New Gaming PC Build

well lets say your friends must know what their doing...

as far gaming goes that rig will run anything (as long as the monitor isn't 30inches), the quad cor will tear through video editing and photoshop so no worries

i do have a few suggestions nothing major but somethings you might like to look at....

first for cases i would recommend the antec 900(i have this one) or 1200, Coolermaster case, silverstone, or lian-li case those are all great case makers

i would say you might want to look at a 4870 1GB model the 2 graphics cards are neck and neck it will come down to your monitors resolution. the high resolutions should run better on the 4870 say 1920*1200 or anything close to that. the 1600*1200 will like the nvidia card. (although it will really depend on the game)

the one thing i would change in the rig is the heatsink.. i would go with an xigmatek hdt(looks identical to the sunbeam) or a zalman 9700LED. what you want to check is if it compatible for LGA socket 1366 that is key! otherwise it would work. i am not positive if the 2 i listed are compatible but if they are they are great coolers. just check so reviews on newegg to see what coolers those guys are using.

hope this helps

While the Sunbeam is the best LGA 775 air cooler made, it would at least need an adapter kit for i7. You should visit Frostytech and see what they are recommending. I know Frozencpu had some decent i7 coolers in stock.

The 750TX is a fine PSU, but it will NOT run two core 216s in SLI. They are power hogs. Corsair recommends the 1000HX, but you can probably spend less elsewhere if you want.

See my sig for more advice and a list of parts.

for the most part i agree.....i also have an antec 900, great case, but i'd suggest, seeing as money isn't an issue for you, go with the gtx 280 instead, it is a little more powerful than the 4870 but a lot more expensive, but if you want to save money, go for the 4870

Corsair has a new 850W PSU you might want to check out:

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] &Tpk=850tx $159.99 - $20 MIR

+1 to the Antec 900 case.

+1

The way I see it, for your rig and your stated needs, cooling should be your main concern. You don't say anything about audio, so I would assume that you don't need an ultra quiet setup (in that case, go with the Coolermaster Cosmos/Cosmos S).

The best way to go is:

Full tower: Antec 1200 or Coolermaster 932 HAF

Mid tower: Antec 900 or Coolermaster CM-690

I myself prefer the look of Coolermaster, but that is entirely personal. I also like Coolermaster because there is more space between the end of the video card and the hard drive cage.

If you're going for a showpiece, then it's wide open here...

You don't have to buy a sound card beyond what is on the motherboard, but yes that will work.

You would be better off with a better cooled case, but that one would work in a pinch.

It's a bit pricey but I would say it's a good choice for a case. If you like the looks, go for it. I think you'll need extra fans for it... possibly 4?

Yes, that would be an excellent choice.

I don't know about clearance in that case. You'll need some distance between the motherboard tray and those side fans to fit a decent cooler such as that one.

It should be OK, just saying it's a consideration and I don't have any experience with that specific case.