$1,200-$1,400 - HTPC/Gaming - i7/5870

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Between now and the Monday after Black Friday

BUDGET RANGE: $1,200-$1,400

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: HTPC, Intensive Gaming, Video Editing

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: OS (Windows 7 for $30 as a student), Gaming Mouse (Razer Copperhead), Sound Card (Not worth the trouble right now), Monitor (Buying one on Black Friday or Cyber Monday).

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: I have between $1,200 and $1,400 now and I will have $400 to $600 in a few months. If I play my cards right I think I can get an ATI 5870, 6GB of 1600 DDR3, and 1TB 7200RPM 32MB. I'll be able to upgrade those parts with somewhere around $400 in six months or so to get the dual 5870's, 12GB, and 2TB in RAID5.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes, need to plan it into the Mobo, PSU and Case purchase. Only one video card for now though, will be buying the 2nd one later.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 or 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Looking for a black case, preferably without a ton of lights and crap.


I really appreciate the help, thanks to everyone in advance.

ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - 239.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131359

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail - 289.99 Can get that if you live near a microcenter for $200.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115202

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - 99.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119197

XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Retail - 389.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150443

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail - 139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139009

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - 79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152185

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Retail - 149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227365

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support - 31.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151188

Add another 50ish for a good aftermarket cooler.

Ends around $1500, a little over budget, but can maybe get that down some with combo's.

I reccomend the exact same thing as cades except you can save some money if you get the GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
And I'd highly reccomend getting an ATX full tower case also because you need good cooling for those GPU's.
If you don't need 1TB of space consider getting the 500GB F3, it can save you some $ to keep that $1400 limit. Also remember you can save a lot of $ through combos and deals aswell as saving a couple of percent around thanksgiving.