Here's what I'm trying to accomplish:Budget: US$1,100CPU: Core2Duo E6600Memory: 2 gigsVideo card: The environment for purchasing a DX10 card will be better in several months, so I've convinced myself to get something inexpensive now. All prices are from NewEgg, except operating system, which I'll purchase through my employer.What do you think? Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V V2.0 for AMD & Intel systems Power Supply - Retail Model #: SONATA IIItem #: N82E16811129155$99.99 GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Model #: GA-965P-DS3Item #: N82E16813128012$144.99 -$10.00 Instant $134.99 GIGABYTE GV-NX76G512P-RH GeForce 7600GS 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail Model #: GV-NX76G512P-RHItem #: N82E16814125040$126.99 Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail Model #: NEOHE 550Item #: N82E16817103941$114.99 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail Model #: BX80557E6600Item #: N82E16819115003$317.00 OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P800R22GK - Retail Model #: OCZ2P800R22GKItem #: N82E16820227139$239.99 NEC Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive - OEM Model #: FD1231H-302Item #: N82E16821152005$6.25 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Model #: ST3320620ASItem #: N82E16822148140$94.99 -$5.00 Instant $89.99 NEC 18X DVD

Hi David,Your proposed system looks very close to what I was considering. I'm hoping prices will come down on the Core2Duo 6700, but the 6600 will work quite well and you could upgrade later.The Antec power suppy is a good choice, but will it be enough if you step up to the 8800 graphics card at a later date?Does the Gigabyte motherboard also support the Intel Quad Core CPU's? I'm hoping to get a MB that still has a parallel printer port so I can get by with my old printer.Are you going to use the standard Intel CPU heat sink/cooler? How many fans are you planning?Dale

Hello David,I am also trying to put together a similar system. Yours looks good to me except I note that your computer case comes with a 450W power supply plus you have a second 550W supply. I picked a similar case without a power supply in the same price range. It is the Thermaltake Matrix VX VD3000BNA at New Egg. I also agree with Dale about the power supply. I'm thinking about a 700W to 750W supply.Hello Dale,I also have an old parallel printer and I am looking at a board without a parallel port. To solve the problem I am going to get a USB Parallel Printer Adapter cable.Dan

David,That looks like a sensible config. and a very good system to boot. With the E6600, you should be able to OC it to 2.9Ghz - 3.2Ghz too. Not sure if you need the E6700.That 450 Watt PSU should be sufficient for that system, however see if you can get a 500 or 550 watt without spending additional money from Antec. Not sure if there is any benefit of spending $100 bucks to go from 450 to 550. If you do insist on getting a seperate PSU...if you look around, you could get a 600 watt OCZ PSU for $60. During thanksgiving I saw such a deal at Tigedirect.So I would go with the 450W that comes with the Antec case. See if that works. You may need extra power when you get a DX10 card or add more HD in RAID0 config and what not. Manny

Many thanks for these suggestions. I've started ordering components, and will let you know how it runs when everything's put together. Probably be a few weeks...

I'm building a similar system, except I got an empty case (ABS Nighthawk, no power supply) and a 650W power supply for a BFG 8800 GTS graphics card. Is 650W enough?Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180