Just to mention this as others have. Do not buy from Tigerdirect. I recommend Newegg.com and Zipzoomfly.com to buy your items from. Both are great companies and easy to deal with as well as lower prices. This will save you some additional money as well in most likelyhood.

Newegg has a cult like following in the computer builder circles as they are great to deal with and ship items out rather quickly as well as the generally lower prices.

And as others have said, 500w for a PSU should be just fine, but if you can get a quality 600w for $40, go for it. Having too much is better then having too little. But if you can find a 500w for less, go that route. AMD vs Intel is all about personal preference. Even though that the newer Intels can do some things better then the AMD's, the cost difference usually pushes me back to the AMD. Graphics card wise? Do what others have suggested, get a better mid-range graphics card and just a single one. only 1 out of 10 games really seem to take advantage of SLI or Crossfire.

With your motherboard, just make sure you get one that is reliable and from a reliable manufacturer. RAM, as long as it's compatible and at least 2gb, you will be fine. I'd recommend going with 2 (SATA) HDD's and run them in Raid 0. Raid 5 is doable as well, but 0 is fairly easy to set up for someone who may not have as much knowledge. When you have it set up that way, installation of XP is quick and easy. And yes, if you're gaming, definitely get XP.

#1 RAID5 requires 3 disks.

#2 Don't run RAID, especially 0 because if one drive fails, your entire system fails. You might get better performance, but you risk losing data, and if that happens you'll have great difficulty retrieving it. RAID1 would be better since it gives faster reading which is what you'll need for games, but slower writing, which won't be too noticeable.

Might want to look into the Q6600's, they've dropped down to sub $300 levels and will leave you set for the next 5 years.

GPU Get one ATI X1950 PRO or ATI X1950 XT, they cost like a 8600 GT and has a superior performance...

And try to get some good PSU, with at least 20 Amp in the 12Volts Rails (This is critical is you are going to buy a good GPU and yuo are going to play with it)... Dont follow just the Wattage...

CPU... well I prefer AMD, is cheaper, but if you have the gutts, buy a cheap C2D and overclok it...

Your second configuration is definitely better.

I would go Vista vs XP, this is actually why I'm waiting to build my next pc, I want more Vista service packs out.

Also, I noticed you are buying every piece but a dvd drive (recommend liteon).

Finally, as mentioned already NEWEGG ROCKS!!. Great service, prices, and shipping is really fast.

ouch, firefox ate up all the text I had cause I was trying to move the tab, lol.

does newegg do CND currency?

(zipzoomfly, Please Note: as of August 4, 2005, we will not be offering shipping to Canada. We apologize for the inconvenience.)

Anyone know of a good online retailer for Canada? (Toronto/ON if that matters)

I am trying to build a computer that doesn't break my bank but new enough and offer best price per unit/mb/etc.

So far, it looks like "HD 2600 XT" or "X1950 XT" are the best option for video card?

For canada use www.ncix.com. They're equivalent to newegg for reliability, however due to inflation, tarrifs and other non sense, the prices are not on par with newegg, though they should be. :@

Once again, take th X1950 XT, but with a decent PSU, remenber, at least 26 amp in the 12 Volts rail...

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=724&model2=858&chart=278

Did some browsing at newegg and came out with this setup.

$839.92 (after mail-in rebate)

• Foxconn C51XEM2AA- 8EKRS2H Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

• Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC22G6400LLK - Retail

• AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Windsor 2.8GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA5600CZBOX - Retail

• Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

• COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

• COOLER MASTER eXtreme RP-500-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 500W Power Supply - Retail

• CHIMEI CMV 221D-NBC Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

• Rosewill RCN-SC206 Monitor Cleaning w/ 100ml Solution - Retail

• HIS Hightech H195PRF512DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail 

Yahoo converter gave me $904.5939 CND.

Existing parts. I already got DVD burners/drives. Multiple HDD (none SATA).

Mmm, the CPU is a bit overkill, you can get a better bang for the buck with around ~$170

As for the videocards, those won't make the cut, even on SLI. The current middle-end DX10 cards don't perform really well in DX10, so it's pointless to have them ATM.

You are good with a Radeon x1950/GeForce 7900GS. You can get one for ~$150

If you won't need SLI, you can go for a simpler motherboard also.

A dual-channel kit of 2GB DDR2800... you can get it for ~$80 (GeiL or AData... I pick the GeiL, slightly lower latencies)

I don't have used the Ultra PSU's, but I've heard from friends that they suck. The one you mention doesn't has PFC right? If you can, get one with Active PFC. Dual-rail 12v and ~550w and you'll be fine.

Also, if you are looking for bang for your buck, you don't need to get a expensive case... unless you want that one specifically, but my choice has always been "cheap case + custom modding".

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127298

It's a decent video card, probably better then those you've got running in SLI put together. I won't lie even thise one you can do much better then but this is about the same price as theone you wanted.

Only thing I'm not so fond of on that model is the lack of a cooling fan but it has a nice heat sink and if your PC has a few case fans it should pose little or no problem unless you leave it on for a while...(days...)