New Build ~1500-2000

Approximate Purchase Date: June/July

Budget Range: 1500~2000 Before Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Photosop, 3DS MAX, Cinema4D, Notepad++ (Gaming/Webdesign/GFX Design), Video Editing/Recording (especially with FRAPS)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com

Country of Origin: United States


Parts Preferences: Prefer ASUS/MSi Motherboard, EVGA Graphics, ThermalTake/CoolerMaster Case, Corsair/Coolermaster PSU, Prefer GSKILL ram (OCZ is getting out of RAM industry??)

Parts not Needed: Windows 7, Monitors (already have money set aside for tri-monitor + 42in Plasma), PSU

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: SLI


Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Min.

Additional Comments: Wanting to build an Intel platform, recently built: AMD 1090t, 2x 260GTX (EVGA) [Have had since launch, and have had no problems as with prior EVGA cards] 16GB OCz Reaper memory, Asus mobo 980 Chipset (in Iraq at the moment, dont have much info other than 3x PCI slots, 2 at 16x built in June of 2010, and was really unsatisfied with total product, was wanting to build a Sandy Bridge based PC, possibly willing to wait until BD comes out, or even Ivy Bridge (buying timeframe is still a couple months away). So far the components that I would like to have are:

Coolermaster HAF X (have old comp in Thermaltake Armor+)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Asus P8P67 WS Revolution(Chose motherboard based on expansion/possibility of Tri-SLI)
http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=dzgoion0wgHoT7tp&...

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

SSD/Boot Drive: Definitely looking for a new SATA III SSD, but possibly due to price, would settle for SATA II, would like to run in a RAID array/ do I need to run in a RAID for boot, as nothing will be stored on the drive except the OS, Adobe CS5/6 (When 6 comes out), 3DS Max, and Cinema4D, possibly 1-2 Games

Possibilities:

Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Corsair Performance 3 Series CSSD-P364GB2-BRKT 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HDD/Storage Drive: 1TB WD Green, unimportant

Graphics: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 x2 want room to add 3rd down the road
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Currently I have a Windows Home Server with an old AMD AM3+ 955, 8 gb ram, 10TB Storage, with a 90GB SSD SATA II running WHS, it performs weekly backups, data storage (approx 400GB Music, 6TB Movies/TV Shows, 1TB MISC, 6-800GB Graphics/Coding)

Just really looking for some advice on how to refine the build, as having an I7 2600K is not really necessary, but I normally just go ahead and shove out the extra cash to get the best/better cpu (sub 350$)

Normally I would go all out AMD, but I prefer nvidia graphics, and the Chipsets on AMD boards are garbage mostly (my SLI system does not have SLI Ribbon due to random BSODS/Artifacts, and just a lot of pains that I do not want to continue to endure) The main games I will play/used to play before Iraq were Civ 5, CoD4(mainly online/cevo/whatever new leagues have popped up recently lol), SC2, lots of RTS, but just for time killing rather than actual hardcore play, will mostly be playing CoD: Black Ops (unsure if promod or PAM came out with it/mod tools etc etc... or how it even plays multiplayer as have not had a chance to talk with teammates/friends)

Also I work for E-Rev.tv would possibly like to be able to help them out by streaming live matches etc etc, and recording to put on website as a backup person.

Thanks for any of the help you could provide as I have said I put the biggest things I want, but if there are cheaper alternatives, I would gladly downgrade if the price/perf is worth it