I dont plan to do heavy gaming. Most of the games I have now are a few years old, and the only ones I see myself buying in the future are GTA4, Spore and the Orange Box. With that in mind, how does this rig look?

Here is the list on NewEgg

However I also would like to get a low-end HP Mini-Note and an external 500GB HDD. But all together it cannot cost more than $1400, so this is really cutting it close. With shipping costs, I dont think I can do it. So I had the great idea to downgrade the CPU and GPU. I was thinking of getting this 2.5GHz Wolfdale instead of the 3.0GHz one, along with an nVidia 8600 instead of this 8800GT. How large a drop will I get in performance? What is the best 8600 to get? The lower-end Wolfdale has a FSB lower than the listed one on my mobo, will that be a problem? Will the price drops due to Nehalem be worth waiting for what I plan to get? And anyone know when we will be able to fully customize the Mini-Note's hardware, and if its RAM is user-upgradable? Is there a way to increase its storage through the Express Card/54 slot?

 Oh yeah there will be a DVD drive, the one I had went out of stock. Its only $30, so its not a big deal.

(I updated the CPU and GPU as per suggestions from this thread, making the total <$800!)

Yeah, thats a lot of questions. Thanks for looking!

The case is ok I used it on my GF's computer. I would say get a larger power supply though at least 650. Waiting for the price drops would be smart because you can get more for your money if you wait a month.

 ^^ Exactly. Wait for price drops for processors, or get a lower Ghz one, it cna be easily overclocked.

That 880 looks a wee bit to expensive, this version has ~300 mb of memory and everythign else the same

I dont know much about PSU's.  Is the extra 100W that necessary? If so, what brands/PSU's do you recommend?

And thanks for the link to that 8800, it costs just as much as some of the 8600's I was looking at. How does it compare to this one? Though its specs look to be lower than the 8800 I already had, I am sure I will never notice.  But will PCI Express 2.0 x16 have any compatibility troubles with my mobo? 

Well PSU is the most essential part of a computer, as it powers everything :D.

You absolutely do not want to buy a cheaply made PSU.

Heres a good read from the best caveman i know :D

http://hothardware.com/cs2007/forums/p/18915/174993.aspx#174993

The 8800GS it better than the 8600GTS, no doubt about it.

That's an excellent PSU, btw.  You do not need more than 550w, goodness no.  That's more than enough, especially for your build.  And it has excellent 12v rails, again far more than you would even come close to using all of.  Go ahead and get it, it's very good.

And I know you already have a 500GB external, but it's still very important to have a large internal HDD, as that's where you want your programs to be.  With the 160GB you currently have selected, you'll be paying $52.29 including shipping.  This 320GB HDD here is 66.99 including shipping.  That's double the capacity for only $14.70 more.  I have to insist it is absolutely worth it to go for the larger one.

 Well, then how does this PSU look? I am looking to keep it ~$800, if possible, now that I have it down that low.

It's good, if not necessarily better.  Yes, a unified 12v rail is arguably superior plus it's more watts, but you don't need nearly that much anyway.  And most importantly that 650w has less on the 3.3v wattage.  Once you are well over the 12v barrier, this is the next imortant and 24amps while not bad is below what most good ones have.  Either is adequate but I see absolutely no fault in your original and I'm not sure why others' do, besides "only 550w" which I disagree with.

Well man, i dont like the looks of that 8800gs vid card.  I bought a cut down card once and man that was the pits, spend the extra 40 bucks now and get a real card non cut down.  You will thank me later.

The PSU you have is fine, but in the spirit of keeping your price the same, you can get a 9600GT from evga and a thermaltake 500watt psu, and your price will stay the same if you swap the vid card and psu in your wish list for these.  I have used this PSU in many builds, and in 2 that are running 24/7/365 and have been for years.  

9600GT

PSU