb is more than enough - check asus website for memory compatibility, i remember some people having issues with ocz mem and asus boards, maybe this is resolved, but best to check