First build advice requested

[russwin13]

This will be my first PC build, and it will be used 65% for gaming / 35% email, internet, office work. I also plan on doing a little overclocking down the road, and I would like to keep this for about 2 years before upgrading. Here are the components that I plan on purchasing from Newegg for my build:

Coolermaster Centurion 534 Case ($68)
Foxconn P45A-S motherboard ($170)
Intel Q6600 OEM Processor ($185)
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 pro cpu cooler ($32)
Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 ($71)
EVGA 9800 GTX+ video card ($170)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250 GB SATA 2 Hard Drive ($60)
Corsair CMPSU 750TX Power Supply ($130)
Samsung 22X SATA DVD Burner ($24)

Here are my questions:
Is the power supply a little overkill, or is it ok for what I am looking for?
I am planning on using Vista Home Premium for the OS. Should I be looking at the 32 or 64 bit version?
I am planning on buying a new monitor in the 19"-21" range. Which would be better a LCD or CRT (do they still make them?) monitor for gaming? Also any advice on which brand to get would be great also.
Thank you very much for your time, and I look forward to the responses. -Russ

[Barrister73]

I'll take the easy one;

You need Vista 64 if you want to use more than 3 Gig of RAM.

[RickyTick]

Yeah, the psu is a little overkill, but so what. You might build a bigger system in a couple of years and that psu might be perfect for it. However, there is a 650TX for a few dollars less if you're interested.

That 250gb hard drive will fill up faster than you think. Look at the WD SE16 640gb. Its great.

Otherwise, it looks awesome.

I deleted your double post.

[Damlite]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=WD6400AAKS
Spend the extra 20 bucks and get about triple the hard drive capacity.

You're well within the $200 range for video cards, recommend this one over your 8800:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130385
You'll get a very definitive performance boost by spending a few extra bucks.

Motherboard is cheaper here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186148&Tpk=Foxconn%20P45A-S

LCD monitors are direct superiorities to CRT monitors. they consume less power and produce a better image quality. And, obviously, they're flat, and cool looking. Your power supply is a fine choice, slightly overkill, but gives you room to upgrade later on if you want to stick another video card in SLI, or overclock your components.

[russwin13]

Thank you all for your responses.

Barrister - 64 bit will be the one I buy.

RickyTick - Thanks for deleting the double post. After reading yours and Damlite's answers, the 640 mb makes the most sense

Damlite - I am planning on buying the 9800gtx+, so I might as well spend the extra $10 or $20 to buy one of the overclocked models. I misread my notes, I ment to list the motherboard as $110 not $170, so we are speaking about the same thing. You also made my decision much easier on the monitor, now to find one.

Thanks again. -Russ

[Dan Curtis]

Regarding monitors, I have 5 LG monitors and I am very happy with them. They are crystal clear and very reliable.

[russwin13]

I would like to thank everyone for their help, and thanks to a few sugestions, here is what I bought:

Coolermaster Centurion 534 Case
Foxconn P45A-S motherboard
Intel Q6600 OEM Processor
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 pro cpu cooler
Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800
EVGA 9800 GTX+ video card
Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA 2 Hard Drive
Corsair CMPSU 750TX Power Supply
Samsung 22X SATA DVD Burner
Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit
Acer X223W 22" LCD Monitor

The build took a little longer than I expected (about 4 1/2 hours), but it fired up first shot with no hickups. I'm finally getting used to Vista after doing some tweaking. Looking forward to years of use. Thanks again, -Russ

[tibug]

Sweet economical, bang-for-your-buck build right there. I'm sure you'll be very happy with that. I also have an acer monitor very similar to that one (P223W) and I love it...just a single dead pixel...not bad for a 200$ monitor...

Out of curiosity, how are your temps? I want to see the progress Intel has made in the efficiency of their quads.

[russwin13]

Sorry for the slow reply tibug, but I'm a financial consultant, and things have been a little hectic at work. I hardly ever hear the PC fan running, so I'm sure that they are doing a better job with the cooling. I should run a temp checker just to make sure, but I've played Crysis at max for 2-3 hours and the whole system is quiet. When I first fired the rig up I found out that the pc fan was hooked up to the frontbrige fan controler so the foxconn software gave me a red flag. Once I put it in the right place there were no more warnings. The case has 2 fans, the pc fan (that freakin thing is huge) and is extremely well ventilated, plus it is not the middle of summer, so it shouldn't get that hot. Next summer I plan on adding 2 fans for the top of the case to be on the safe side. If that doesn't keep things cool, the next step is liquid cooling, which I would rather not do.

[Damlite]

Just think carefully when installing the new fans in their flow directions, as it can be just as easy to muck up the air circulation as it is to improve it.