$1,500 - $2,000 High End First Time Game Rig Build (seeking advice)

[Guest]

Howdy! First time poster on this site, and seems like a great place to get feedback. Let me start by saying I am aware of all the other "Help me with my choices" posts, however I am posting my own more so to see how I have personally done in choosing components. This is my first time building, so I'm just as nervous as I am excited. Any feed back on my below set up would be most appreciated. Again, this is my first time, so I am trying to learn how and why something would be better and all that "learning" jazz The current items I have listed total just around $1500 at first glance, so there is some head room if needed. Here goes.....(I could be way off on all this, but I am hoping I have learned a bit on my own):

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1 - 2 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: 1500-2000 before rebate

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: High end gaming (MMO, FPS, RTS), some music production and normal web stuffs

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: If I don't have the part listed below I am not looking at obtaining it currently (if I am missing a necessity, please feel free to post!)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Any (just using TigerDirect for links as that was what i just looked for parts on)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel/Nvidia

OVERCLOCKING: If I ever learn how to someday down the road, then yes.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Thinking of SLI, depends if price range makes a single card more bang for the buck or a SLI set up (currently looking at SLI)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: the higher the better

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Appreciate anyone time in looking at this post and their replies. Thanks!

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Tower - Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower Black Case http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&CatId=1510

MoBo - EVGA P55 Classified 200 Motherboard - Intel P55, Socket LGA1156, 3-Way SLI+PhysX, Crossfire http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5083737&CatId=4720

CPU - Intel Core i7 870 Processor BX80605I7870 - 2.93GHz, LGA 1156, 8MB L3 Cache, Quad-Core, Lynnfield, Retail http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4959971&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs

PSU - OCZ / GameXStream / 850-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / SLI-Ready / Active PFC / Power Supply http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2776974

GPU - EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ Video Card - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV (looking to get 2 of these for SLI) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3738445&csid=_21

RAM - Corsair CMP4GX3M2A1600C9 Domintor Dual Channel 4096MB PC12800 DDR3 Memory - 1600MHz, 2x2048MB, 9-9-9-24 ( 2 sets for 8 gig total) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6044636&CatId=3485

HD - Hitachi OS00163 Deskstar IDK/7K Internal Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200RPM, 32MB, SATA-3G http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5509395&CatId=2459

CPU Cooler - Open for suggestions

THANKS to all who take the time to help a new enthusiast!

 

[sp12]

So you need a monitor?

Tower - Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower Black Case http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&CatId=1510

Drop to a HAF 922 to save 40$. Newegg at 90$ for the black version.

MoBo - EVGA P55 Classified 200 Motherboard - Intel P55, Socket LGA1156, 3-Way SLI+PhysX, Crossfire http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5083737&CatId=4720

Super overkill, especially for a single-GPU setup. Get the GA-P55A-Ud3

CPU - Intel Core i7 870 Processor BX80605I7870 - 2.93GHz, LGA 1156, 8MB L3 Cache, Quad-Core, Lynnfield, Retail http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4959971&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs

Depends on the price. i5-760 may make just as much sense.

PSU - OCZ / GameXStream / 850-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / SLI-Ready / Active PFC / Power Supply http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2776974

OCZ makes really meh PSUs, get this XFX black edition http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001&Tpk=xfx%20black%20edition%20850 for 103$ Silver efficiency.

GPU - EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ Video Card - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV (looking to get 2 of these for SLI) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3738445&csid=_21

Overpriced but underpowered, get a GTX 470 for 270$ at Newegg.

RAM - Corsair CMP4GX3M2A1600C9 Domintor Dual Channel 4096MB PC12800 DDR3 Memory - 1600MHz, 2x2048MB, 9-9-9-24 ( 2 sets for 8 gig total) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6044636&CatId=3485

8 Gigs is probably overkill for what you have listed, but this ram isn't very nice. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231321&cm_re=g.skill_eco-_-20-231-321-_-Product Is much nicer and cheaper too.

 

[Yargnit]

Ok, first thought; way to little spent on graphics cards for a $1500-$2000 build;

Second though, you might as well go with a 900 series i7 as opposed to an 800 series with what you are spending on you motherboard/processor/RAM.

Lets see what I can put together here.

Option 1;

Here's a crazy combo with your case; i7 930, 6gb RAM, Motherboard, 1tb HD, 850w Power Supply, and a CPU cooler all for $956 --> Here <--

None of the parts in it are bad, but not going mass combo I would change a few brands, therefore:

Option 2;

$130 Cooler Master HAF 932 <-- Assuming you like this case specifically, and it's a good one so just sticking with it.

$290 i7 930 CPU <-- seems a given for your price range going with Intel

$230 Asus P6X58D-E Motherboard

$160 Muskin 6gb RAM kit

$40 Sythe SCMG-2100 CPU Cooler

$75 Samsung Spinpoint 1tb HD

$170 Corsair 850w HX Power Supply

So That leaves you are either $956 for the combo, or $1095 for the (IMO better quality parts)

You don't list an OS/Keyboard/Mouse/Monitor/Speakers/Etc on your list, so I'm going to assuming you don't need them. You also didn't list a CD/DVD drive, but I'm guessing that's an oversight? So here's whats left;

Option 1;

$170 OCZ Vertex 2 60gb SSD

$310 x 2 = $620 EVGA GTX 470 SLI <-- On sale in cart for $40 off for weekend

$790 Total

Option 2;

$350 OCZ Vertex 2 120 gb SSD

$230 x 2 = $460 $460 Gigabyte GTX 460 SLI

$810 Total

I would recommend the dual GTX 470's myself unless you are going to be wanting a significant amount of programs besides the OS on the SSD

And finally;

$20 Samsung DVD Drive

So there you come out at either $1766 or $1788 with the combo option, or $1905 or $1925 with the separate components. (Add $80 to the $1766 and $1905 if you don't buy during the weekend special for GTX 470's.

Also, with the GTX 460 SLI build you could drop to this $150 Corsair HX 750w Power Supply if you wanted to save $20, but I again recommend the GTX 470 build for you most likely.
That's what I'd go with at least.

Edit; Fixing Links & Messing with formatting.

 

[Guest]

Thank you both very much for the input! I will re-look at what you all have listed/described and see what I can come up with

 

[samk]

ocz vertex2 just dropped to 140 dollars, the 60 gb one.