need help with a dream machine

[icd70]

ok I'm ready to take the leap to a Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Quad-Core Processor .
I want to know what everybody thinks would be the fastest rig to build.

what mobo, ram, amount of ram and kind,what video cards (sli) I have 4 barricuda sata's that i'm going to put in it and a 22" ws lcd
os= vista ultimate 64 bit

my budget is 3k after cpu so let me know what you think. I'm wiling to spend the money for it but i don't want to spend it for the sake of spending it. so please tell me if there are things that are over the top that i'll get very little return for the money.

i use the rig for WOW, ms flight sim, eveonline, and fps'rs
thanks for the input!

 

[wilcoxon]

This might be over 3k (too tired to price it out)...

CPU: Intel C2Q QX6700 [wait until April 22 to get this cheaper]
MB: EVGA 680i A1
RAM: 2GB (if 32-bit OS) or 4GB (if 64-bit and you want) of DDR2-800 RAM with Micron D9 chips (G.Skill I think is one)
GPU: EVGA 8800GTX (possibly SC) [no need to SLI this]
Cooling: Tuniq 120 [only if you will overclock]
PSU: good quality (tier 1, Z, or 2 on list under PSU 101 topic) 600W+
OS: Vista Home Premium or Ultimate (DX10 to go with 8800)
Case: any good quality one you want

That shoudl do it and should be close to $3k if not a little under.

 

[icd70]

lol i have some flexablity there
nice build out though

 

[hieuhef]

i think everyone would have a different take on the system.

i'd say if you're going for games in sli, the intel 975x and nvidia 680i mobos have massive potential paired with 2 8800gtx's, at least that much is obvious.

 

[icd70]

yep i'm hoping that i get alot of idea's so i can see what my options are and to see how others look at things diffrently than me. is the intel mobo oc friendly?

 

[hieuhef]

yeah, both the 975x and the 680i's are OC friendly for the most part. i'm asking for suggestions with the 680i as that's the mobo i'm wanting to go with.

 

[AeroB1033]

Well, since we're talking crazy talk:

Thermaltake Armor Series Full Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811133154

SeaSonic M12 700W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151031

2x Western Digital Raptor 150gb for raid 0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822136012

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148136

Corsair Dominator 2x1gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145165

Lite-On 2x Blu-ray DVD burner SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106037

Samsung 18x DVD burner SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151141

Asus P5N32-E SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131073

2x Leadtek GeForce 8800GTX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814122017

$3,083 before shipping, dog.

I can pretty much promise you'll get the return for your money from it, though it's still a completely ridiculous amount of money to spend on a PC (unless you're just that wealthy that you don't care).

 

[icd70]

sweet i like your thinking!
only one question is sony going to be able to keep bluray alive

 

[AeroB1033]

Well if you want to put your money on HD-DVD there's some external drives out there now, don't think they can burn them though

Edit: On the other hand, maybe that M12 isn't quite enough power for two GTX... perhaps a Silverstone Zeus or PC&P Silencer Quad?

 

[proof]

Intel Core 2 Quad QX6700
ASUS Stryker Exreme
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite
3ware Escalade SAS RAID Controller
Seagate Barracuda 16MB 750GB (x2)
Seagate Cheetah 15k 74GB SAS (x5)
Corsair 4GB XMS2 Dominator DDR2 1111
PC Power & Cooling 1kW PSU

Boot Drive: Seagate Cheetah 15k 74GB
Applications Drives: Seagate Cheetah 15k 74GB (x4)
Storage Drives: Seagate Barracuda 16MB 750GB (x2)

Put the application drives in RAID 0.
Put the storage drives in RAID 0+1.
Take your bull$hit elsewhere.

 

[icd70]

wow never thought about runing the hd's in that config! i usually run 4 in raid 0+1

 

[proof]

Every once in a while someone comes around telling of their "dream machine". We are gonna need proof before we take this seriously. No offense to you dude.

 

[icd70]

ok what do you need p&l statments last 2 years of 1040's. I don't mind if peeps choose not to think I'm posting because I want help but hey even IF i'm making it up what does it hurt to put in your thought?
Thanks for the advice though

 

[proof]

I am still going to give advice. I will never not give advice to someone who asks for it. So what's next?

 

[icd70]

i mean no insult just state my view
but if you don't mind giving the advice....
is there any gain in running 2 8800 cards for graphic intense games like flight sims? or is the increase in proformance not great enough to make it worth it?
also I'm leaning towards the BFG BFGR88768GTXOCE GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 PCI-E Video is this card pretty bullet proof or are there better cards out there?

 

[proof]

For the "ultimate" machine you have to go with eVGA stuff. Call it a quirk but thats just what I think.