2nd Build and many obstacles

[LaziBoi]

FIRST I would like to say sorri for a long post and any error in it.
the computer i'm about to put together is my second build. the first one is 4.5 years old and have a few glitches. the MB has bad caps which cause the system to freeze randomly. i'm hoping to the next system will last longer.
i'm working on a budget @ $1200 if you guyz don't mine helping me out a little.
i've been search the net for parts and put together a few custom machine @ various site like ibuypower and cyberpowerpc to see what i'm working with.
i match those item with same or similar item on new egg to saved some money for a better item.
i'm starting out with the following spec. below: price and item can be found on new egg
MB: ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus LGA 775 $180
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 $280
Heatsink: Zalman 9700 $60
MEM: OCZ Platinum 4GB(4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $110
those essentials and other thing like HDD, DVD-+RW come together to be $710
the video card is my biggest problem(so many options)
i've narrow my choices down to the ATI HD 3870($280) or the Nvidia 8800GTS(G92) 512 ($340)
the ATI is better in performance as i checked on GPUreview.com
i would a card that would be compatible with the board for a decent price
if there any money left, i would like a HTPC case with a TV tuner card that can receive OTA HD channels

any advice on this configuration is much appreciated
thankz in advance for your contribution

 

[the_painter]

the video card is my biggest problem(so many options)
i've narrow my choices down to the ATI HD 3870($280) or the Nvidia 8800GTS(G92) 512 ($340)

The 8800GTS has minimal advantages over the 8800GT and a rather large price gap. The 8800GT is a much better way to go. I cannot compare it to the 3870 because I have no experience with ATI. But judging from these charts the 8800GT seems like a better option.

2 cents

 

[daisymtc]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130319[/URL]Motherboard: either P35/ 780i(SLi) / X38(XFire) chipset

GPU: 8800GT 512MB

RAM: I personally will get 2 x 2GB if I need 4GB overall.

by the way, 8800GTS 512MB is better than 3870