E8500 Desktop build

[AMarubayashi]

I want to purchase a new desktop that isn't over the top powerful, but good enough that it will be able to play games with some degree of longevity. I went to ecollegepc and built this:

3.16Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 6MB Cache FSB 1333
Cooler Master RR-CCH-L9U1-GP Hyper TX2 Quiet CPU Fan/Heatsink
ASUS P5Q (Intel P45, 2xPCIEx, 8-Channel Audio, LAN, 8xSATA2, 1394, 1333FSB)
8GB (2GBx4) PC6400 DDR2 800Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
22X LG SATA Lightscribe Dual Layer DVD±RW DVD-RAM w/Nero
1GB ATI Radeon HD4870 GDDR5 PCI Express DVI/Tvout
Apevia Black X-Cruiser (5 5.25, 5 3.5 bays) 2 Fans, Window, Front Audio/USB/1394/Temp
650watt Antec EarthWatts EA650
Onboard LAN included
Onboard Sound included
Internal All in 1 Card Reader
Extra 80mm Case Fan
Extra 80mm Case Fan

$916
(Buying HD separately)

Is there no place where I can get the price down? its $40 less for the 512mb radeon 4870.

[maddog00]

I had a similar setup before I decided to go with a scratch and dent Dell.

You could just go video cardless to bring the price down.

[Ray Nagin]

Why the 8GB Memory?

[AMarubayashi]

Why the 8GB Memory?

Because it was there.

Really, my philosophy in purchasing hardware like ram: don't double up later, get identical hardware now. my rig that just went down was 2gb and when i tried vista on it once it was not happy, i just figured get 8 now and be a little more future proof.

[AMarubayashi]

What if i only want a graphics card that with dual output (vga/vga or hdmi/vga, adaptors okay)?

should I only go with 4 gb of ram?

[goldygopher]

I am building a new system now and decided to go with only 4gb. 1) I simply didn't see a need for 8gb (mostly a server with limited gaming/photo editing) and 2) correct me if Im wrong, but then you'd also need a 64bit version of an OS so it would recognize all 8gb. Fine if you are going with Linux or Windows 7, but if you were planning on using an older copy of windows xp or whatever, it may just be a 32bit version.

my 2 cents.