First off, I have a Coolermaster Aerogate II, and both temp sensors are about 5-7 deg off!
I personally would get the GT and OC to an Ultra!
The money you save could go on the cpu!
I always find you can cut corners, save a little here and spend a little there!
Buy OEM drives etc. Buy your cpu OEM too.
I haven't read up too much on GFX card packages, since i got mine (no need to really)
I'm not sure about which manufacturer to go for, MSI have always had a great bundle. I find (@ least in Ireland), MSI are way more expensive.
What about XFX? They seem to easily reach Ultra speeds!
also come in a nice box
Gainward come OC'd, but have 2 fans and are louder. Not sure if you can get them in the states? Their "powerpack" cards have fastter than spec ram and the gpu's can OC further. Sure gainward have watercooled sli Ultras available
Man, Your specs are NICE
I'm not going to upgrade until my current card is outdated (agp)
I have this system about 6mths, and is still able to keep up with most
If i buy a new CPU, i have to upgrade mobo/gfx aswell

I'll wait and get an AMD X2 or something when they move to ddr2