I got a budget from 1500-1700.. i need the works.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: A week from noww BUDGET RANGE: 1500-1700

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, watching movies ,surfing the internet ,Folding@Home

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: OS, CASE ( antec 1200), HDD's ( 4x 500GB disks) ( 2x 320GB disks)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com. they are just too awesome BUT, if you find prices lower @ another site then by all means...

PARTS PREFERENCES: none...

OVERCLOCKING: Yes..

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: examples: Need to have huge monitor. Must have motherboard with raid 5 and raid 0. maybe a cooling system if budget permits. I want room to upgrade over time

Question: are SSD's worth it?

That's looking pretty good. Since you have some room in the budget perhaps you could ditch the Xigmatek and go for a Swiftech kit, as you mentioned that. there are very few water cooling kits that are worthwhile, but this is one:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] 30c321s818


Also, I think this may be the better monitor, and it costs less:
Acer 24"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824009167


I don't think SSDs are worth it just yet, but they are getting better all the time. Maybe by the end of the year... they are good now for some folks, but you have to have a pretty good budget before they make sense as a gamer.

About SSD's

They've recently made great strides, but I'd wait another year and then buy one after reading a review of it specifically.

You should be able to find a good quality 250GB SSD that maxes out your SATA2 connection (300MB/second read or write) for under $200 in another year.

If you have SATA2 don't pay extra for an SSD that has more speed than that. You can install it, it just won't use it.

Many laptops only have SATA1 (even new ones). That limit is 150MB/sec.

Well, that depends on what you really need.

I like my old G5 a lot. They still make them:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] esult=True

I use a G15 keyboard, which is more a MMORPG kind of thing:
The version I have is better, but not made any more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6823126034

I'm sure the new G19 is everything it seems, but 200 bucks is a bit steep.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6823126053

There is much to be said for a basic MS keyboard, but this is not one of those:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6823109069
I like the design. No real idea, never saw one in person.

How much speaker do you want?

2.1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6836121122
Although, if you can find Klipsch Promedia 2.1 anywhere, get those.

5.1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6836121012