Need help with build

[gmantis]

Hi there,

First time in a long while I've built a gaming PC. Can you please critque the below and offer any improvements/advice for a long termish gaming pc? I'm tossing up between getting a GTS and a 20-24" widescreen monitor(Dell most likely) or keeping my 17" LCD for now and going with a GTX.

Any recommendation on vid card brands for the 8800 series?

Thanks in advance

Case Silverstone SST-TJO5
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3
CPU E6600
HDD Western Digital Caviar WD3200KS 320GB
Optical ASUS Lightscribe
Memory Crucial CT2KIT12864AA667 2X1GB DDR2667
Vid Card Gigabyte GV-NX88X768H-RH 8800GTX
OS Vista Home Premium
PSU Antec EarthWatts 500W

 

[gmantis]

Bump

 

[John]

I'm tossing up between getting a GTS and a 20-24" widescreen monitor(Dell most likely) or keeping my 17" LCD for now and going with a GTX.

I'd do the former. Your other hardware choices show that you've done your homework. As far as video card brands stick with EVGA, XFX, or BFG since they offer a lifetime warranty and have excellent support. EVGA offers a step-up program.

 

[Ioman]

Nice system, I like the Silverstone case.

Last I checked, the Nvidia drivers were not 100% compatible with Vista. It's been a week, has anything changed? Otherwise you might want to stick with an ATI vid card to make sure its compatible.

Might want to bump the PSU power up to 550 or 600W if you can afford it.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Definitely go for the 24" widescreen.

8800GTS (the 640MB version) should pair up nicely with 24" widescreen....

this combination can run Oblivion at high settings with 8X AA + HDR no sweat.

EDIT: I don't care much with card brands since I average 1.5 years of use then I sell it. I mainly go for the lowest price with the best software/game bundle.