$2500 gaming rig build

[jester9000]

Hi all, new to the forum but not to TH. Anyway I came into some money recently and have decided to build a gaming rig from scratch. While I have replaced motherboards, cpus, hard drives, etc.; I have never built a completely new system. So just wanted to get everybodies take on my potential rig.

Motherboard:
EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188025

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 3.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115054

Memory:
CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145200

CPU Fan:
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

PSU:
CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007

Case:
Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133154

1st Hard Drive(for Vista only):
Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10000 RPM SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033

2nd Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3750330NS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148295

GPUx2 SLI:
XFX PVT88GYDF4 GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150261

Initially I do not plan to OC until this system gets a little dated. Also not sure if I should get 32 bit or 64 bit Vista Premium. So any concerns and comments would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[jester9000]

Oh, forgot to mention that I am not set in stone on anything. I do not plan to build for another month or two. I am completely open to better suggestions as long as it does not bust my $2500 bubble. The only thing that I would like to keep is a Raptor for my OS and I do prefer Intel and Nvidia.

 

[shadowthor]

If you didn't prefer Nvidia, I would have recommended an X48 mobo and crossfire. As ATI has the upper hand. Do you plan to overclock? If so, get a better cpu cooler. Go with 64 bit os.

 

[jester9000]

What X48 mobo and CPU cooler? and I do not plan on OC anytime soon...maybe in a year or so when I start to feel it in games

 

[mark $]

I would suggest getting a X48 mobo ( Asus has reliable mobos, maybe the Rampage Formula one) and the xigmatek S1283 cooler. Get Vista 64bit and 8gbs of ddr2 instead of ddr3, very little performance difference but huge price increase. (the 8gbs will probably be $20 bucks more at tops, and give you more performance imo)

With such a large budget I would get the ATI Radeon HD 4870 x2, which is rated higher than the Nvidia 280.