This machine is being built for a friend.
His primary use for the machine will be playing the newest games (Crysis, UT3, BioShock, etc.). He will also be doing some basic surfing and office apps, and possibly TV-out for watching movies. He will probably not overclock it, unless it's really easy.
The budget is around $1900 USD, or 10k Danish crowns. It will be bought in Denmark.

It goes like this (at the moment):

• Asus P5N32-E SLI (link)
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (link)
• Kingston ValueRAM 4 x 1 GB (link)
• 2 x Gainward Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB TV DD (link)
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB (link)
• Xilence Gaming Edition 800W (link)
• XION XION II Gaming PC Case (link, review)
• Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit (Danish)

IMO, the big questionmarks lie with the 2x8600GTs and the memory (CL5), but I'm not sure how much of a difference it will actually make from, say a single 8800 and some HyperX instead. He is presently planning on going for the stock CPU cooler.
What is everyone's opinion on this rig?

Thnx, G.

8600GT is weak , 2x8600gt will be useless, a single 8800GTS 320 will destroy 2x8600gt , if he can afford a 8800gts 320 , then go for it , if not then definitely go for X1950PRO/X1950XT ,they are both alot better than 8600GT and they have the same price

I would change the hard drives to Samsung Spinpoints 500GB, if you go to komplett you can get some really good offers on them.
 
I would not go with Vista just yet, I wud get Win XP Pro SP2, its more compatable with games and applications that are out and will be out in the future, wait a year or so to upgrade to vista.
 
I'm not a big fan of kinston RAM, Its not great for performance, Crucial, OCZ or corsair are far better, again look at komplett for deals on them. Aim for one that has a low CL, like CL4. Leading on from the above comment, a 32bit OS will not see all 4GB on the system, but a 64bit OS will. there are pros and cons with both.  
 
I'd up the CPU to the E6850, its a 3.0GHz CPU.... or wait until next month when the X38 is out, better boards are coming also for it (PCI-E 2.0 true dual 16X)  
 
The motherboard is a good make, but the x38 is out soon, might be worth the wait!
 
The graphics cards are animals, so you will need big power to run them. the PSU looks good, but if you can go higher with the right AMPS per rail then do. Vista does not have full Sli (2 x graphics) support with nvidia, you have to get a Microsoft patch to get it to work.... contrary to what nVidia have said.
 
The case is nice, very nice on the eye, you might have a look at the gigabyte 3d aurora case, good room for expansion and for water kits.
 
If you can get a PSU that is modular (disconnect unused cables from the PSU) also, might help on the tidiness and air flow inside the case.
 
Shop around, i find komplett to be great on value and deals, they also have a PC builder option so you can pick and choose your parts.  
 
 

geddeth wrote :

• Asus P5N32-E SLI (link)
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (link)
• Kingston ValueRAM 4 x 1 GB (link)
• 2 x Gainward Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB TV DD (link)
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB (link)
• Xilence Gaming Edition 800W (link)
• XION XION II Gaming PC Case (link, review)
• Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit (Danish)

Motherboard and CPU are excellent choices.
RAM, Hard Disk and Case are good choices.

PSU: The unusually low price (under 85€) for an 800W PSU suggests you should use caution with this part.  If you can't find enough reviews saying its a good stable PSU consider a different PSU.  By comparison the Corsair HX620W is going for 125€ and the Corsair HX520W @ 83€  The Corsair HX520W will handle any single GPU including 8800GTX.
For SLI 8600GT system  http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html  suggests PSUs starting out at 500W

Vista Home Premium 32bit/64bit should be the right choice for "playing the newest games (Crysis, UT3, BioShock, etc.). He will also be doing some basic surfing and office apps, and possibly TV-out for watching movies"

SLI 8600GT is the system's greatest weakness.  Not all games support SLI. And in almost every case SLI 8600GT (or even SLI 8600GTS) do not perform as well as a single 8800GTS.
Top blue score is 8800GTS - bottom blue score is SLI 8600GT.

Use the THG Video charts to compare single 8800 GTS  with SLI 8600GT / 8600GTS in more games.

A 2GB RAM & 8800GTS system will easily outperform a 4GB RAM & SLI 8600GT.  

Recommend you try adjusting your system budget to get the 8800GTS over SLI 8600GT

Thanks for the replies guys.
 
Other people are saying the same things as you. Generally, people are saying:
* Get a 8800 GTS instead of dual 8600 GT's
* Get Crucial/OCZ RAM instead of Kingston, with lower latency
* The low-priced PSU might not be of high enough quality, and 800W is overkill
 
Vista is not necessary for gaming, but wanted by the owner. Also, I have used 64-bit Vista for gaming for 6 months and it's a pretty solid experience.
I'll think up a revised config and post it back here for further feedback.
 
Thanks,
G.