$700-$800 first time build

Does the OS need to be included?

Also, any build worth its salt at $700 even will be way overkill for a 1280x1024--might you also want to pick up something in the 1920x1080 range?

Yes the OS need to be included, and 1920x1080 would be fine, I just put down 1280x1024 because that's what I use now.

This build includes Windows 7 and allows you to add another one of those video cards for Crossfire.

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MjQ2MA== <--- More info on that Antec case here

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MjQ2MA== <---more info on that case @ newegg...but cost more here

http://www.jr.com/antec/pe/ANT_DF10/ $62.99
Antec Dark Fleet DF-10 Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $79.99 FREE SHIPPING
Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $89.99 FREE SHIPPING
ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $139.99 FREE SHIPPING
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $44.99
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996946

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $16.99 FREE SHIPPING
LG Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $129.99 - $109.99 after mail-in rebate card
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100283VX-2L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite... Combo Price: $159.98 FREE SHIPPING
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Total: $724.91 *not including shipping and rebates

Love the above build.

Couple of comments:
Depending on how soon, you might overclock, I would purchase an aftermarket cooler. Also along those lines, I like the memory recommended as it doesn't have a huge heat spreader. Sometimes they can interfere with an aftermarket cooler depending on which one you purchase. I had that problem with the OCZ reaper memory. Couldn't put it in memory slot one. Just something to remember.

The only thing I would change is the 6850. it can be purchased for $160 AFTER rebates. This would bring the BEFORE rebate total to $774.91. Use $25 to get a decent cooler and you are at your $800 budget. 6850 will handle 1080p better when you upgrade and will scale extremely well when you drop in a second card down the road.

If you can push it to $1000, use that to pick up a 24" monitor. You'll love it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $159.99 - $149.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING $15 off w/ promo code EMCKHJK25, ends 2/16
Asus VE228H 21.5" Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Speakers ASCR 10,000,000:1

Thanks for all the help and advice. Two possible changes to the above build, going with the 6850 and 8 GB of ram instead of 4.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Would those be good replacements? It would bring the total to $834 which is doable. And I already have a 23" Samsung monitor.

Yes, good replacements. The only think I might mention is that sometimes, people who overclock like to get 1600 memory instead of 1333. This only matters if you will be tweaking things beyond changing the multiplier. As you are buying a Black Edition, you can simply raise the multiplier to overclock the processor. If you want to do finer tuning by adjusting the other settings, 1600 RAM can give you a little more freedom to do that. Other than that, not much of a performance advantage between the two.

I have been reading a lot about this Sandy Bridge, how it's the best thing out there and stuff. My question is, if I do not plan on overclocking my system, is it still that much better than its competition? If it is, I can wait until they start selling them again if they make one that fits in my budget, if not, then I can go ahead with the below build.

So this is what I have put together so far. Dose it all look compatible and do you know of a cheaper versions, but just as good, as anything I have listed?

Also I have always be partial to nVidia cards -never owned an AMD before- buy if the 6850or 6870 would be better than the GTX 560 I'll get it. And keeping in mind that I may, at some point, by a second card to SLI/crossfier, could I get away with a smaller PSU, like a 650w instead of the 750w? Total now is $884.91 and a smaller PSU would bring that down if I didn't need the 750w, and so would the 6850/6870 over the GTX 560, but I'm willing to spend a little more if the GTX 560 is the better card. What are your opinions?


AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Yes, sandy bridge is that awesome even if you don't overclock. If you can wait, it would most likely be worth your while. Just look up the article Tom's did when it was launched.

Now I am playing around with the idea of getting a SSD for my OS. Any suggestion on which one I should get.

I have a question about a couple of cases, the

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Does anyone know how many fans each of these cases come with and how many I would have to buy? Under details, I can't tell if the fans that are mentioned come with the cases or if it's just telling me what kind of fans the cases support and how many I would need to buy. Like the Antec 600, it says

Cooling System

120mm Fans
1 x 120mm Real TwoCool exhaust fan
2 x 120 mm front TwoCool Blue LED fans to cool the hard disk drives

200mm Fans
1 x 200mm Top mounted TriCool Blue LED exhaust fan

But in the pictures, I can see fan founts like on the side panel, but the only fan I see is in the back of the case. Does the rambling mess I just typed make sense to anyone?

No comments at all?