Building a higher-end gaming computer for under $1k

Starting over from scratch here as my last system was pretty dated. How's this setup look? Open to any suggestions. I'm looking to keep the total cost close to $1,000.
Video --- $264.99 (+$45 MIR)
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370)

Memory --- $48.99
Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Memory
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148212)

Processor --- $189.99
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2x4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017)

Motherboard --- $129.99 (+$15 MIR)
ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299)

Power Supply --- $119.99 (+$20 MIR)
CORSAIR 750W ATX12V/EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006)

Hard Drive --- $229.99 (+$30 MIR)
Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 10k RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260)

Case --- $49.99
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068)

OS --- $99.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488)

Sub-total: $1,133.92 (+ $110 MIRs)
Total: $1,023.92Building a higher-end gaming computer for under $1k
for $28 more I would go with the core 216 gtx 260:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398 They both come with far cry 2 also.And what about a CPU heatsink? your not planning on using the stock intel one are you? Building a higher-end gaming computer for under $1k
I've never had a processor that needed a heatsink before. What would you suggest?
The stock heatsink is fine if you don't plan to overclock. If noise is a concern, your video card will most likely generate much more noice than the CPU fan.I do not recommend a velociraptor drive. You will get much, much better performance out of two regular drives in RAID than from a single velociraptor drive. For nearly the same price you can buy two 1 TB drives and RAID them. Unless you plan to purchase two velociraptor drives in RAID, then it's a waste of money.
You forgot the DvD burner, Also thats a pretty expensive harddrive, considering you can get a 7200rpm for 1/4 of the price.
Change the mobo to thishttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359 I would acctually get a e8500/e8400 over a q6600.
Thanks for all the replies. I already have a good DVD-RW drive, so I won't be needing one of those.

I've upgraded the video card, changed to a different HD, downgraded the power supply to 650W, and have added a heatsink.

I'm not familiar with RAID, is that similar to having dual video cards, but working together to speed up HD performance?

And I do plan on OCing my processor.

Video $247.99
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Gore 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card

Memory $48.99
Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Memory

Processor $189.99
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2x4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

Motherboard $114.99
ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

Power Supply $79.99 (+$20 MIR)
CORSAIR 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Hard Drive $84.99
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Case $49.99
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

OS $99.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD

Heatsink $27.99
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

Total: $944.91
Yes. RAID splits the data across two (or more hard drives). You effectively get double the reading and writing speeds. While Velociraptor drives are nice, they are only about a 50% increase in RPM speed, and will still suffer issues of seek time, latency, and SATA bandwitdh common to single drives. RAIDed drives suffer from these issues a lot less easily giving you an %80 to as much as a %150 boost in speed.The results are even more impressive when you RAID high performance drives like the raptors. Thats why i think its pointless to buy just a single raptoor except under very special circumstances.
Hmm... so I should probably opt for a couple of 250GB drives, then, rather than the one I currently have chosen.My computer knowledge is seriously dated. I have not kept up with recent advances, and really don't know whether, as one poster said, to go for a higher-end dual core processor such as the E8500, or a new quad core. I've heard that quad cores aren't fully utilized yet, but also that they are going to soon make dual cores obsolete. Any other opinions on this?
[QUOTE=''AKspartan18'']Hmm... so I should probably opt for a couple of 250GB drives, then, rather than the one I currently have chosen.My computer knowledge is seriously dated. I have not kept up with recent advances, and really don't know whether, as one poster said, to go for a higher-end dual core processor such as the E8500, or a new quad core. I've heard that quad cores aren't fully utilized yet, but also that they are going to soon make dual cores obsolete. Any other opinions on this? [/QUOTE]In my opinion if your going to buy this computer and not upgrade it for 3+ years or something then go for the slower quad. If youre going to buy it and upgrade once in a while go for the faster duo.
[QUOTE=''glez13''][QUOTE=''AKspartan18'']Hmm... so I should probably opt for a couple of 250GB drives, then, rather than the one I currently have chosen.My computer knowledge is seriously dated. I have not kept up with recent advances, and really don't know whether, as one poster said, to go for a higher-end dual core processor such as the E8500, or a new quad core. I've heard that quad cores aren't fully utilized yet, but also that they are going to soon make dual cores obsolete. Any other opinions on this? [/QUOTE]In my opinion if your going to buy this computer and not upgrade it for 5+ years then go for the slower quad. If youre going to buy it and upgrade once in a while go for the faster duo. [/QUOTE]



I agree, even though I go with telling ppl dual core about 90% of the time.