Build Your Own Kits - Need some buying advice

Looking to build a new computer but was taken with the thought of not hunting for individual parts with TigerDirect's barebone kit packages. My Dell that I've been upgrading since 2002 is now upgraded to the max and I want to get something while I have the extra money this summer.

Been looking at this package: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3837301&CatId=333
$1,069.99

EVGA nforce 780i SLI Motherboard - Qty: 1$239.99

Intel C2Q Q6700 2.66GHz OEM - Qty: 1$259.99

OCZ SLI 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 - Qty: 1 $59.99

Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 500GB Hard Drive - Qty: 1 $79.97

EVGA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB PCIe 2.0 - Qty: 1 $159.99

Ultra Aluminum Full-Tower Case - Qty: 1 $69.73

Ultra X3 ULT40064 1000-Watt Power Supply - Qty: 1 $299.81

LITE-ON DH-20A4H-08 Burner with Lightscribe - Qty: 1$29.99

Any thoughts on this? I was thinking I could probably save some cash on a slightly cheaper power supply as well. My main confusion at this point is in rying to figure out the real differences between a 750, 780, and 790 motherboards - and I am now seeing some DDR3 supporting motherboards and wonder if it's worth getting that instead. I'm not looking for bleeding edge, but I want a machine that I can once again upgrade for the next 5 years.

Any insight would be awesome.

The 790i is for DDR3 ram, which you don't need unless your going super high end. The 780i, and 750i are both for DDR2 ram, and the 780 is supposed to be a higher end chipset. However, I own a 750i FTW board by EVGA, and the thing runs like a dream, and is free of those video corruption issues that have been seen on the 780i and 790i.

And you really won't be able to upgrade once Nehalem comes out in a year, so keep that in mind.

The 790i is for DDR3 ram, which you don't need unless your going super high end. The 780i, and 750i are both for DDR2 ram, and the 780 is supposed to be a higher end chipset. However, I own a 750i FTW board by EVGA, and the thing runs like a dream, and is free of those video corruption issues that have been seen on the 780i and 790i.

And you really won't be able to upgrade once Nehalem comes out in a year, so keep that in mind.

aveman1

Oh wow - I hadn't heard of the Nehalem until now (haven't been deep into the pc hardware front in years). This is kind of exactly what happens every time I look to buy a new computer though - there's always some MAJOR upgrade just around the bend that's worth waiting for. Since you seem so happy with your 750 board, if you were to be choosing right now to buy that 750 board or wait for the new Nehelem supported boards, what way do you think you'd go?