alright so i might build a new computer soon and i need help because i know nothing about which components are good and which are bad. here is the setup i got so far:

Acer AL2016WB 20.1 Inch WideScreen TFT Monitor
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz LGA775 Processor - Retail
CoolerMaster Elite RC-340 mATX Case - No PSU
Corsair TwinX 4Gb DDR2-8500 (2x2Gb) Memory Kit
160Gb Hitachi T7K250 7200Rpm 8Mb Cache SATA II Hard Drive
Corsair VX Series 550W Active PFC PSU
Logitech G11 Backlit Gamers Keyboard - USB
Seagate 500Gb FreeAgent Desktop External USB2.0 Hard Drive
GigaByte EP45-DS3L LGA775, DDR2, SATA2, GBLan, ATX
Pioneer DVR-216D 20xDVD+/-R SATA Dual Layer Writer - Black
ATi 512Mb Radeon HD 4870 PCI-Express2 VGA Card

All of this adds up to, so far:

Total Exc.      £720.80
VAT    £108.12
Total Inc.    £828.92


Belkin Anti Static Wrist Band
Edimax EW-7728IN / PCI Wireless N WiFi Card / 300mbps / 802.11n

this plus the others adds up to:

£863.30 plus VAT.

any advice? what am I missing?

btw this is supposed to be a gaming rig

you can rest your arm on the case and make that band unnecessary

DVD burner.

You might consider buying an aftermarket CPU cooler and overclocking the E8400 (these processors overclock very well).

EDIT: oh, not sure why you're buying a mobo that supports crossfire when a) you're buying an Nvidia card and b) you're not buying multiple GPUs. Also that board supports DDR3 and you're only buying DD2 so why bother?

DVD burner.

oh shit that doesn't burn dvd's? oh well i can just install another dvd drive right?
also i'm not really interested in overclocking if it requires buying extra cooling since the price of the pc is high enough already

oh shit that doesn't burn dvd's? oh well i can just install another dvd drive right?
also i'm not really interested in overclocking if it requires buying extra cooling since the price of the pc is high enough already

That's fair, but for a little extra you can get your processor up and around 4Ghz after clocking it. Also ^^ if you didn't see my edit. If you chop down on the mobo you could buy a decent aftermarket cooler and then OC it (if you wanted to).

Oh and as a recommendation for the Antec case, I reversed the exhaust fan at the back and this dropped my CPU temp by ~6*C on average.

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=MBA-P5KC
is this mobo any good for my purposes, it looks alright i guess

i have no idea what cooler to get after that then


http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=MBG-EP45DS3L
this looks alright too

going to add this DVD-RW:
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=DRP-DVR216DBK

I still have my £5 CD/RW from 5 years ago. I have to transfer things to my laptop (via an external) to burn DVDs so yeah I recommend getting a burner as an internal makes it so much easier.

you can rest your arm on the case and make that band unnecessary

this is really true, i never understood why people bother with those bands, most of the time you're resting your arm on the case anyway

I would recommend a good wireless mouse too coming to think about it. Unless you are a proper hardcore gamer and care about the few ms of latency it adds (apparently). I can't go back to wired after being wireless as it feels far too cumbersome.

Edit: Also, the monitor you're buying looks pants. I had a cheapo 19" monitor and it got me by but then I upgraded to a 24" samsung and that changed EVERYTHING because it is just so amazing. I am giving my old 19" to a friend for free because his CRT just died. I am an awesome friend.

I've been using a wireless keyboard and mouse for awhile now and I don't really see an advantage. Sure IT'S WIRELESS but so what? It's not like I'm laying on the floor across the room or anything. And on top of that I have to worry about batteries dying midgame or signals not registering for button presses occasionally. There is another wireless keyboard downstairs, but that's because that computer is hooked up to a tv and you are sitting fairly far away so it works better than running a cord across the room.

I use my laptop for day to day things but I have my desktop for watching movies (because I don't have a DVI adapter for my macbook) and playing a few games.  I keep it hooked up to my TV.  Having a computer hooked up to your TV (which IS across the room) is an excellent example of where a wireless keyboard/mouse comes in handy and makes all the difference.  For regular computer use though, I don't mind either way.

what the hell
i've never seen those wrist band things before but they look hella retarded

Unless you're trying to build a computer in a sweater and balloon factory, they're pretty useless.  They are easily replaced by just touching your case.

I would recommend a good wireless mouse too coming to think about it. Unless you are a proper hardcore gamer and care about the few ms of latency it adds (apparently).

It does add delay, thought that's not the worst problem. It also has a very poor rate in which it updates the mouse position, and while this is barely noticed in 2d games or on the windows desktop,  it's easily seen in 3d games like FPSes as very choppy movement while looking around. It doesn't matter how high a DPI it has if it isn't even updating

Just for the record I have completed COD4 on VETERAN with my logitech wireless mouse and keyboard.

throw some D's on that bitch

I just wanted to chime in and say that you really should make sure that is a modular power supply. If you are going to run a micro ATX chassis the newer modular power supplys I have had nothing but praise for. Cooler Master makes excellent cases so I doubt you'll run into trouble there.. the last three custom builds I've made have been with Cooler Masters. Also, since nobody has mentioned it: Those RAM sticks you've chosen don't match the motherboard. The motherboard is expecting 1333mhz or 1600mhz for the ram speed, and what you've chosen is 1066mhz. If you are just trying to cut cost I've found G.SKILL to be a good manufacturer of fast cheap ram sticks (They come with heat dispersers too and don't look totally cheesy). Personally I've found ATI to be rather shit l lately and I am biased towards NVIDIA so I can't bless the video card you chose. Unless you really need an external drive that big, just get an internal one plus an case. That way you can benefit from the faster speeds of having a sata connection and if you have to you can pop it out and travel around. USB 2.0 is fuckslow, so sometimes it can be annoying.

As for wireless/wired:  WIRED WIRED WIRED WIRED WIRED WIRED. I don't care what.

I just wanted to chime in and say that you really should make sure that is a modular power supply. If you are going to run a micro ATX chassis the newer modular power supplys I have had nothing but praise for. Cooler Master makes excellent cases so I doubt you'll run into trouble there.. the last three custom builds I've made have been with Cooler Masters. Also, since nobody has mentioned it: Those RAM sticks you've chosen don't match the motherboard. The motherboard is expecting 1333mhz or 1600mhz for the ram speed, and what you've chosen is 1066mhz. If you are just trying to cut cost I've found G.SKILL to be a good manufacturer of fast cheap ram sticks (They come with heat dispersers too and don't look totally cheesy). Personally I've found ATI to be rather shit l lately and I am biased towards NVIDIA so I can't bless the video card you chose. Unless you really need an external drive that big, just get an internal one plus an case. That way you can benefit from the faster speeds of having a sata connection and if you have to you can pop it out and travel around. USB 2.0 is fuckslow, so sometimes it can be annoying.

As for wireless/wired:  WIRED WIRED WIRED WIRED WIRED WIRED. I don't care what.

Both the boards he posted accept DDR2 1066. What are you talking about? Also I wouldn't suggest getting G-Skill, I'd stick with OCZ, Corsair, or one of the other well known brands. As for BOTH the motherboards you listed are you going to be running 2 GPUs? Because both of those boards support Crossfire which is for running multiple ATI cards on one machine. If you aren't going to be using multiple GPUs (you don't appear to be) and you aren't going to be using ATI cards (you also don't appear to be) then don't bother paying extra for the features you aren't going to use. Someone else could probably recommend a better board.