sub-$1200 gaming rig, need suggestions

[aohus]

Purpose for new rig: Future-proof my new rig as cheaply as possible. Looking forward to gaming (Age of Conan/Crysis) as well as media encoding using Adobe Premiere.

Processor: Q6600 $180
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283289

Video: 2 x HD4850 $145 x 2 = $290 ($15 off Promo:VGA71115)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102747

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 $225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128336

Memory: G.SKILL 4GB DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

HDD: Seagate 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3gb/s $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148136

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05 $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Total: $1195 tax included
$1213 total with shipping

Is $1,213 worth it for this rig? Any suggestions to make it cheaper?

Would I need higher wattage psu since I'm crossfiring?

What is an ideal motherboard for crossfire? I heard that 8x / 8x and 16x / 16x are negligible in performance. A cheaper mobo for me would be better than the current one I have selected. Should I settle for P45?

 

[aevm]

Your setup is actually perfect, except for the case. You have already got an ideal MB for Crossfire with that GA-X48-DS4.

The difference between P45 (two slots at x8) and x48 (two slots at x16) is not negligible IMO with HD 4850 cards. Read and decide for yourself:
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1472/intel_p45_vs_x48_crossfire_performance/index.html

The Centurion 5 has one 120mm fan and one 80mm fan. It will have a very hard time dealing with two single-slot high-end video cards. Strongly recommend RC-690 instead. It's $21 more after shipping, and well worth it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

The GameXStream 700W is enough. If you aren't comfortable with it add $20 and get the 750TX instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=750tx

Do you need a burner? SH-S203N is pretty good.

Will you overclock?

Sorry, I wanted to reduce your costs and I added $41 instead

 

[aohus]

yes I will be OC'ing. Eventually I will add a CPU heatsink but as of now I will wait.

 

[Proximon]

If the P45 gets all sorted out with it's drivers, agreed that it would be a less expensive choice.

The theory was that x8 would be enough for crossfire. We should know in a week or two if it's going to work out in practice... I have a P5Q-E sitting in front of me, and I've been doing alot of reading. There are a few things I think the testers might have done differently to squeeze out more performance, and I'm going to look at them tomorrow when the rest of the parts come in.

 

[dirtmountain]

Thanks Proximon, i'm very interested in that myself.