New Year Means New Computer...Advice on my build???

[panther5150]

Well, it is time to rotate my wifes computer to the scrap heap. That means she gets my current setup whilst I get to build myself a nice new computer. I want to keep the price in the 2k to 2.5k range max. So, I am trying to figure out what I can do for those amounts. Dell just does not cut it. I will probably get the pieces together and build it myself. Anyway, here are the general specs of the system I am considering cobbling together. Any advice on it, one way or the other would be very helpful. Of course, it is geared towards gaming (Crysis anyone?).

CPU/Mobo Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor BX80562Q6600 - 2.40GHz, 8MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB
Memory
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs
Video Cards
768MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX (maybe ultra??)
Hard Drive
500GB - Seagate 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Monitors
22 inch Widescreen Digital Flat Panel (i hate monitors, i never know what is good)
Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium (maybe ultra, can get from school with wifes professor discount)
Sound Cards
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (D) Sound Card
KEYBOARD
Keyboard wireless/bluetooth
MOUSE
Mouse wireless/bluetooth


Optical Drive
Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable (truewrite?)
Extras
Headset, USB Hub 2.0?, Case with proper wattage/cooling, TV Tuner remote?, simple speakers or use the ones I have (system is hooked digitally into my home stereo)


Thanks for lending me your knowledge!

[namehater]

cpu- go with e6750 or e6850, i wouldnt bother going quad yet, to my knowledge programs arent even written to use 4 cores yet, new cpus are right around the corner anyhow

ram- 4gb ddr2 1333mhz, smoking fast ram, dont bother with ddr3 yet

video card- 8800gt 512mb, its dx10, hell get 2 sli em, badass! btw- 1gb version coming soon

OS- nothing below vista premium

monitor- i recently got a new 24" 1080p monitor, nice, its a gateway fd2400 (i think) i highly recommend it

case- i absolutely love my case, its nothing special or expensive, but its nice cooler master cm690

check out my pics in my sig

edit: btw its Crysis

[Crippler]

Damn, that's basically what I was looking at building. I would get a mobo that can support the higher FSB clocks like the mem namehater was pointing to. A tad more future proof, if intel doesn't change pin counts on the cpus of course.

Personally, I would go quad. It's not that much more expensive than dual. Even though software isn't written to take advantage of all 4 cores. You can still assign programs to separate cores and reap the benefits that way.

[namehater]

crippler does have a point there. if future-proofing is a concern, look up an asus p5kc motherboard, it supports ddr2 and ddr3, plus next gen skt775 processors, its about as future proof as you can possibly get when dealin with pc's, that motherboard i listed does lack a few things tho to accomplish it, like sli and raid, i bought it because those things arent of concern to me

[Peench]

So you're finally upgrading eh? I still can't believe how good of a job you did building your existing computer. I took a picture when I was there last and I often stare at it in amazement:

[namehater]

HAHA thats awesome! a cardboard case, fire hazard? naw, we keep it damp so it cant catch... lol

its good to see that safety is the number one concern in this photo, notice the fan guard on that 120 fan?

[panther5150]

Excellent photo.

Now the real question is, where on the web do folks buy their parts? Neg Egg, Tiger Direct, or some other location? Give me your best, trusted, and cheapest shops!