I dont really agree with using 4gig of ram because right now if im not mistaken only 64 bit system can fully utilize ram that is below 3.7gig correct me if im wrong, just get a good 2 gig high speed performance ram with the 4-4-4-12 latency (thats the best on the market i think), if u are on budget, ddr2 is enough, you can always overclocked them anyway. Most people would go to ati for gpu here in my place because its cheaper than nvidia, , ati 4870 costed about 900++ here which is more than enough to run cod 5 at maximum settings, because my friend is using 4850 and he run COD 5 to the highest setting, but he overclocked his graphic card though. For processor, if u plan to overclock get the cheapest c2d because usually people overclock that one.
and for liquid cooling system, not really worth it for budget build, just get alot of fans which is cheaper and a good casing.
, as for mobo, i dont know about you guys but here most people prefer gigabyte eventhough asus technology is better but its not that stable sometimes.
once you get more money, you can just slice your gfx card by buying another same model of the graphic card. more power!
Have fun gaming on Vista with 2 Gigs of RAM. Seven (or Siena, forget what it's called) is coming out next year, best be prepared.
Even for OC purposes, I still say pick up 4 gigs of cheap DDR2 memory. People spend too much money on RAM when the difference doesn't scale properly with other things you could spend money on. If you're going to make it an OC build though, I'd just read reviews and get ones with decent heatspreaders. Don't overclock a budget C2D. There are new processors out that are much better and overclock like a machine. If you're on a budget, I know that the C2Q Q6600 is extremely cheap right now and overclocks like a beast.
For cooling, most people don't really need it. Just spend a bit more and get a good quality case with some good quality fans. I'd recommend getting an aftermarket heatsink though if you plan on OC'ing the processor a fair amount.
Obviously don't cheap out on the PSU.
I'd stick with ASUS over Gigabyte. I find Gig easier to work with but I think things just run a lot cleaner on an ASUS board (once everything is set up and such).
By build is:
Gigabyte p35 ds3l
4GB AMPX DDR2 800
e8400 @ 3.0 (getting aftermarket soon)
XFX 8800GTS Alpha Dog
80GB 7200 HD
I like my 4GB, but if your going to overclock a lot, it would be beneficial to spend the same money on a quality 2 GB. I don't recommend my gfx card because its a little overpriced, and hard to find now. Go with a quad core because it will be a little more future proof, plus some of the q6600 are overclocking mofo's. Don't water cool right off the bat. Get some decent air cooling stuff and see how far that gets you with ocing, and if you want more THEN look into water. If you game pretty often and use a large monitor, I would recommend SLI/crossfire, because you will get lower fps with a larger monitor if you don't. Get a motherboard that supports SLI/crossfire even if your not going to use it right off the bat.
That's about all I can think of right now.
Futureproof is the key word here. You don't want to build a system and have it be a waste of money 3 months down the road.
offtopic : i plan to get x280 on my new set, anyone got any other recommendation? it cost around 1.7k here for one though. but i heard its better than ati 4870 x2.
Buy online and pray Customs doesn't take it?
The drivers for the 4870 are a bit eh, but I like em better than the 280's. From what I've seen 280s in tri-sli aren't too much better than the 4870x2.