$1500 build

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Not positive. I can (reasonably) wait for newer releases if it's worth it, but depending on a few things I may be able to up my budget by an additional $1-2K, so definitely not until that's decided in ~a month. BUDGET RANGE: $1,500 USD

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Multitaskable gaming (Xfire + FF + Ventrilo + game), surfing the Web, watching movies, "business" (for me that consists of things like Office, light graphics work, light video editing)...

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, operating system

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: NewEgg

PARTS PREFERENCES: I'm not sure i7 is worth it with my current $1,500 budget, so I'm thinking AMD Phenom II.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No (maybe in the distant future)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 19" 1440x900

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I don't want any problems with noise or temperatures. This is my first build and honestly I don't know that much, I want everything needed to have the items arrive and be able to start assembling right away (barring any defections I guess). For example, thermal compound stuff, I'm not sure what to get or if I even need anything fancy... so I didn't include it myself.

My selections:

Mobo: MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
Memory: CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Graphics: EVGA GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3
Hard Drive: WD VelociRaptor 150 GB
Optical: LITE-ON Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM
Case: Coolermaster HAF 922 Mid-Tower
Power: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX SLI/CF Ready 80+ Certified
CPU Cooler: ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball

$1,273.32 ($1,421.15 after 9.25% tax and UPS Guaranteed 3 Day). I thought about a 295 but that knocked me just over the $1500 budget which was ok, but over $1700 after shipping/taxes. And it seems like if I were going 295 I ought to cough up at least an i7 too, lol.

ASUS M4A78-E, this only for 87 bucks. AMDPII940 OCs to 3,8 GHz as well as 955. with ur HAF922 which is great choice, you will achieve it easily.

DDR2 800mhz is just as good in OCing and for playing games as ddr3. dont waste money on ddr3 and expensive boards.

get a 4890 vapor-x which is quiet as well as powerful.

BUY A samsung p2370 which is a crown jewel. THis modification will give you far better gaming expierince.

I think a 640 gb caviar is also good enough.

ram would be, OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB)

Now you have money for a new monitor.

Those gtx 280's are based on older architecture, they run hot and are power hungry sans the reason they are being phased out by Nvidea. Also that Raptor is a waste of money imo. This 640 Black HD runs nearly as fast as that Raptor. This build down below is set up to add another card later on for Crossfire not to mention the heat sink in this build is far better than that Zalman you have.. As it is now with that resolution of yours this card is major over kill, but you should have enough money in your budget if you shop correctly and use the free shipping to add a decent 22" monitor to this build. That way this vid card doesn't go to waste with 1440 x 900 resolution.

Also if you do a google on "ewiz coupons" or "ewiz promo codes" you can take another $5 - $15 dollars off that mobo/cpu combo down below.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119197 $129.99
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
New Arrival

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10006382 $100.00 ($70 after MIR) Free Shipping
PC Power and Cooling SILENCER 750W QUAD S75CF Power Supply Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U4P Combo Price: $492.99 Free Shipping
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CorssFireX & 3-Way SLI/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU, Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233029 $39.99
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835154003 $4.99
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130475 $229.99 ($209.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Free Call of Duty-World at war w/ purchase, limited offer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.199034 Combo Discount: -$7.00 Combo Price: $162.98 $20.00 Mail-In Rebate Free Shipping*
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Retail
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151171 $25.99
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236033 $279.99 ($259.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
ASUS MK241H Black 24" 2ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor with 1.3M Pixel Webcam 450 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 3000:1) Built in Speakers - Retail
Color Saturation 92% (NTSC)



Total: $1,186.92 | $1,136.92 w/mail in rebates

* here's a decent monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824009145 $159.99 Free Shipping*
Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2500:1 - Retail

* You can take $30 off the price of that build with this gtx 275

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814133268 $199.99 Free Shipping*
PNY VCGGTX275XPB GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Combo savings w/ Call of Duty - World at War, limited offer

* Even a gtx 260 is more than fine for that resolution.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150329 $179.99 ($164.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Free FarCry2 & COD5 game w/ purchase, limited offer(

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us [...] ID=mscomsc <--- Save yourself some money on an o/s until March 2010 and dl the 64 bit version of Windows RC 7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128374 <--- more pics, specs, and customer reviews of that Gigabyte mobo.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341011 <---more pics, specs, and customer reviews of that psu

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2266.html <--- gtx 275 review and benchmarks

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2298.html <--- gtx 275 SLI > gtx 295