Building a new computer - how much power will I need, and taking suggestions on parts

Here's what I'm planning for so far, but I have a few questions
CPU
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Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
$234.00
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 19115003)

Video
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EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
$279.99 ($259.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
Newegg.com - EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 14130082)

RAM
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CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
$146.00 ($116.00 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 20145590)

HDD
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2x RAID0
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$79.99
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 22148140)

Mobo
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ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$146.99
Newegg.com - ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 13131070)

Case
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COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$49.99
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 11119077)

Other
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dvd burner - $30-40
old dvd-rom - $free
Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz
GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
2x 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (RAID0)
SATA dvd burner
IDE dvd-rom

would a 550W psu be good enough? I don't really know how much power these parts draw, but the 8800 and dual HDs concern me

also, any suggestions for different parts would be appreciated

your video card recommends:

Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 26 Amps.)

so the 550w would be pretty safe if it's a quality PSU.

the harddrives won't require much for power though.

Get a mobo that supports quad-core for future proofing, e.g. Newegg.com - ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 13131030)
And I'd go for a lower latency RAM (CS 4, at most), such as Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 20145034)

Get a mobo that supports quad-core for future proofing, e.g. Newegg.com - ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 13131030)
And I'd go for a lower latency RAM (CS 4, at most), such as Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 20145034)

the one i was looking at is the Newegg.com - ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 13131070)

does the P5B-E not support quad while the P5B does? I'll look into that..

about the memory, I was looking at the motherboard manual online and saw that for some reason, lower CL will make the memory run at slower speeds.. CL=4 downgrades to DDR2-667 and CL=3 downgrades to DDR2-533

P5B-E manual: http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5B-E/e2779_p5b-e.zip

the one i was looking at is the Newegg.com - ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 13131070)

does the P5B-E not support quad while the P5B does? I'll look into that..

about the memory, I was looking at the motherboard manual online and saw that for some reason, lower CL will make the memory run at slower speeds.. CL=4 downgrades to DDR2-667 and CL=3 downgrades to DDR2-533

P5B-E manual: http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5B-E/e2779_p5b-e.zip

Interesting about the CL thing, but even if it did lower the speed, the CS should still make up for that loss and give you around the same (if not better) performance. Kind of like how CS 5 DDR2 800 runs about as fast as CS 2 DDR 400. At least with the CS 5 Corsair you wouldn't have to deal with mail-in rebates.

Taken from Newegg:
P5B-E
CPU Type Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium EE / Pentium

P5B
CPU Type Quad-core / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium

Could just be some mistake on their part, I'm just judging entirely by what they have listed.

after looking through the manuals, it looks like it's actually the P5B Premium that claims quad-core support, and not the P5B or P5B-E.

At least with the CS 5 Corsair you wouldn't have to deal with mail-in rebates.Actually, they both have mail-in rebates, $30 and $50. I think I might try the CL4.. the motherboard has options for ram frequency up to 1066, so even if it does change the speed to 667, I can probably manually set it back to 800 as long as that doesn't require a voltage over 2.1..

INTEL CORE 2 DUO E6600 2.40GHz 4MB 1066MHz $233.00 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 19115003)
DFI INFINITY P965-S DARK P965/ICH8R $139.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 13136034)
G.SKILL F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ 2GB B6-25E DDR2 800 CL4-4-4-12 $159.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 20231065)
EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR 8800 GTS HDCP DL DVI GDDR3 320MB [320-bit] [96SP 20RP] [500MHz|1200MHz|1600MHz] PCI-E $259.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 14130082)
WESTERN DIGITAL WD3200AAKS CAVIAR SE16 320GB [160Gb/platter] SATA 3Gb/s NCQ 7200RPM 16MB $79.00 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 22136074)
WESTERN DIGITAL WD3200AAKS CAVIAR SE16 320GB [160Gb/platter] SATA 3Gb/s NCQ 7200RPM 16MB $79.00 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 22136074)
LITE-ON LH-20A1S 20xDVD+/-R/RW DL SATA BLACK $38.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 27106057)
LIAN LI PC-7B PLUS II ALUMINUM BLACK ATX MIDI TOWER CASE $79.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 11112099)
SILVERSTONE ELEMENT ST50EF-PLUS ATX12V 2.2 500W $80.75 (http://deadeyedata.com/shop/index.php?main_page=produ ct_info&cPath=7_33_35&products_id=93)
YATE LOON D12SL-12 120MM 28dBA 1350RPM 47CFM CASE FAN $3.50 (http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12SL-12-pr-3009.html)
YATE LOON D12SL-12 120MM 28dBA 1350RPM 47CFM CASE FAN $3.50 (http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12SL-12-pr-3009.html)
THERMALRIGHT ULTRA 120 EXTREME $59.99 (http://www.tankguys.biz/product_info.php?products _id=1735)
SCYTHE S-FLEX SFF21F 120MM 28dBA 1600RPM 63.7CFM HEATSINK FAN $14.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 35185006)

DFI INFINITY P965-S DARK P965/ICH8R $139.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 13136034)

That's the MB I want to use but the first shipments blew out the door and now it's middle of May before the resupply, from what I've read anyway.

Just buy this mobo:Newegg.com - EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E1681 3188013)


and no worries.

Oh and here is the power supply i bought.

Newegg.com - Thermaltake Toughpower 850W W0131RU – NVIDIA QUAD-SLI APPROVED, FOUR +12V RAIL READY - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E1681 7153043)

DFI INFINITY P965-S DARK P965/ICH8R $139.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 13136034)

That's the MB I want to use but the first shipments blew out the door and now it's middle of May before the resupply, from what I've read anyway.

The main concern for DFI is that this motherboard is arriving very late in the Intel P965 chipset lifecycle and therefore before sufficient quantities are released, it will be in competition with Intel's 3 series chipsets (e.g. P35, X38). DFI will be releasing a X38 motherboard in the LanParty series, therefore you will be able to upgrade to this motherboard and Intel's Penryn processor if you are able to prolong your upgrade.

P965-S General Information (http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2153)
P965-S BIOS 424 (http://us.dfi.com.tw/Support/Download/download_lp_us.jsp?CATEGO RY_TYPE=LP&INDEX_TYPE=MB&STATUS_FLAG=B)

Always a moving target, X38 Lanparty would probably be my next system board after everything else settles, new DDR3 memory (x38 doesn’t support DDR2 - or does it?) along with video cards that take advantage of PCIe 2.0

I’ve been using an older DFI Lanparty board now for a good number of years and it’s performed very well and fast. Every other board I research seems to have roadblocks to overcome, all boards have issues but it’s trying to pick one with the least amount of headache inducing problems that’s key.

i have a near identical system, and im in love with my corsair 620W
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 17139002)

it's quite quiet, i can't even hear it.

Always a moving target, X38 Lanparty would probably be my next system board after everything else settles, new DDR3 memory (x38 doesn’t support DDR2 - or does it?) along with video cards that take advantage of PCIe 2.0

Intel's X38 chipset will support DDR3 1333MHz. Intel's P35 chipset will support DDR3 1066MHz or DDR2 800MHz.

i have a near identical system, and im in love with my corsair 620W it's quite quiet, i can't even hear it.

The Corsair HX620W is a high quality power supply which is manufactured by SeaSonic.