OK guys, so I have been working on this Setup for awhile now and I would appreciate experienced PC builders critique on this system. So for this sake of saving money, I already have a Dell 22" monitor from a P.O.S. XPS computer i purchased last year. And now i can't stand gaming with it. Its specs are very low and I feel It's time to finally have something that can kick the $h!t out of new upcoming games.(and my friends computers' )
So Here it goes:

Starting with the Barebones:

Computer Case: Cooler Master Cosmos S ATX Full Tower (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119150) $230

Motherboard: XFX nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813141009) $330

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.44GHz (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017) $210

CPU Fan & Heatsink: Thermaltake V1 110mm Full Range CPU Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835106102) $60

Memory: Patriot 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM 1333 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220278) $185

Video Card: XFX GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150309) $520

Power Supply: Antec 850W Modular Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371009) $150

Optical Drive: Samsung 20X DVD+R Burner w/ LightScribe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151154) $27

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache Sata 3.0Gb/s (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148262) $60

***In this case there are 8 fans including the CPU heatsinks'. I have no idea how I would hook all of these up? Do i use a multifan controller like Zalman's?***



*****Side Notes:
Case: I also thought of going with a silverstone TJ09 or a TJ10. But the Cosmos S has lots of room, a side intake fan, and space for 5 120mm fans which I will be filling with red led fans by Rosewill.
Processor: If I want to overclock this CPU would liquid cooling be neccessary?
Memory: I don't know much about Patriot memory, but I just assumed that it should work out as well as most others.
Power Supply: In order to Tri-SLI the GTX 280's what power supply would I need that has 3 x 6-pin connectors, and 3 x 8-pin connectors?

I would go with a different brand of memory like corsair, kingston, etc. If you weren't going to sli, I wouldn't go with the nvidia mobo as there are some issues, but since you are the mobo is fine. The videocard is not the best bang for the buck. You would probably need more than 850W psu, if you triple sli.

I say drop the DDR3 and just go with DDR2. There isn't that big of a performance to justify the cost of DDR3. Also, you could probably upgrade the XPS system for cheap and save the money for a Nehalm system. However, without knowing the specs of the XPS, that's hard to do. The one thing you can do to speed up an OEM machine is install Windows yourself. OEM's are filled with bloatware.

Is there any reason that you are going for nVidia instead of ATI right now?

I have an nVidia setup now, but if I were building at this moment, I would go for an X38 or X48 and buy a 4850 or 4870 and crossfire them in the near future. You could also wait for the 4850x2 which is scheduled to launch in the next month or so.

You don't need a fan controller to hook up the fans - they receive power from the power supply - you can get a fan controller to set their speeds individually without opening the case.

If I were going to get a SLI setup, I would stick with 780i (which I currently have) since DDR3 is awfully costly, isn't any faster than DDR2, and sounds like it may take a little while to become mainstream.

That's my two cents worth. If you're dead set on nVidia and SLI, you can stay with the 790i (though I would recommend the 780i). If you don't mind intel/ati, go with the X38 or X48 and the 4850/4870.

Good luck

Side note - both the GTX 280 and the 4870 require a ton of power. If you plan on using more than one, make sure you have multiple PCIE connectors (1 6-pin, 1-8 pin for the GTX 280; 2 6-pin connectrors for the 4870).

What games are you looking to play that you think you need Tri-SLI GTX 280?
You can find recommended PSUs here: http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

Runswindows95: Well I read a review somewhere that said that DDR3 had good potential for the future due to its increased speed, so I just said mine as well. It seemed like a good deal for DDR3 so I included it. If I should get DDR2 which brand would you recommend?

Huron: So what is the problem with nvidia? and SLI? and i just got the 790i for increased DDR3 utilization and the 2-way and 3-way sli bridges?

WR2: Well I just want to be tri sli ready just for the possibilities, and im pretty sure Tri-SLI GTX 280's would be pretty great on crysis! lol

Thanks everyone for your comments!

DDR3 will when Nehalm and AM3 is released next year. Right now, better off getting DDR2- 800 with 4-4-4-12 timings.

Dual and Tri-SLI info:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/gefo [...] iew-test/1
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1322333

Thanks for the info on SLI; I didn't realize that it had so much performance loss with each gpu added. But if I wanted to overclock my cpu to say, 3GHz then would liquid cooling be recommended?

***Bump***

no you can easily over clock that cpu to 3ghz with that cooler and with all those case fans, you van even go over 3ghz also drop the gtx 280 and wait i think in another week? for the 4870x2 reviews its supposed to be insanely fast, faster than any gtx280

ok cool thanks