gentoo or ubuntu for my new build?

[salsa]

Hi, just ordered parts for my first real build which I am really excited about, everything should be here by the end of this week so I'll be playing a lot this weekend. Here's what I got:

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Newegg.com - LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Newegg.com - Antec earthwatts EA500 ATX12V v2.0 500W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC - Retail
Newegg.com - Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Newegg.com - EDIMAX EW-7128G IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Card Up to 54Mbps Data Rates 64/128-Bit WEP, 802.1x, WPA, AES - Retail
FRYS.com*|*Seagate
plus a cd drive which I already have.

I am definitely going to be running Linux but I am having trouble deciding which distro. Right now I am typing this on Ubuntu Gutsy on my Macbook. It has bothered me how much stuff I don't use on my current install that I am unable to get rid of cleanly (openoffice for example - can't remove parts of it without breaking the "ubuntu-desktop" meta-package which causes upgrade isssues). I consider myself an intermediate Linux user but interested in becoming more proficient and knowing my system better, especially since I'll be building this one from the ground up.

I want to try Fluxbox, but I am familiar with Gnome and will probably keep that around for a while. I want to be able to control the applications on my system and have as clean/minimal a footprint as possible. I want a stable system but I also want access to the latest versions of software without having to break/bypass my package manager to get them.

Here are my thoughts:
Ubuntu - I like apt-get, although some packages are outdated and I often feel it would be easier to just get the software from the developers' website and not bother with synaptic. Stuff doesn't break often, even though I am a bit liberal in my (ab)use of beta software. Way too much crap installed for my tastes by default. I want to try a minimal install (just cli) and try to install just what I need from there, but I don't know really if that would be taking advantage of Ubuntu's best features, so that leads me to...
Gentoo. I tried to install Gentoo once on a frankenstein pc from old parts I had scrapped together, I got it installed and it was very educational, but I didn't know a lot about the hardware I was installing on so I had a rough time, and ultimately I thought Ubuntu was less of a bother. But after using Ubuntu for a while now and learning more about Linux and getting more fed up with all the junk on my system and having to jump through hoops with apt-get, having a sleek minimalist Gentoo setup seems more my style. I am a bit worried about things breaking though, I read sometimes updates go bad and your system is broken/unusable. Is this still a problem with the current version? I don't mind compiling when installing packages.

The configurability is what's most attractive to me about Gentoo. I can have just what I need, and hopefully understand more about how my system works.
The stability/community are what I like best about Ubuntu. I haven't really looked into Gentoo's forums, etc. so I can't really judge the community.

Here's some software I will probably use on a regular basis: firefox, gnome, fluxbox, deluge, media player(s) (haven't picked favorites yet), LAMP stuff, tremulous, world of padman, neverwinter nights, urban terror, enemy territory: quake wars, nexuiz. I use Nautilus on Gnome but I have no particular attachment to it. I want the ability to try out different software and completely remove it when I'm through.

Thoughts?

[Saxon]

First off congratulations about building a new rig, secondly congratulations on picking linux for your OS.

I would say ubuntu as it's the best distro out there at the moment, comes with a good selection of programs in the install / remove software in the applications menu.