that really comes to 800? wow

THANKS FOXX

Almost forgot this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835100007

It's the thermal grease that goes on the cpu to transfer heat to the heatsink. If Elric has some, you can just use his...no point in buying more.

you can buy Arctic Silver Ceramique at radioshock. dont buy thermal grease from newegg, they usually charge like an extra $5 shipping even if it gets consolidated with the other items. might have been fixed tho. ASC is just as good, non-conductive, but is a PITA to apply.

otherwise....that;s almost my exact system. i have the Q6700, upgraded from 9800GTX to GTX260, using the 900 case. you'll need speakers, decent mouse, keyboard, and monitor, too. those can come when you have money for em assuming you have temporary shit for now.

i cant really suggest a monitor. there are good and bad ones and the only way to know which are which is to read up specifically about it. ones uisng TN panels are garbage but very cheap. ones using IPS panels are high quality but more expensive (1.5-2x more). i'd look for a name brand 22", 1680x1050 with 2ms response time. they can be found less than $200 like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824236028

Mouse: BUY THIS NOW: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.as ... lang=en-US
it's a great mouse at the best price ive ever seen for it. it's better than every other $30 mouse and many $50 mice.

keyboard: BUY THIS KEYBOARD: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.as ... lang=en-US
it's my G15 but without the LCD. backlit keys, full media keys, Windows key toggle, and macro keys. i never use the macros but everything else i cant live without anymore. this is by far the best general-use and gaming keyboard under $60. it also lets you hit over 10 keys at once and register them all. most standard keyboards max at 3 or 4 and many have issues using certain key combos (like ctrl+random letter keys, which ctrl+wasd walks in many FPS games).

speakers: 5.1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6836121012
this is a decent 5.1 system. it's nothing special but a great sounding system for the price.
2.0: if you only want 2 satellite speakers get these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6836116006
for the price they are very good. i've listened to these and was amazed they didnt have a bass. deep, rich bass thats very clear for 2 satellites.
2.1: 2 w/ sub: i dont have experience with any 2.1 systems less than $150 besides the $30 jobs that sound like ass.

headphones: http://www.buy.com/prod/jvc-ha-rx700-st ... 97541.html
BUY THESE NOW! these almost sound as good as Ars Technica AD900's, which are considered one of the best headphones under $400. i will be 'upgrading' my 8 year old $100 Sennheiser headphones to these $35 cans once i start making more money then my bills require. these supposedly sound better than anything you can find under $200 and for only 35...

think thats about it.

oh right! desk and chair! cant enjoy gaming if you cant get comfy. that will be for another day...

I aprove except with two parts, not that they are bad but since you are making an investment...

DVD/CD Burner


For a couple of extra bucks you get a faster more reliable unit AND Lightscribe technology, in case you want to make covers for your cds/dvds (not on paper, directly on the surface of the disk)

Memory


G. Skill is a good company...its cheap hands down but i've heard of many cases where there are compatibility issues with mobos in general...Plus they are are Taiwan based company, Mushkin on the other hand is a bit pricier but their stuff is made here, it offers great performance and their customer support rocks. But that's just me.

I would suggest different memory than those already stated

Ive always been a fan or re-tuning my memory for higher performance out of them as such I buy relatively pricey Ram to allow to increase the clock speed on it.

OCZ

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... C3%2010666)

Corsair

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... C3%2010666)

Both are extremely reliable Ram, over time time I've been buying their products, I have never had to replace a single stick. Extremely high quality and allows for, at least in the Corsair's case, nearly doubling the performance safely, which their warranty still covers the product after the OC. I believe OCZ has the same warranty type.

I would stick with Corsair if you go this route, at the same time this is your first big kid computer, so this might be a little much to start off
Your choice in the long run.
Oc'n things is a fast way to ruin a lot of pricey tech if your not sure what your doing.

For a first time computer that he isn't going to OC, G.Skill memory is fine. I use it and I OC...and it's rock stable.

I was lying in bed last night and it hit me....I forgot to suggest a power supply. I updated the info in my first post.

ALSO...I decided to take the custom heatsink/fan out of your build since you won't be OC'ing. It's just overkill for your application. That way you won't need thermal grease. I'm updating the CPU I had (OEM) with the kit that includes a heatsink/fan.

hey foxxy...
your link to power supplies and whatever the last was (i dont remember) fails at life.

hahahaha... thats genius...

just to give you some more grief, the microcenter doesnt have a link.

great PSU pick corsair makes some excellent supplies for the price. i couldnt recommend a PSU cheaper than $70. PSU is where you want to skimp the LEAST. PSU is the most critical part of any PC b/c it directly affects the stability and longevity of any brand system using any brand parts.

actually i just found this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371007
Earthwatts is their mid-level product and i'd have no problem putting it in a system where i wasnt OCing or maxing stability. it uses excellent pots and capacitors for the price. there's no better PSU under $70 except the higher wattage Earthwatts. 500w is more than enough.

Something else to maybe go for is a different Heat Sink for the CPU because my dad has a similar processor and it seems to get really hot with the stock one. The stock one is a little small, so just watch out for that. If you notice no temp differences, then you might be fine. My dad was playing Company of Heroes, so if you have that, use that as a test or any other game.

you wont need an aftermarket cooler unless you live in the far southern states or are OCing. the Core2 chips are designed with high TDPs and high thermal thresholds. the 65nm quads are certified by Intel up to 70 C though i wouldnt go above 65 under 100% stress and sub 60 is ideal.