$1500-2000 Gaming system w/ 9450 Yorkfield - Finalizing - Need advice!

I'm building my first PC. I want it for HTPC and Gaming. I want to play WoW and Crysis. I will be hooking it up to my 46" 1080p hdtv. So I want to be able to get the most out of my hd files to play on the tv and get the most out of WoW and be able to play Crysis.

I have gone back and forth several times on several motherboards and am at a total loss at this point so that is the thing I need the most advice on. Though I'd like advice on anything else.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz
Motherboard: Please help!
Video Card: EVGA GeForce 9800 GX2 basic version non ssc
RAM: OCZ Gold Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (4gb total)
Case: NZXT LEXA Blackline Series ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (will the components fit it)
Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V

I don't plan to overclock anything until I need to(which would probably be for future games). So I will overclock it in the future. At present I don't plan on getting a second video card but may in the future. I also like the idea of the two gigabit lan ports doubling the bandwidth with the 790i board, but don't know if its worth it to spend all that money.

Any advice is appreciated.

Also, would a sound card be necessary, or do modern boards cover that well?

I just built my first PC, and I went with the EVGA 780i mobo. I had absolutely no issues, and their tech support is really helpful. DO NOT go for the 790i, they are still having tons of problems, and the price of ddr3 is totally no worth it, as far as performance. Go with a ddr2 mobo, and my advice is the 780i from evga, but I am sure others on here will say they recommend something else that's better. Again only my opinion, and my good experience with it. Not too sure I would go with that video card though, I am running 2 evga 8800gt's in sli, and am very satisfied with the performance, plus they are getting cheaper by the day. Or, nvidia just came out with the new gtx 200 series card, check them out, but they are also very expensive. Good luck, we'll be here. Oh and take your time, and read your manuals, I did and had no issues.

Thanks for your quick response!

What about the ATI card for playing Crysis, will it work? I'm not a crazy gamer that has to have it all perfect but I want it to look good and play smoothly.

The other thing, is it very noisy with two video cards? I'd like to have a fairly quiet pc.

my tv has hdmi inputs which was one of the reason s I liked the 9800gx2

Whats the difference between the 3870 and 4850?

3870 is the older generation ATI card. It the one I have and it is a fine performer.

The 4850 just came out based on a completely new core. This video card beats the 3870 easily, and holds its own. In some tests it even torches 9800GTX.

In Bioshock for example, 4850 beats every other video card tested except 9800GX2. This INCLUDES 260.

Quote: "AMD's new 4850 just destroys its competition and just about everything else in this test. Not even the new GTX 260 which costs twice as much can touch this card in Bioshock. Performance here is simply incredible."

Since you are running 1920x1200 resolution- yes you are a candidate to Crossfire them. Get 2.

Even if you aren't going to overclock plan on getting an aftermarket HS of some sort...or at least check the clearance around your CPU bracket. I got my stuff in last night and the stock Q9450 HS wouldn't fit on my board as the bracket legs weren't tall enough to clear the transistors sitting next to the CPU...there is very little clearance on the stock HS.

You may not have that issue on your board but wanted to throw that out.

If you want ALOT more performance, wait a couple days for the 4870.

any idea if the 4850 and 4870 are compatible together in crossfire? not sure if I want to afford two 4870s unless there are compatibility issues, or might it be best to wait for the 4850 dual gpu card that I seem to now see rumor of scheduled for 8 weeks from now

quick question. Would this:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] 62%20PROMO

be better having ddr3 ram(with those 2gb free and another 2gb for about $90. it would be the same price for me to get that as the board and ram you listed. However I don't know much about cas latency, though another thing that is a factor for this whole build is future proofing so that when I need faster ram and the price comes down, I can get it.

Long story short, is that ddr3 ram with high latency equal in speed to the ddr2 ram that you listed with lower latency?

Also, should I get a heat sink and fan for the cpu or is that thermal compound all that is needed. I've never used any cooling and this is the first system I've build so sorry for the newb questions but I do appreciate all the answers and advice from everyone.

Thanks

Hey guys, so I baulked at purchasing right away b/c of some of the reviews on the 4950 video cards saying that they ran very hot, and wanted to wait out the x2's.

would you guys recommend either one of the x2 cards for my needs?

"I'm building my first PC. I want it for HTPC and Gaming. I want to play WoW and Crysis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crysis . I will be hooking it up to my 46" 1080p http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p hdtv. So I want to be able to get the most out of my hd files to play on the tv and get the most out of WoW and be able to play Crysis."

COOLING:

CPU
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 120 MM Rifle CPU Cooler

Xigmatek ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket

FANS
Xigamatek XSF-F1251 120 MM fan(s)

CASE
Consider the Coolermaster Cosmos S Case. Put 6 of the above 120 mm fans and keep side panel 240 mm fan
Great airflow in that set up.

I may consider the antec 900 case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129021

what do you guys think?

The one you , nytmare , mentioned is a bit pricey for me

Also, is it possible to turn the blue lights off in the front, where the fans are?

I noticed that the both motherboards you guys recommended (the x38 asus and the x 48 gigabyte) have different memory standards than the memory you recommended(which was less).

is this still compatible?