First Build Ever ($1700) Motherboard Undecided

Both ASUS and evga make good motherboards. Pick the one that has the features you want ,and worry less about brand IMO.
Its even possible that there are more RMA's for ASUS simply because they sell more ...

If you dont need the extra capacity of the 640 gig black then the samsung f3 500 gig and the seagate 7200.12 500 gig are faster hard drives and better value .

Its probably overkill for your resolution but consider a new 5850 . When they are not in 3D mode they throttle back power usage much more than older cards and that will save you money long term . It would also guarantee you wont have to uppgrade in the foreseeable life of the computer

An alternate cheaper case with handles: The Coolermaster Storm Scout
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Graphics cards are a tough thing right now. There are only two DX11 cards out and it sounds like Nvidias 300 series wont be out until next year. I would think the 5850 would be a good choice. Its much faster than the GTX260 at a $260-$280 price point (when you can find it in stock).

The 5700 series is supposed to start shipping on the 23rd and theoretically have less supply issues than the 5850 and 5870 have. I think the top 5700 is going to be close to the performance of a 260 and should cost less. We wont know for sure until the real reviews come out on the 23rd.

From reviews it looks like the EVGA board is very slow to boot, is this a wide spread issue? Do you know which motherboard this community as whole tends to support or is it varied?

I took a look at both of those hard drives you suggested and noticed they have 16MB cache, does that make any real difference compared to WD's 32MB cache? Also, the reviews for that Western Digital HD are pretty solid versus the Seagate one.

I think the video card is sufficient for how much I play. But thanks for the heads up.

+1 on scout but the HAF 922 you can get it in a combo and save, those two cases are almost the same, are handles a must?

this is my recommendation:

CPU & Case Combo: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail & COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
1. Intel BX80601920: $279.99
2. Cooler Master RC-922M-KKN1-GP: $99.99
Combo Discount: -$15.00
Combo Price: $364.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Motherboard & memory combo: ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail & Kingston HyperX 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3K3/6GX - Retail
1. ASUS P6T: $239.99
2. Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K3/6GX: $155.99
Combo Discount: -$20.00
Combo Price: $375.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

HSF: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$44.98
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GPU: ASUS EAH5850/G/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Retail
$259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

At this point anything less will leave you with the need to upgrade once DX11 is fully supported so i wouldn't go for Nvidia, or anything less

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Original Price: $179.99
You Save: $60.00
$119.99
($109.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate Card )
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM
$54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

DVD: 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 IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM
$29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
$6.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

lots of extra listed but not a good Thermal paste, c'mon..lol

Grand Total: $1,268.98