Please look this build over and make sure everything looks solid

[Enlightened]

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=8366011

Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
$179.99

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$139.99

VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire $260.00

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC $129.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail
$324.99

mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2ddr2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model - retail
$86.99

Rosewill RCR-FD200 All-in-one USB 2.0 Black 3.5" Card Reader with 1.44MB Floppy Drive - Retail
Instant $29.99

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM SATAsata 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
3 of them for raid5 $299.97

Logitech G15 2-Tone USB Wired Standard Gaming Keyboard - Retail
Instant $74.99

Acer P243WAid Black-Silver 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitorlcd monitor with HDCP Support - Retail
$359.99

Logitech G9 Black 5 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB Wired Laser Gaming Mouse - Retail
Instant $74.99

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM
$24.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM
Instant $99.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
$5.99

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
$34.99

XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail
$6.99

Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 Speaker System - Retail
$105.99

APC BR1500LCD 1500VA 900 Watts BACK-UPS - Retail
$190.99

Subtotal: $2,431.81

 

[the_mystery_gamer]

Looks like a great rig! One thing, get Arctic MX-2 or OCZ Freeze instead for the thermal paste, it doesn't have a cure time. May I ask what you will be doing with this machine? If you are just gaming, a quad core and RAID 5 might be a little over-the-top.

 

[aevm]

I wouldn't bother with RAID 5. I prefer to just back things up on USB drives/DVD-R whenever needed.

Upgrade the motherboard to P5E Deluxe X48 so you can do Crossfire at full 16x+16x speed instead of 8x+8x. If necessary, cut costs with a RC-690 case or cheaper mouse/keyboard.

The 750TX is cheaper here:
http://www.buy.com/retail/usersearchresults.asp?querytype=home&qu=750tx&qxt=home&display=col
They have a good price for RC-690 too.

The rest is absolutely beautiful.

Edit: or upgrade the video card to HD 4870X2, keep the P5Q Pro, and you won't have to worry about bottlenecks in Crossfire. On a 24" monitor HD 4870X2 beats HD 4870 Crossfire too because it has more RAM. You are planning to spend $270 on the video card and $150 on keyboard+mouse. I'd rather have the better video card even if it means buying a $20 keyboard and a $10 mouse.

 

[Enlightened]

the_mystery_gamer

Thank you! I will change up the thermal paste per your advise, it makes total sense to not have a cure time.

The machine will be replacing my Dell 8400 as a CS3/MMO machine. I have had this rig for 4-5+ years and it was served me well. I mainly do web development in CS3 and consider my data very important. I have email going back 5+ years for example.

My current backup solution is having 2 separate internal hd's and every so often using Casper XP to make an exact mirror to the backup. I know that with Raid5 I would be getting the striping and mirroring all at the same time. Aevm's suggestion was good as far as a USB drive backup, but I would rather had more of a hardcore solution. = ) I've always wanted raid.

aevm,

Thanks for your advise. I am going to research more about USB backing up, I wonder if the main hd goes out, that I could boot up from the usb backup?
I have a 500GB WD notebook, and it recently took a crap on me, giving me I/O errors, so I'm leaning more towards raid5.

Thanks for the cheaper link for the 750TX. I plan on upgrading to the 4870X2 when the price comes down so I will most likely stick with the P5Q Pro. Good info to know about how the X2 beats xfire on the 24'. Good point about the cheaper mouse and keyboard = better video card...LOL! I just may get both. I'm in no rush to buy, so going to watch the corei7 benchmarks. = ) The Q9550 should drop more when it gets released as well.

 

[rabidbunny]

If you can get your pc to boot from a usb hard drive, congratulations. however, i do not think that it would be easy...
I would just mirror your hd once in a while or backup all the important data (like I do) and then if you need to restore your system, just reinstall. I have always found that a reinstall cleans up any unnecessary junk that you can't always fix with a system restore etc.