Alright, I'm up for building a new PC, I got some specs here I'd like to run by you guys. If any of you have had particularly good or bad experiences with any of these parts, I'd love to hear about them. Also, if you see any potential compatibility issues, I NEED to know about them, so please say so if you do. Also, if you have any general comments about the build overall, I'd be happy to hear them. I went cheap on the video card because I'm waiting for the DX10 cards to come out. Currently I chose to just sport a cheap x800. Also missing from here is cooling which I haven't picked out fans and likely won't order, I'll just pick up locally. So without further adu... the build.

All of the following will be purchased at NewEgg.com

That looks like a great PC. However, maybe you should change the power supply, as Aspire PSU's aren´t very good. Maybe you can get an Antec, FSP Group, or Enermax one.

Also, you can get a X800GTO from newegg. It's only 4 bucks more expensive, but it has faster and more RAM. Should be better than a normal X800.

Thanks for the heads up on the Power Supply. I've been looking for an alternative, but am having trouble finding one... that PSU I had came as a combo deal, so I'm looking for a comparable price, I'm not super picky though. My real main requirements are basically >500w and black... that seems to be hard to come by.

I actually maintained the X800, since it's only temporary. The X800GTO was a good $40 more unless I wanted to go with the brand POWERCOLOR which I've never heard of. If you have any good opinions on them, I'll switch to the GTO.

Maybe you can grab THIS PSU. It's black, an Enermax one, great quality PSU, and 500W of pure power. Surely better than any Aspire PSU

It's expensive, but it's worth the money.

That looks good...

The only thing I'm not sure about is things that say SLI Ready... this spooks me a bit because my mobo is designed for Crossfire support. My question is, when something says "SLI Ready" can that be just as easily read as "Crossfire Ready"? They have essentially the same requirements from a PSU stand point, I just don't want to hook up some high-end ATI cards and watch them blow up on me. I also saw several RAM sticks that I passed up because of the "SLI Ready" logo.

Also what does the 120w difference between the Aspire PSU and the Enermax PSU mean for overclocking my Conroe?

That's just marketing buzz. Ignore any 'SLI Ready' BS on components other than your motherboard and graphics card.

Sure. I left my job at Intel several months ago and we were running Crossfire and SLI with simliar setups using the same stuff. Be aware that not ALL boards support both though... It can be one or the other. You'll want to double check for compatibility.

The primary reason for getting a nicer PSU is reliability (in my opinion). There's also PSUs with smart features like being modular, silent, etc... As far as overclocking goes, to get the best overclock, stable currents are reasonably important. A good PSU can deliver this, where a lower quality PSU could vary widely. I wouldn't get a 500w Enermax necessarily, but shop around.. Enermax is a pretty reliable brand and I bet you'll get almost as many watts out of that Enermax than you will out of that Aspire at full load (which you won't see, by the way).

Cool, thanks for the feedback.