Is this a good build?

This is my hope for a future build and i need to know if it is a good one. I will plan on playing FPS a lot. I do plan on OC.

Case - Antec Twelve Hundred -- $199.95 newegg.com

MoBo - Asus Crosshair II Formula AM2 780a SLI -- $274.99 newegg.com

CPU - AMD Phenom 9950 Black Edition 2.6GHz -- $235.00 newegg.com

PSU - Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1250W -- $329.99 newegg.com & tigerdirect.com

CPU Fan - Ultra Chill Tec Thermal Electric CPU Cooler -- $129.76 tigerdirect.com

RAM - Ocz SLI-Ready Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2 8500 -- 2X $151.98 newegg.com

HDD - Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB -- 2X $589.98 newegg.com

Case Fans - Antec 120mm Blue LED Case Fan -- 2X $29.98 newegg.com

GPUs - BFG GeForce 9800 GTX OCX 512 PCIe 2.0 -- 2X $619.98 BFGtech store

Hi mrkrinkle, welcome to the forums.

If you are planning an overclock on this system I would recommend starting with an Intel base. Most people seem to prefer them for overclocking. Intel's chipsets are also seen as better than NForce ones.

Few questions to start: What budget? What games? What monitor size?

So:

- For ultimate gaming performance you will want a dual core. Try E8500 ($189). Otherwise a quad (Q9400) is $275.

- Monitor 24"+ try Ati 4870X2 $560

- Base on X48 motherboard.

- PSU is enormous overkill even for 2x 4870X2 try something around 1000W form Corsair, Antec, PC P & C, or Enermax.

- You will want 4GB of RAM as a minimum. And you probably only need PC6400 unless you plan a very sizeable overclock. (Which by the look of the CPU cooler you might be...)

- WD Velociraptors are fast, but very expensive. Try the HDD charts on Toms Hardware to see what else performs well. You could be in the market for a SSD as a boot drive + a 750GB storage drive. Come out about the same as 2x raptors and you get more storage space.

- That CPU fan is exceptionally expensive - you are either planning a massive overclock or you only need an Xigmatek S1283 with retention bracket. ($45)

Hope that works as a starting point.

Jeremy

drop the nvidia video cards for a 4870 or 4870X2...lower that psu (its overkill and a waste of money)...get better quality and more DDR2 800 ram...drop the raptors for more storage...change the mobo to an AMD chipset mobo, like the new 790GX chipset...get the AMD 9850 (its on sale for $179 right now)...that cpu fan is wayyyy too expensive (get something like zerotherm or xigmatek heatsink)...that case is really expensive and there are other, more economical options, but if ur set on it, then thats ok (case decision is very personal)...

Ummmm why a TEC?? Unless you plan to do some serious OCing air is more than enough. I wouldn't trust that PSU either it's quite low quality; get a Corsair or a PC Power & Cooling.

No need for the VelociRaptors either.

^ Good specs. Only thing I would probably change is the HDD to a 7200.11 drive or a WD 640GB AAKS , both are faster than the 7200.10 driveand a XIGMATEK S1283.

S1283 review:
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heat [...] ELHEATSINK

^For tri SLI you need a 780i chipset.