Sorry, yet another build thread!

I haven't upgraded in 3 years, so I've been way out of the loop in computer hardware. After some preliminary research, I've come up with the following of which I'm unsure. I'm still looking for a hard drive and a CD/DVD drive.

My goal is to have a strong gaming computer that'll last me a couple of years (with some upgrades if necessary). I just wanna run the new stuff - Crysis, Fallout 3, Stalker 2, etc. The full tower is a necessity for me, but I read that the antec 1200 is a little pricey for what it is, so an alternative full tower would be great too. Overclocking is in my future as well.

Here's the build:

Case: Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail ($214.95)

Power supply: PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail ($120)

Motherboard: ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard ($150)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor ($190)

Graphics: 2x EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit ($320)

Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 ($82)

Total so far ($1,107)

Help is much appreciated. I'm mostly trying to keep things under $1600, but I'll bend for good value. Thanks!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119137 $84.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188024 $239.99 ($219.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233003 $36.99
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233019 $6.99
XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 0&Tpk=mx-2 $6.99
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127329 174.99
MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card


Those MSI 8800's have much better cooling than the EVGA's. Seeing how you want to run SLI, the cooling is going to be a biggy not to mention those cards come factory overclocked.

That EVGA board is a good one as far as SLI goes...if there is such a good thing as an Nvdea board... It's a few dollars more, but from what I have been reading from people using SLI rigs, that board is a good one.

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm <---cpu heastink reviews.

The Xigmatek is about as good as it gets. I threw in the retenion bracket w/screws for the fact that heatsink is huge, and the push pin set up it originaly comes with sucks big time. The thermal paste is a good one also...it blows Artic Silver away for more than a few reasons. It brings your cpu temps down more, no set up /curing time, it last longer, and it's non conductive.

The case comes with 3x120mm fans and it's set up for 7x120mm fans. It has a side air duct, and alot of room for an SLI set up not to mention it's a great price for what you get.

GAH...why do people keep wanting SLI. Check out the threads near this one on both WHY not to do SLI, and for the basic build you're looking for.

DopeKitten is right! SLI is a stupid thing to do right now with the 2xx series cards right around the corner. Not to even mention the fact most people do NOT NEED SLI!

With all the bugs SLI has not to mention the extra heat, extra cost, and the minimal gains you get from SLI, I never understood peoples attraction to it.

A person can build a decent gaming rig for $1,000 with a killer vid card, cooling, killer cpu (E8400 ROCKS!), etc.. and they can achieve much better overclocks with a cheap yet decent P45 board. MSI has a P45 board for $100 right now on newegg.

Thanks for the help, I know you guys hear the same stuff over and over again (the thread in your sig was very handy, shadowduck).

The general consensus seems to be to wait another couple of weeks for new GPUs to come out. I should probably hold out and slam down the $320 on a powerful card that can maybe be SLI'd in the future, then?

Thanks again.

No, because that would require you to suffer with nVidia's crap Intel chipsets. Unless you are going to game at resolutions higher than 1920x1200 you do not need SLI. It will offer you ZERO benefit and only produce more heat and use more energy. The best plan is to get the best 2xx series card you can afford (either when they come out or buy an eVGA 8800GT now and use the step-up program to pick up a new card in 90 days) then run with it.

Intel chipsets are better for overclocking, better for stability, and run cooler. P45 and X38 are two excellent chipsets. I would lean towards P45 since you are going to go nVIdia, as the X38 is a Crossfire chipset. Asus makes an excellent P45 board the P5Q Pro at $149. That board will overclock great and run stable. That is where I would go.

Ok you know that build you posted? Change a few things on it. Mobo, vid card, and psu. I'l explain the three changes.

1) Mobo is the new P45 board. It's a fantastic overclocker, good northbridge cooling, latest chipset, etc...

2) This vid card will run all your games on high settings without a doubt. It's the same price as the combined cards you chose, but it gets the same numbers if not better.

3) No need to go with a 750w psu unless your running dual vid cards, but like we have explained on here...SLI sucks. Nvdea boards...SLI boards are buggy at best. They are junk in alot of peoples opinions. Better to have something that works good, overclocks good, and gives you more time to game and less time fixing your rig.

4) Use that heatsink I posted...it's not rated #1 for nothing. Same with the thermal paste...I posted a link on the reviews in my other post on here. Don't forget the retention bracket either...you will not like the push pin set up that comes with the heatskink.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131295 $139.99
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150297 $319.99
XFX PVT98FYDBU GeForce 9800 GTX Black Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139005 $109.99 - $99.99 after 10.00 Mail-In Rebate
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC, CCC - Retail

The 9800GTX isn't a good deal at all. Very expensive and it provides little if no benefit (in some cases it's worse) over the 8800 GTX. Neither are a good deal. A 8800 GTS 512 (G92) will play evreything you need it to very well.

Pick one of these video cards instead (if you can't wait until the next-gen ones come out):

8800 GT 512mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130357

or:

8800 GTS 512mb (G92)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130325

Sweet, thanks! so, new build will be the P45 board, the corsair PS (I've read good things about that one, and it has an excellent price), Antec 1200 case, Corsair XMS2 RAM, and a 2xx card when it comes out.

As for hard drive, I think I'm going to go for the seagate 500gb for storage for sure, but I'm not so sure about a main drive. Should I just use it and hold out for cheaper solid state drives, or go for a high speed "main drive"?

It doesn't matter. The solid state drives will not be out with large storage/good prices until like a year from now. "High speed" main drives (i suppose you mean the velociraptor) don't give you that much speed increase. The price isn't worth it either. A single 500gb hard drive for evreything would be fine. If don't want that, then get a 250gb "main drive" (7200.11 series). That will be plenty fast.