2nd Build:Your take?

Doh!

I left out power supply (hopefully that is all). How much power will I need?

well first get antec 300 case its better in cooling and cheaper than the one you have listed

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

get Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (it has 32 mb cache while the one you have listed have only 16 mb and the different is only ten bucks)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

other than that your specs are Excellent for the power supply get

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And if i were you i would spend more bucks and get a cooler

Thermaltake V1 Max-Performance CPU Cooler with Massive 110mm Blue LED Full-Range Variable Speed Fan Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition & Core i7 Ready LGA 1366 CL-P0401 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

If you are going to get a GTX 260 it needs to be a core 216 version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Otherwise get a 1GB 4870.

Other than that computersss covered everything.

Oh, and the 750TX, while an excellent PSU, does not leave enough margin to power two GTX 260 core 216s comfortably. If you plan to SLI, then you'll need a bit more... like an Antec TPQ 850.

750TX is OK for crossfire 4870s however.

well imo thats a pretty unbalanced build if its for gaming. and i assume it is cuz of the 260..

firstly, what res and games do you play on?

in any case (  pardon the pun), i personally think you should get a much better case than that and the 300.. CM 690 or antec 1200 would be more suitable. 900 would also be ok, but imo looks fugly.

ok, well basically i think that instead of spending the big bucks on cpu,mobo and ram, you should save it, get a nice C2Q and 4GB DDR2, a nice P45 and then spend the savings on some high end graphics. much better gaming perofrmance for your $.

If, however you are set on the i7 path young one, i would recommend a TRUE with 1366 mounting kit, or that Noctua cooler... V1 is basically **** tbh. also get a triple channel RAM kit, its much faster than dual channel.

16 vs 32mb cache makes pretty much no difference, and absolutely none noticeable. still, the black is faster for other reasons so i do recommend it. but not if you're getting an i7 based system.

so, in conclusion, my advice is to only go i7 if the current C2Q's are bottlenecking your graphics. ie two 4870X2's or 3 GTX 280's. otherwise, save the cash and spend it on graphics, you will get much better gaming performance.

end of rant.
 

The extra cache on the HDD helps - every little bit does - slightly faster fsb, slightly more cache, HT, NCQ etc etc - all those little things add up to alot of performance in the end, so if you can get/afford the better parts then get them.

On the other hand i would recommend RAID 0 (most wont agree, only the people who use/own rigs with raid0 will know what i am talking about and agree), or a raptor drive or even solid state drive for main etc - this IS a high end system afterall

And yes get Tri channel DDR3 - ITS THERE, USE IT - same deal, bits of extra performance add up.

Thank you for all the inputs. I took the advice above and opted to stick with a LGA775. As you'll see below I've made some significant changes. As I see it I have to very comparable options here and would love your input. Thanks again guys.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

2 X ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total: $1037 /w $80 in rebates

Another potential route would be:

EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

with

EVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total: $960 /w $50 in rebates (down the road I could sli another 260)

The Crossfire build is the better one.

Ideally, you would plug in two of these instead though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Availability comes and goes, it's a popular card.

You could also use this MB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

If you have the impression that you need X38 to crossfire adequately, look at these newer benchmarks:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-pci-expre...

X38 aye? fair enough x16/x16 crossfire...

imo save the cash on the 780i, and spend it on two 4870's... are you thinking of ONE or TWO GTX 260's? cos a single will get absolutely RAPED by two 4850's, and two 4850's will get raped by two GTX 260's  

for pure performance ATM, two 4850's will own. however that kinda cuts down your upgrade path... if you spent about $10 more and got a 4850X2 that would net you slightly more performance and allow you to crossfire it with a 4830, 4850, 4850X2, 4870 or 4870X2 down the road.

thats my 2 bob.

if i remember correctly that motherboard suffers from vdroop under loads or somethin along the lines? on the other hand if your not doing extreme overclocking it shouldnt really be an issue.

Id rather an X48 since there out now, makes the X38 seem old even tho its pretty much the same chipset etc.

well there is literally no difference between X38 and X48 except a die shrink to the best of my knowledge...

New benchmarks pretty much put P45, x38, and x48 on the same level... at least once you consider relative price:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-pci-expre...

Then if so, why not go for the newer X48?

He wants Crossfire i believe so perhaps thats why he wants atleast the X38 - 16x slots by 2 (true 16's)

correct, as of right now I'd like to get the X38 for the 2 16x slots and am debating whether to go with two 3850s now or a single 3850 X2 and look to add another gpu down the road when money allows.

4870: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... or if your into 1GB :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

dont skimp on the gpu or youll be sorry

3850...what was I talking about? I fat fingered that gpu. I'm planning to go with a single 4850 X2. That'll leave me with another slot for crossfire down the road once I have more money.

SAPPHIRE 100270SR Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

By the way, I'm sticking with the x38 since the reports don't show a significant difference between the X38/X48 and the 45 chip set. If you see otherwise please enlighten me.

Overclocking head room? and check reviews for that motherboard - issues with vdroop!

3850's? Dont bother when you can get like 1x4870x2 on a basic motherboard etc unless you already own them? Or did you mean 4850? or 4870?

4850 X2

Alright fellas, here is my latest and greatest build. I'm gonna take the plunge and buy this setup after x-mas, so please let me know your thoughts. I hope it is all compatible, it'll fit in the case and that it'll power up!

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $289
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $33
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

SAPPHIRE 100270SR Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM $24
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total: $1181

I'm very surprised that no one has commented on your choice of RAM. CAS 6 DDR2 800 RAM is about as bottom of the barrel as you can get. I would spend the extra $17 and spring for G.Skill PI Black, CAS 4 and 1.8v, rather than that Kingston RAM you've chosen.

The rest of the build looks pretty solid, except you're missing an aftermarket CPU Fan. The XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler with this bracket is very popular these days and should keep your CPU cool.