Core i7 build $2100 budget

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: late november

BUDGET RANGE: $2100 before rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, photoshop, school work

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: power supply (corsair 1000w), hard drives (dont need any storage drives but im open to high rpm drives and ssd's). OS, mouse, keyboard and monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg. unless there is a stellar deal elsewhere

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US

PARTS PREFERENCES: no preferance, although i do like asus and evga

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 or 1900x600

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: no need to reccomend a case. i have my heart set on the cooler master atcs 840 [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119187[/url]
I also have 2 evga gtx 260s already. im considering buying another and running tri sli. suggestions are open to weather or not this is a good route to take.

hey thanks for the welcome

so are you suggesting through not listing any video cards that i should just stay with the 260s for now?

What kind of gaming you do? Like what games..? You want max settings?

$2100 is a large budget..you don't need this high seeing how your needs are not that demanding

By FAR the best value for a high-end PC is the following:

1) suitable 1156 Motherboard
2) i7-860
3) 4GB DDR3 1600MHz
4) 2x HD5850 1GB

Other:
1) Discrete audio card (perhaps X-Fi that comes with MOBO as PCIe addon)
2) CPU heatsink + 120mm fan
3) 120mm case fan (low flow)
4) speakers (M-Audio AV30 stereo OR Logitech Z-2300 2.1)
5) Velociraptor 300GB (Windows drive)
6) WD 1TB Green (second drive)
7) Corsair 750Watt PSU

Summary:
I do a lot of research on building systems. Personally, I like to also build around NOISE levels which is why I like the new HD5850 cards which idle at 26Watts which blows away previous cards. This is an awesome system. Learn about the CPU TURBO feature (don't just overclock and massively increase the power consumption and noise).

If you want bragging rights, don't just go for raw, theoretical power consumption. Feel good about getting the maximum bang for your buck and lowest noise for a high-end gaming rig.

Ignore SSD's for now. Also, invest a little of that cash burning a hole in your pocket on a good screen and audio. Most screens really suck. Here's an example of a pretty darn good monitor:
HP LP2475W H-IPS 24IN

(If you can get a good 19" CRT go for it. I still have my 19" Viewsonic with no issues running 1600x1200@75Hz. It has better colour and Contrast than any LCD in the world so until LCD is better and cheaper or OLED comes out and is priced correctly you can keep your LCD monitors and pry my CRT out of my cold, dead hands.)

^I'm inclined to agree with photon boy but only to a certain extent. If the OP goes with the 1156 route he won't have as much upgrability and its considered a mainstream socket so seeing how he wants braggin rights, going the 1366 route would automatically put him into the highend range
-Also I agree with the SSD, SSD won't increase gaming performance or stuff like that, apps and boot times will just be faster. (But i like SSD's anyways, I own one in one of my PC's and its pretty damn good)
-And about the screen, modern LCD's give color practically just as good as CRT's and plasmas do especially the expensive ones. The difference is almost unoticable. Samsung i'd say is the big game player here, i saw one of thier LCD's and it gave perfect Black Colors. And if you leave your CRT on to long its going to have burn-ins and it takes up way more power and space and is ancient

================================
Now to the OP:
Seeing as you have a pretty large budget and you already have like 70% of the critical parts you need (PSU,OS,Graphics,Keyboard,Mouse)...I think you can go a bit large on this build.
First of I would get the Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition
^Reason is that unlike the regular Core i7's which have 4.8GT/s QPI's this one has 6.4GT/s. Plus you can overclock this processor like thier no tomorrow and its the most powerful consumer grade one available...good deal i'd say.
Next, Sell your two GTX260's (They are still worth a lot) and replace them with two ATI 5870's or wait until the Nvidia Fermi Cards come out which should be this year and buy some high end's of those cards.
And for your MOBO get an EVGA EX58 Classified.
And since you have plently left over money, fit an Intel X25m SSD into there and you will truly and ultimatly have real and undeniable Braggin Rights. YOu will be able to max out any game I believe at that resolution.
And overclock your CPU to 4GHz at least.

HAVE FUN

i dont agree with blackhawk
1. i know that all the recent 1336 cpu's have unlocked qpi
source: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/f [...] y_reported and i also have a 920
2. i have the i7 920 d0 step and a have achieved a 4.5ghz oc with it no problem running the qpi a 6.4GT/s on air
3. keep the 260's and save your money, but if your really itching for bragging rights get 2 ati 5870's
4. go for intel ssd drives, they wont really help in gaming but will definitely make you computer feel faster
5. buy your self a real nice pair of of headphones or speakers and get a soundblaster titanium sound card. i know there are better sound cards but i believe that these are the best for gaming

i would only get a i7 975 if your doing extreme water cooling or any thing above that. but for air get the 920 or 950

Go with 975 its more future proof like stated above by blackhawk

^Maybe you are right...but if the OP has the money then why not If he wants save then 920 would be a good option. However I really don't see a need in gultown because to this date many applications don't even support quad core CPu's let alone hexacored ones. If he has the money for both then I recommend both, if not then not. I don't have a theory, I am just recommend the most expensive parts he can afford.

highest clocked i7 920 is only 5.62? on what ln and helium? i expected more? any links.

here done on ln2

yea don't get the 975 even if you have money to waste. For 1366 the 920 is the only way to go. There are so many other things you could do with $700. The dollar to performance ratio is sooooo bad for the 975. 920 is a much smarter and more logical decision.

alright so i have come to this conclusion...im gonna get the 920 and use the extra money to build one hell of a water cooling loop...opinions?

i have a loop right now. its only cooling my cpu though. never done a big multi block/rad loop before

OK, so you need:

Case: Antec 1200 or CM HAF 932 are the consensus Fav's ....add the optional fans.

MoBo: Since you have the budget room, the Asus Rampage II Extreme is an alternative to the P6T Deluxe V2

Bling: ASUS Model OC Station ROG OC Controller (only works on RoG Boards) makes fine fan controller and allows you to tweak OC while booted to Windows (except memory) and looks very cool

Intel Core i7 920 - Save the cash for next year's goodies from Intel.

GFX - Perhaps a dedicated PhysX card in that 3rd slot ?

Memory - Mushkin Redline (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 Model 998692 (has Ascent cooling and w/ 6-7-6-18 timings)

Card Reader - you're a phot bug so AFT XM-35U BLACK USB 2.0 Kiosk Card Reader (3.5" )

OD - Plextor Blk 8X BD 16X DVD 48X CD SATA BD Combo Model PX-B320SA w/LS OEM

HSF - Prolimatech Shadow w/ IC Diamond 7 Carat Thermal Compound

SSD - Intel 160 GB G2

A 3rd gfx card just for physx isn't relevant unless you play a game that needs a lot of work in physx.

here's a list of physx games:
note- not all are pc games
http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_physxgames_all.html

I suggest you getting 2x5850 since your monitor is 1920x1080. It can pretty much max out any game.

260s arent worth it, when you can get 4870s at a lower price.

well seeing as i alredy have 2 260s switching to 4870s would be the more expensive option. also not saying i wouldnt use 5850s but where on earth would i find one of them, never mind two of them

I apologize, I skimmed through your first post too quick, didn't realized you have 2 260s already. So never mind what I've said.

Performance wouldn't help much with 3x260. Maybe a 10-25% increase in fps. I doubt anything higher. Also, you would need to overclock the i7 920 or else it'll become a bottleneck for 3x260.

Google around see if there's articles. To me getting 3x260 is too much. You're fine with 2x260, unless you want MAX settings on crysis with 1920x1080

Just assemble your computer first, if the 2x260 can't do it for you, get another one.

I agree with you blackhawk to some extend, but where's he going to sell the 2x 260. Ebay? Quite a hassle. Just keep them and play with them a little longer.. umm say half to one year.

Yes it might be a big hassle to sell on EBay but the money he can still get from them ought to be his best motivation for it. And if he wants a good DX11 Nvidia 300s card then this his way to go, if he doesn't care about having the latest and greatest then keeping his 260s is his best option as they still give excellent performance.

no point doing sli with 285s when the 5850 is cheaper.

Over the next 2 1/2 weeks I would bet they would be in stock somewhere for some length of time.

let me just go on the record and say that i would LOVE to use 5850s but i just dont know if i can find a pair

what sites do you suggest other than tigerdirect, compusa, zipzoomfly, buy.com and amazon. are there any less well knowns that are reputable.