£1500 Gaming PC, Need Advice

[Mossberry]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next 2 weeks, or as soon as I've finalized everything. BUDGET RANGE: Around £1500

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (i.e - Crysis on High), Writing, Surfing, General Use

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Keyboard

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Dabs.com or Overclockers.co.uk, but if a more suitable part can be found elsewhere, please suggest it. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK

PARTS PREFERENCES: No real preferences, whatever is best.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050, though likely to be upgraded in the future.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Originally, I intended to buy a prebuilt gaming machine but realised I would be ripped off, so decided to build my own, yet again. I’m looking to future proof it as much as possible without wasting money, my computer knowledge is limited so any help would be greatly appreciated. I have more money I can blow on this rig but I'm cautious about the cost/gain, (i.e – spending another £500 to go from a 920 to a 965) any opinions on this would be welcome.

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PARTS IDEAS (Please point out any glaring oversights or potential bottlenecks)

CPU:
Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem)

Mobo:
Asus Rampage II Extreme Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard

Case:
Antec 900 Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)
Or
Coolermaster HAF 922 Case - Black (No PSU)
Not Really sure on case, I want something smart but I'm past the stage of requiring flashing LED's everywhere. Cooling & Quality are my main concern.

Cooling:
Unsure of what's best for price/performance here, could use a suggestion.

PSU:
Corsair Memory 750W TX SERIES ATX
Or
Corsair Memory 850W Ultra Quiet 80+ ATX PSU
Enough for Now & Future upgrades?

Memory:
OCZ Blade Series 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-16000 Triple Channel (OCZ3B2000C9LV6GK) - £104
Would 12gb be better or a waste?

GPU:
Unsure, debating whether to wait for 5xxx series, or settle for something else, again any input would be useful.

OS:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-BIT 1PK + Windows 7 Upgrade Offer

HDD:
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200rpm SATA 3Gb/s 32MB

Speakers:
No idea, I’ve been using a decent pair of headphones for months since my last set of speakers packed in. I could do with buying some new speakers however, for music, movies.

DVD:
Sony Optiarc AD-7240S 24x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) – OEM

Mouse
Currently I'm using a Razer Copperhead, which has just developed a fault, I'm going to attempt to get it replaced under warranty, but failing that, I will need a new one.

RAID: Are there any noticeable benefits for Games using RAID 0 and how does it affect other general usage? I've been thinking about setting up 2 drives in RAID 0 for gaming, while having another for Backups/Files but have no real experience with it.

Finally... Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)

That's it, I await your input.

 

[build]

scan and ebuyer have better prices on certain products so you might want to check them out

Motherboard's a bit expensive. This one will do http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-P6T-Intel-X58-S1366-PCI-E-20-(x16)-Triple-DDR3-2000(OC)-SATA-3Gb-s-SATA-RAID-ATX

The 750W PSU will be enough for a crossfire/SLI set-up.

This RAM has tighter timings http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164786. Stick with 6GB.

I personally prefer the HAF 922.

As for the GPU, at your current resolution an ATI 4870 would play Crysis on high/very high. If you're upgrading your monitor soon then you'd be better of with a GTX 275/ATI 4890 or wait for the new range of GPU's as you said.

 

[Mossberry]

Thanks for the advice build, I'm a step closer to finalizing.

I've read some of the 5xxx reviews and I'm considering getting a 5870.

Could still use some info on setting up RAID 0 and the benefits for gaming/normal use, or if a fast drive alone will be enough.

 

[build]

The risk involved in going RAID 0 outweighs the benefits in my opinion as it effectively doubles the chances of a catastrophic data loss. A 1TB 7200RPM HDD is very fast nowadays, it'll be fine for gaming.