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Building $2500 PC

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I need help building a new rig. Budget is around $2500 - 2700. This will be an all
purpose pc with casual gaming in mind. I don't plan on overclocking & the pc will
be up 24/7.

What I need the pc for:

-Video encoding/editing
-casual gaming
-store my media/files to be shared on my home network
-to be connected 2 monitors + 1 lcd tv
-need to last 4-5yrs before my next upgrade


components i'm looking at:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 ~$300
-I need the 8 SATA port on this mobo which I will fill overtime.
-any other mb that support 8 sata?
-do I really need the X38 chipset?


CPU: Core 2 Extreme QX6850 ~$1,100
-Is this overkill?


RAM: 2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500 (1066mhz) ~$150
-CPU is FSB 1333mhz, so does the MB. Do I need 1333mhz ram also?


Graphic: 8800GT 512MB PCI-e 2.0 ~$270
-which brand to go for?
-need a cheap second card for connection to my LCD tv, suggestion?


HD: 500GB SATA2 ~$110
-already have 2 sata HD from previous pc


Display: Samsung 22" 226BW x2 ~$640 ($320 x2)
-really need this, so no compromise :) 


Case: Antec P182 ~$120
-need case that can fit 8 3.5" HD

Power supply: Antec TruePower Quattro 1000W ~$250
-need psu that can power 2 pci-e card, 8 hard disk & 2 DVD drive
-will 1000W sufficient?


budget exceeded, i need to tone down a bit. comments and suggestion please..

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Get the Q6600 processor and save some money. There's not enough difference in rendering time to justify the price. I know from experience. Look at my setup and I am using it for just the same reason, video editing and little gaming.
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nu-b said:
is there huge difference in speed between Q6600 & QX6850?

Yes, but not enough to justify the huge price difference. An overclocked q6600 can take on a QX6850 stock anyday tho.

My advice:
Q6600
4X1gig DDR2 800 ram (any good brand)
A good solid 700W PSU
A P35 board will do fine if no SLI
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme for heatsink

Learn how (if you don't) to overclock and get your Q6600 past the QX6850 speeds. I would say what the choice of the motherboard should be, but then again everyone has his or her preference. The 1066mhz ram is overkill, just run the ram in 1:1 ratio and the 800mhz ram should serve you fine.

EDIT: Just read that you don't want to overclock. The Q6600 is still the better value even without overclocking, and 1066mhz ram is now truly overkill.

will the life of the cpu greatly reduced by overclocking? If not that would be great.

run the ram in 1:1? how does that work

will 4gb ram offer any performance in Vista 32bit?

Hey nu-b,

Answers, for video encoding/editing, get a quad.

Get the Q6600; runs at 1066 fsb (or 4x266 quad pumped).
Get 4 gigs PC2-5400 memory; runs at (2x333 - 4:5), is plenty (you technically only need PC2-4300 memory to run 1:1.
P35 and X38 chipsets are good (I like the Asus Maximus Formula).

1000W PSU is overkill but a good power supply is necessary. Quite honestly the Corsair HX620 will be plenty, even the HX520 would be fine (yes, even with a quad).

The 8800 gt is a great card. second card should be nvidia as well.

4 gigs at PC2-5400 is better than 2gigs at PC2-6400, or even 8500. vista 32 will use the 4 gigs.

performance on my quad is great, check my sig.
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