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My new mid-high end system parts list -- need case advice

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  • New Build
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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September 22, 2007 4:50:18 PM

I am building a new system that will be used for

  • Software Development - I often have 2 - 3 Visual Studios running at once, along with several browsers, DOS and Unix shells open.
  • Gaming - I'd like to get back into Microsoft Flight Simulator & whatever else looks like fun
  • Video encoding - lots of old video tapes I'd like to get in a digital format
  • Photo processing - I take pics in raw mode and do a lot of conversions
  • Web surfing, E-mail, MS Office Apps
  • I do plan to try overclocking.

    Processor: Intel Q6600
    Motherboard: ASUS Striker Extreme
    Memory: Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
    Graphics: EVGA 8800GTX
    Hard Drive: (2) Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS
    Power Supply: Gigabyte Odin GE-S800A-D1 (800W PSU)
    Cooling: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme w/ Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm fan
    Optical: (2) Samsung 20x SATA SH-S203B
    Sound: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty

    This puts me a little over budget at about $2250 before a case. I'm willing to go over budget but I don't want to waste my money unnecessarily either. The PSU is an expensive $220 -- is it worth it? I may cross off the Sound Blaster to save another $175 -- unless someone can talk me out of it. I want to stay with the Q6600 or better and the Striker Extreme, Memory, Graphics, and Hard drive's I've chosen. I want to be able to drive a monster screen like the Dell 30" at 2560x1600, and may add a second 8800GTX down the road. I've tried to choose a mix of parts that appear to work well in the System Builder Marathon articles.

    Can anyone recommend a good case? There are so many of them in such a wide price range, I'm not sure where to begin. Cooling is very important to me. Something with a handle on top would be kind of nice too, as I need to move my PC around once in a while.

    Looking at my list... do you seen any problems or incompatibilities? Will the thermalright w/ the Scythe be enough cooling?

    Thanks for your help!

    Galen S.



    edit
    OK I added the COOLER MASTER Stacker RC-832 KKN1 Black Alum ATX Full Tower case and took off Sound Blaster... which has me close to budget. Any thoughts?
  • More about : mid high end system parts list case advice

    September 22, 2007 5:40:50 PM

    for 1920x1200 go for SLI , but dont get the STRIKER , its very expensive , same boards are ASUS P5N32-E SLI or P5N32-E SLI PLUS , which has same specs (The STRIKER is expensive because it has some extra features like LCD poster )

    other looks fine , aslo for case , look @ THERMALTAKE ARMOR too , its very big ( alot of space ) and very good cooling

    !