Final spec - want to order today!

[bobboberts]

After much deliberation, I've come up with this spec, but I do have some questions I need answering before I commit to ordering it. Spec is:

Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKS) £55.99
(£65.79) £55.99
(£65.79)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM £204.99
(£240.86) £204.99
(£240.86)
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB) £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2200 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.20GHz (800FSB) - Retail £51.99
(£61.09) £51.99
(£61.09)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £22.99
(£27.01) £22.99
(£27.01)
Pioneer DVR-212DBK 18x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(£21.14) £17.99
(£21.14)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Sound Card - OEM (PCI-Express) (30SB082000000) £25.99
(£30.54) £25.99
(£30.54)
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) £68.99
(£81.06) £68.99
(£81.06)
Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £58.99
(£69.31) £58.99
(£69.31)
Western Digital RAID Edition 160GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD1600YS) £35.99
(£42.29) £35.99
(£42.29)
Sub Total : £727.88
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £129.65
Total : £870.48

I plan on overclocking, do not plan on upgrading anything in the near future, *except* maybe the CPU once the new quads have been out for a little while, but generally want this machine to last a while. So, questions I have:

1. What GPU? I've seen it mentioned that the GTS may be better value, but is that true if I don't plan on upgrading it anytime soon? Is the performance enough to justify the price (I plan on playing my games at 1900x1200)?
2. Is that sound card going to be ok (it's PCI-E)? I like to watch my films in DD, and like to have my games using the various Creative effects, but don't want to spend a fortune on a card.
3. Mobo - I don't use Firewire, so will the IP35-E be suitable? I can't see anything else the IP35/Pro offer other than that? Will it be ok for the new quad-cores?
4. Is there abosultely anything else I need? I have a KB/mouse/monitor/speakers already, but nowt else. Am I missing anything? Will I need more fans?

Looking to order this so I can have a play around tomorrow, it's like being a big kid again!

Edit - Gah! I immediately see a thread below this one that says the extra cache is good for performance - should I swap the E2200 for the E4500?

 

[melbourne720]

1. GTX should be fine, just make sure you get the cheapest available as it might get superceded in a couple of months.

2. Should be fine. tbh most onboard sound should be good enough for films, but for the EAX effects you'll need the XFi

3. Should be fine. I'd prefer the p5k myself, but I know someone with that board, 4GB of RAM and a quad at 3GHz and he's happy

4. That case has loads of fans - you'll be fine in that respect.

Point gah. You will get more performance on an e4500, but not a lot more. You'll get even more with a e6750, and a Q6600, but an e2200 at 3GHz shouldn't hold back your GTX in games that much, if at all.

 

[bobboberts]

1. GTX should be fine, just make sure you get the cheapest available as it might get superceded in a couple of months.

2. Should be fine. tbh most onboard sound should be good enough for films, but for the EAX effects you'll need the XFi

3. Should be fine. I'd prefer the p5k myself, but I know someone with that board, 4GB of RAM and a quad at 3GHz and he's happy

4. That case has loads of fans - you'll be fine in that respect.

Point gah. You will get more performance on an e4500, but not a lot more. You'll get even more with a e6750, and a Q6600, but an e2200 at 3GHz shouldn't hold back your GTX in games that much, if at all.

Thanks for that. So in relation to points 1 and Gah, would you say that the extra money is worth it? Is the GTX £80 better do you think, considering I wouldn't get another GPU for at least 8-12 months? And is an extra 1mb of cache worth £20?