$1200 Gaming Rig

-------------

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1 week or 2 BUDGET RANGE: $1200-1300

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, other stuff.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor (1920x1080), OS (Vista64), Speakers, DVD drive

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg is fine.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Don't care, best bang for buck atm.

OVERCLOCKING: Most likely

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes but not initially.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Been building/repairing computers for years now (family owns a small computer store, been helping out since i was a kid) but our customers are usually people who don't even know how to install drivers/software . So I haven't had much experience with Gaming rigs (parents would never let me spend that much money on my own rig, but i'm older now so ).

I have no problems putting a computer together but i've never overclocked anything. I did my best to get as much info as I can on OCing, but theory is never as good as experience imo. So I've turned to you guys to make sure i'm on the right track.

Motherboard
Asus m4a79t-Deluxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131363

CPU
pII x4 955 BE w/ Xigmatek S1283 Dark Knight and Arctic Silver 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 55%20black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233024
I'll be overclocking as far as I can ago.

Graphics Card
xfx 1GB 4890
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150359
I'm going to put another one in some time soon. Just not right now.
In the mean time I plan to overclock this. A few questions, does overclocking require an aftermarket cooler? Does adding an aftermarket cooler and/or overclocking void XFX warranty? Should I go with a different brand other than XFX, if so, which one?

Ram
G. Skill 4GB DDR3 1333 (9-9-9-24)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231253
Is this ram good enough to overclock with?

PSU
Corsair 750TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 20750%20tx
Is this enough to add another 4890 later on?

HDD
WD 1TB black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136284

Case
I was thinking either.
Antec 900
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129021

or

CM Storm Scout
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] rm%20scout

Which one is better? Preference goes to Cooling (air cooled), Noise, Space/Cable management and then everything else in that order. Any other suggestions?

If my calculations are right that works out to about $1130 and i'll add a few case fans when i figure out which case i'm going to get.

How does this sound? Anything I should change? Will any of these bottleneck each other? Have I gone overkill on any item? Can I get better performance with an intel build for this price? Is there any new technology coming out soon(as in within a month) that i should probably hold out for? etc. etc. etc.

Thanks for your time, and I will greatly appreciate any help/advice you offer.

Forum lag...

I would pick up 2 HD4770's instead of one HD4890, that is unless you want to eventually add another 4890.

Tom just did an article on this...plus you'll save some cash.


http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2288.html


Edit: Oh shoot, nevermind, I just saw where you said you'll eventually crossfire.

Interesting. How important is that RAM? Would dropping to 1333 instead of 1600 hurt much? Because triple channel ram is quite expensive here, especially OCZ.

OCZ 6GB 1600 ram is like $200+ over here, and 1333 is about $170.

Does it matter if i change brands?

Kingston/G.skill 6gb 1600 is like $170 and 1333 is like $130.

I read the articles and it seems the i7 build is better but it wasn't anything jaw dropping on paper. Plus the smaller hdd is a bit of a setback, I can make do with 640gb but 1TB would have been a bit more satisfying.

I mean I would really love an i7 build and I know on newegg it's about the same price, but it works out $100-200(about $75-150USD) more expensive for me, which might not be a lot to some of you, but it's a huge difference for me. Is it worth it? Would you pay $100 USD more for an i7 build? I mean I can get the money but i'll have to wait another week or so and I want to know if it's really worth it or not.

Either way thanks for the info. I didn't think I could even pull off an i7 build. I always had the impression I needed a much more expensive MOBO. So thanks.