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Hey guys,

Looking to go all out(within some reason) on this one, and was hoping to get some opinions/confirm specs. Thanks for your time and/or suggestions!

EVGA 01G-P3-1280-AR GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail | X 2 SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130365

BFG Tech ES SERIES ES-800 800W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.92 SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified GTX 260 NVIDIA HYBRID SLI 9800 GX2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817702007

Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT25664AL804 - Retail X 2(8GB) - Yes, I like it "pretty." I really love how this looks, but I'm always open to suggestions when it comes to performance/price over aesthetics
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148202

EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188024

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz LGA 775 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569QX9650 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115034

Mountain Mods U2-UFO
http://www.mountainmods.com/u2ufo- [...] -p-78.html

And my main concern is cooling - what options do I have for watercooling? I'm not fluent in all of the jargon, so any help would be appreciated. If not, what kind of panel should I look to for control of the 7 fans?

I have a Zalman CPU heatsink/fan and some old HDs that I'll probably use before I buy new units.

This is going to probably run me about 3k total - and I'm sure that I'm probably not being economical about the situation.

Thanks for your time and consideration!

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Sorry, I don't much like it.

What will you be doing with the PC?
Assuming that the primary use is for gaming, then A GTX280 in SLI is good. It will run anything out there well.

Some nvidia chipsets seems to have problems, but if you want SLI now, you don't have much choice.

If your game is supreme commander or FSX, then a quad core cpu is good. If you will be doing cpu intensive multitasking, then a quad is good.
I see no negative to a QX9650, but a E8600 will perfoem better in most games. The real problem with a QX9650 is that it will be obsolete in a month or two when the i7 cpus are delivered. For about the same price, you will be able to buy a higher clocked quad that is faster, clock for clock. Oh yes, it will have hyperthreading, giving you the appearance of 8 cores.

You would need a X58 motherboard and ddr3 ram for i7. A good thing is that the X58 is supposed to do both sli and crossfire. Delivery of that feature may be uncertain.

BFG PSU is a tier 4 unit on this list:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088
You can do better with PC P&C, Corsair, Seasonic for example.

Ram is good. Why not get 8gb and vista 64 bit?

I don't much like the case. But that is a personal preference.
I would look at something like the Antec 1200.

Air cooling should not be a problem with a good case. A couple of large input fans and output fans will do the job and be reasonably quiet. I would avoid water cooling unless you are looking for bragging points with record overclocks.

With that budget, why are you using some old Hard drives? Look at the WD velociraptor at least.

With a good budget, think about getting a great 30"monitor like the Samsung 305T. Games at 2560x1600 are great.

In the end, though, I would wait until November to see what i7 has to offer.

---good luck---

Reply to geofelt

I was looking to do a mock-up of this system(http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-280-sli-triple-review-test/1) with a budget cut here and there...and it had all of the necessary connectors right out of the box, which is why I chose that PSU. Why get a modular system? Its just a greater chance for something to get disconnected.

From what I understand, DDR3 is overtly useless at this point in time, and expensive too which is the main reason I aimed towards the 780 over the 790. You get something like a 1 or 2% increase in performance without OC?

I know 3K is more than most average Joes are looking to fork over for a new machine, so I'm trying to keep it as low as possible with high-end parts. I'm not looking to buy a 30" monitor or a velociraptor anytime soon. The monitor alone is something like 1k. I'll probably use this 32" HDTV I have laying around until I can afford to replace my broken 24".

I'd be willing to wait around with the E6700 I'm using right now until the i7 comes along, but I don't really think I'd like to place my trust in production schedules and unproven hardware.

Thanks for putting so much effort into your response! I'm going to do some more research into the processor like you suggested and hopefully it'll save me some $

Message edited by thunderstorm on 10-03-2008 at 07:24:45 AM

Reply to thunderstorm

You might want to read this article from guru3d.com.
http://www.guru3d.com/category/vga_charts/
The tests were done with a E8400 and a lot of different vga configurations.
It makes a lot of sense to me.
How good does your vga system need to be to get best possible gameplay?
If you can get >60fps on average, you will get best possible gameplay.

See where you fit on the charts.

Reply to geofelt

I'm not really sure where you're going with that?

Are you suggesting I take a look at the E8400(Which I had no idea how ridiculously cheap it was compared to when I bout my E6700 @ $600 :X)?

or....?

Thanks for your time!

Reply to thunderstorm

All out within reason.

What should that mean?

If you mean a top system that will outshine your buddies' for bragging rights, that is one thing.
SLI GTX280 and Q9650 components may do that.

If you want to play games very well, that is another. If you are in this category, there are more reasonably priced options.

You might want to read about this seriess of tests using a variety of Processors and a 8800GTX-ULTRA.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/cpu- [...] rocessors/

I would conclude that for the most part, a system with a E8500 and a top end GTX280
would give you best possible gameplay an a reasonable cost.

Save the difference for a future system.

Reply to geofelt

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