PC for Catia and Gaming

[mattsd]

Hi, i am looking to build a pc that will be able to run the CAD program Catia with ease, i also use itunes alot and watch as many high definition video files as possible so this computer will also be kind of used as a media centre too. I have build up a spec based on the following and would appreciate any input and/or recommendations:

Case:
Coolermaster Mystique RC-632B Black Tower Case w/o PSU

PSU:
520W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU, ATX, EPS12V, whisper quie

Motherboard:
EVGA 122-CK-NF66-T1 NF650i Ultra, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750, S775, 2.66 GHz, 1333MHz FSB

CPU Cooling:
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual Core / Core2Duo Ready

Memory:
2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins,

Hard-drive:
2x 250 Gb Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint P120, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ

DVD-Drive:
Asus DRW-1814BL, 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x14, IDE, Black, OEM, Lightscribe

Graphics Card:
EVGA 8600 GTS Superclocked 256MB GDDR3 DVI HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card
Will Take any advice on this as im getting it from ebuyer as opposed to scan as its cheaper on ebuyer, i need it to be an 8 series though.

Operating System:
Windows xp

Once again many thanks in advance for any advice:
Thanks

[kungpo]

If you don's need SLi, get an ASUS P5B (or another Intel p35) mobo. I would get a Q6600 as it will have more horsepower and probably better long term value. An additional 2GB ram (to give 4gb) would also be worthwhile (even if XP won't see all of it) Do you intend to use the disks independently, or use RAID0?

[0iD]

For CAD I'd personally put more ram in it, you can make XP address upto 3gb using the 3gb switch in your boot.ini
Put 4 gb in & XP will see it and make use of it all.


Memory Support and Windows Operating Systems

[iranu]

8800gt is being released on the 29th Oct @£140+ This card is looking good so I would wait until then.

[mattsd]

If you don's need SLi, get an ASUS P5B (or another Intel p35) mobo. I would get a Q6600 as it will have more horsepower and probably better long term value. An additional 2GB ram (to give 4gb) would also be worthwhile (even if XP won't see all of it) Do you intend to use the disks independently, or use RAID0?

Yes i intend od setting up raid hence the floppy disk drive, i was told thts the only way to do it!?

[mattsd]

i will be upgrading this computer again come june/july time next year when the budget isn't soo tight so at which point i intend to upgrade to a quad core and the graphics card will be a high spec one, but for now i got a budget of £750 so budget is tight already!lol

[kungpo]

Forget the floppy drive. If you need an F8 driver, use nlite to slipstream the driver on to your XP installation and make a new CD. Dead easy.

If you're going to RAID0, then I would suggest a pair of WD AAKS drives. They have 16mb cache and are spanking in a RAID0 setup.