Since you seem to be in Canada, I would suggest ordering from NCIX.  They have good deals on every week, price match any other online deals and have the option to assemble (and warranty) the system.  They are located in BC, so for most of us there is shipping cost, but you save the PST.

http://www.ncix.com/promo/promosale.php?webid=champion2007&affiliateid=1158819 

I'll suggest specific part when they post their next weekly specials.

Do you have a budget?  Need Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, etc?

Canuck_basic

Here is NCIX's latest sale: http://www.ncix.com/promo/promosale.php?webid=triplea2007

I have picked the parts that I would use to build a serious gaming system for only $1430.85 including 20" widescreen monitor, OS, shipping and taxes!   NCIX also has an online system builder that let's you select components and order a system "built and tested", but it does not bring in the sale prices for parts.  The fee for assembly is $50 - that would still be under $1500.  You can can call and order by phone as a friend of mine did to get it built with the sale prices.  Their phone # is 1-888-725-8880.

Here are my picks from NCIX. 
Note the Part # with the sale prices all have "-1019" on the end e.g. 24294-1019

  Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W Air Duct 120MM Fan 
Limit to 2 per customer. 
 
 Part #   24294     $132.98 

  LG GSA-H54N DVD+RW 18X8X16 DVD-RW 18X6X16 DL 10X DVD Writer IDE 2MB Black OEM W/ SW 
 
 Part #   23875     $34.98

  Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive 
 
 Part #   18409     $86.98

  BenQ FP202W 20IN Widescreen LCD Monitor Black 5MS 1680X1050 1000:1 300CDM VGA DVI-D W/ DVI
 Part #   24121     $224.99 
  
          Check this box for EXPRESS COVERAGE for this item. ($11.25)
          Buy this LCD with Express Coverage and get our 30 day zero dead pixel guarantee. FIND OUT MORE > 
 
***** Promo Expresss Coverage for LCD Monitors - Zero Dead Pixel EXCHANGE. Up to A 45$ VALUE!
 Yes   20051 $5.00  *****

 

  Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-5400 DDR2-667 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory 
 
 Part #   18582     $79.99 

  ASUS P5B ATX LGA775 Conroe 965P DDR2 PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI 6 SATA2 Sound RAID Motherboard 
 
 Part #   19355     $129.98

  Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 2.13GHZ 1066FSB 4MB Retail 
 
 Part #   23696     $219.98 

  EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GTS 500MHZ 320MB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card 
 
 Part #   22688     $319.99

  Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32BIT DVD OEM 
 
 Part #   22437     $119.99 

        YOUR TOTAL  $1,349.86

Shipping and final tax calculation will be calculated at checkout
ALL PRICES QUOTED IN CANADIAN FUNDS  

****  This week special FREE (ground) SHIPPING on orders over $500  ****

NCIX

*  No PST unless you live in BC  *

*  Add 6% GST and you get a serious gaming system for only $1430.85 including 20" widescreen monitor and OS

Depending on your budget, you can get a better or less expensive monitor, CPU, motherboard, etc.  Also, I forgot to add keyboard/mouse - you can find something you like at NCIX or at a local store.

Is it true that a Core 2 Duo E6600 (stock speed) will bottleneck an 8800 GTX, or even the GTS?

firefly026

Only if you run at 640x480 with no AA/AF.    ;)

Your wish list shows the E6400 CPU... switch it for the E6420 for the same price with double the L2 cache.

If you are willing to spend an extra $15 (after mail in rebates), I would suggest one of these PSUs... Both will provide very stable power and support SLI if you want to go that way in the future... 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371002

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103512

I would personally get the Antec True Power Trio TP3-550.  It has 3 12V rails, 5 year warranty and is very efficient.

for your ram buy it in a pair its cheaper even before rebates http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590 everything looks good except your card i would wait till you have more money then get the 8800gts 320mb its a way better card and isn't that much more money also how much do you want to spend on a powersupply

mastershake575

Agree, but also suggest you consider lower latency (faster) RAM like this for only $95:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231087

The 7600GT is about 30% faster overall...

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=735&model2=716&chart=318

The way you described it sounds like a hardware problem.

Do you get anything on the screen? (besides the no VGA input message)

Does it POST?   Can you get into the BIOS?

AMD Barcelona launch schedule up in the air

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20070516PD217.html

Bad news for AMD is bad news for all of us.  Let's hope they get to market with a good product soon to keep the price/performance pressure on in the CPU market.