New PC

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

So, basically, any motherboard that says PCI-E(number) is compatible? Great, that helps, thanks.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I know how I sound a bit...helpless here, but I know next to nothing about motherboards.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

PCI-E(number) is compatible

PCI-E IS PCI Express

With what you have I would recomend one of these 5 Mobos

P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe

P5W DH Deluxe

P5WDG2-WS Professional

P5B Deluxe

P5B

I had a P5B on my last pc with a e6400 now I have a P5W DH Deluxe with an E6600 . Its great. Has Wifi and a great sound card. As far as USBs go it has 8 x USB 2.0
2 x Firewire 400

Core 2 Duo Platforms From Asus - A Top To Bottom Comparison

With what you have the extra $100 is well worth it. If you want to run dual vid cards though I will recomend you another mobo.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I don't need to buy a sound card if I buy the P5B Deluxe, right?

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Updated parts list:


Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.40GHz / 4MB Cache / 1066MHz FSB / Conroe / Dual-Core / Socket 775 / Processor with Fan (Retail) - $332.99

Memory: Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel - $110.40 www.directcanada.com

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache Ncq - $149.50 www.directcanada.com

Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked / 640MB GDDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV - $399.97

Sound: On motherboard?

Monitor: Hanns·G HW-191DPB 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - 5ms, 700:1, WXGA+ 1440x900, DVI·D, VGA(D-sub), Black - $179.97

OS: XP Home SP2 w/ original disc - $103.35 www.directcanada.com

Cooling: Not sure so far.

Case/Tower: Apevia Black/Black X-Plorer ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Fan Controller, Front USB and Firewire Port - $79.99

Keyboard/Mouse: Just something cheap but durable, not too picky.

Motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe / WIFI-AP Atx LGA775 Conroe 965P DDR2 PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI 8 SATA2 Sound Motherboard - $235.44
www.directcanada.com

PhysX: Not sure if I need one at all.

Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream 700W ATX12V 24PIN SLI Ready Active PFC

ATX Power Supply 120MM Fan Black - $177.61 www.directcanada.com

DVD writer/CD drive:

[Gawain of Orkeny]

No you surely do not it comes with this

Realtek ALC883M
8-Channel Analog
Optical/Coax S/PDIF Digital

Although features such as ATI CrossFire and Core 2 processor support suggest that the P5W DH Deluxe could be the ultimate gaming platform, there is more to this motherboard. With technologies such as LCD TVs taking off quite rapidly, the demand for HTPCs (Home Theater Personal Computers) is also increasing quite dramatically. ASUS hopes that features such as the DH Remote, WiFi-AP and MP3-In, will become handy then, making the P5W DH Deluxe more than a motherboard for gamers.

Other impressive board features include a total of seven Serial ATAII ports, including an external one. The Realtek ALC882M High Definition Audio 8-channel Codec is another welcomed edition to the P5W DH Deluxe. There is on-board WiFi-AP, as well as dual Marvell Gigabit LAN controllers. Capping off the boards connectivity are two Firewire ports and eight USB 2.0 ports.

As was to be expected on a high-end ASUS motherboard, the P5W DH Deluxe comes in a rather impressive packaging that almost makes you feel you are getting your money's worth. The physical design, cooling and layout of the P5W DH Deluxe is also very impressive and given the chance, there is really nothing I would change. The 8-phase power circuitry is cooled via a large array of copper fins which are connected to the northbridge chip via a heatpipe.

Actually, the northbridge is connected to the copper fins where the heat is then dispersed through the rear of the case. The typical black ASUS PCB board looks quite good, as do the numerous color coded connectors scattered across the board. The color coded connectors make installation a breeze and I am sure novice users will really appreciate their presence.



Moving on, ASUS has included a feature which they call EZ-Backup; this feature is designed to help secure the data on your hard drives through the SATAII interface and RAID0. The controller chip actually comes from Silicon Image and is a member of their SteelVine storage series. The version featured on the P5W DH Deluxe is the Sil4723 which supports just two hard drives. The Sil4723 is a bridge chip rather than a controller, notice how the ICH7R only offers three SATAII ports on the P5W DH Deluxe. This is because one of the ports is bridged to the Sil4723 chip, which then splits it into two ports for the EZ-Backup feature. Everything is hardware driven, meaning complex software is not required. ASUS has also included the JMicron JMB363 controller which supports an additional two SATAII ports, one of which is mounted on the I/O panel.

Although I was quite impressed with the P5WD2-E Premium, the former ASUS 975X heavyweight, I feel the P5W DH Deluxe is a more solid product. The biggest improvement comes from the upgraded cooling system which I have found to be highly effective. The board design itself is also cleaner, and the updated features and processor support could be excuse enough for the new model. Another design improvement includes the PCI Express x16 expansion slot placement. Rather than featuring a single space between these two slots, ASUS has placed a PCIe x1 and PCI slot between the dual graphics ports.

Performance-wise the P5W DH Deluxe did well, matching the Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 every step of the way. Clearly the Intel 975X and P965 chipsets are very evenly matched in terms of performance. However, when it comes to overclocking, the P5W DH Deluxe completely blows the Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 out of the water. While the 965P-DQ6 was limited to a 300MHz FSB using the Core 2 Duo E6700 processor, the P5W DH Deluxe went all the way to a comfortable 366MHz FSB. This resulted in a total clock frequency of 3.66GHz using nothing more than a $50 after market HSF (Thermalright XP-120).

In fact, overclocking with the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe seemed almost too easy, as I found there were very few settings that required changes to achieve the 366MHz FSB. There has been countless posting of users reaching a 400MHz FSB and beyond with the P5W DH Deluxe. However most appear to have been using processors with lower clock multipliers, such as the E6300.

I love this thing and havent even begun to tap all the things it can do. If you have the mutimedia version of windows xp your really set.

Heres the full review

LINK

[Stuperman]

Good choice on the Powersupply, the PSU is often the most overlooked part on a PC.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

What are the good cooling products on the market?

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Does anyone have suggestions on USB ports/hookups? I'll probably need about six...what new parts will I need to buy for this?

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Does anyone have suggestions on USB ports/hookups? I'll probably need about six...what new parts will I need to buy for this?

If you get the mobo I suggested, and you said you were youve already got

tapping off the boards connectivity are two Firewire ports and eight USB 2.0 ports.

How many more do you need?

[Whacker]

PhysX: Not sure if I need one at all.

DVD writer/CD drive:

Don't waste your money on the PhysX deal. You'd be far better off sinking that money into quality parts that let you get a very nice stable OC on your CPU.

As for DVD burner, NEC/Plextor/Liteon haven't ever let me down.

Good choice on the Powersupply, the PSU is often the most overlooked part on a PC.

Aye... Mantra to live by: "Two things never to skimp on; RAM and PSU." I just wish PC Power and Cooling had a wider range of offerings and their stuff wasn't so @#$@% expensive. I love my 510SLI, been running like a champ for 2 years solid without a hitch. And I'm not kidding when I say this thing could probably deflect lower calibre bullets!