Planned Budget System - Appreciate Opinions

[misterlarry]

This is my first new system in 4 or 5 years. Plan on building it after we return from vacation (wife - tit for tat - you know). Planning on dropping in my two ATA HDDs running XP Pro for now. I can pick this up for under $1700 including GST. Any ideas, suggestions, opinions? Thanx all.

1 x ANTEC - Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case ( $109.95 ) 1 x Intel - Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz w/ 2x4MB Cache ( $279.95 ) 1 x Zalman - CNPS9500 LED Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler ( $69.95 ) 1 x XFX - nForce 680i SLI w/ DualDDR2 1200, 7.1 Audio, Dual GB Lan, 1394, Dual PCI-E x16 SLI ( $219.95 ) 1 x CRUCIAL - BallistiX Tracer 2GB PC2-8500 Dual Channel DDR2 Kit w/ LED (2 x 1GB) ( $109.95 ) 1 x LG - 16X DVD-ROM, Black (OEM) ( $24.95 ) 1 x LG - Super Multi Security DVD Writer 20x20x12x, SATA w/ Lightscribe, Black (OEM) ( $42.95 ) 1 x OCZ - 850W GameXStream Power Supply w/ Quad +12V ( $179.95 ) 2 x XFX - GeForce 8800 GT 512MB PCI-E Alpha Dog Edition w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out ( $539.90 )

[donimo]

I have the antec 900, but I hear the CM690 from coolermaster is better (and cheaper)

I would go for the Thermalright ultra 120 extreme and a noctua NFP12 fan, quieter and waaaaaaay better than the zalman

Stay away from 680i based boards, go for something with a P35 chipset, Gigabyte makes great boards

SLI is way overrated, you barely get 1.5 times the power for twice the price, you would be better off buying a single pciex16 mobo and a better vid card any day of the week (new G92 based gts)

CM690, thermalright 120 xtreme, gigabyte P35-DS3L and a GTS would be a better system and save you about 300 bucks

just my 2 cents...

[999Virus999]

I would purchase a single really good card instead of that SLI setup (8800 GTS Alpha Dog Edition 512MB or if you are ridiculous like me an 8800 Ultra / GTX).

I dont think I would go with the 680i either. The gigabyte boards were recommended to me by others several times when I was looking for a board so based on that I believe they are good boards. I still went with a 780i - cant give you any feedback on it though because I havent finished setting it up.

9V9

[misterlarry]

I feel the brownie points building. With the following config, I can spend more on the wife while on vacation and less on the system when we get back (under $1500 w/gst). Thanks guys.

1 x Intel - Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz w/ 2x4MB Cache ( $279.95 ) 1 x CRUCIAL - BallistiX Tracer 2GB PC2-8500 Dual Channel DDR2 Kit w/ LED (2 x 1GB) ( $109.95 ) 1 x LG - 16X DVD-ROM, Black (OEM) ( $24.95 ) 1 x LG - Super Multi Security DVD Writer 20x20x12x, SATA w/ Lightscribe, Black (OEM) ( $42.95 ) 1 x OCZ - 850W GameXStream Power Supply w/ Quad +12V ( $179.95 ) 1 x Assemble - Assemble Hardware ( $40.00 ) 1 x ANTEC - Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case ( $109.95 ) 1 x Thermalright - Ultra-120 eXtreme Aluminum Heatsink for P4-775 / AM2 ( $69.95 ) 1 x ASUS - P5K w/ DualDDR2 1066, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, PCI-E x16 CrossFire ( $134.95 ) 1 x XFX - GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB PCI-E Alpha Dog XXX Edition (678MHz) w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out ( $379.95 )

[yycraven]

Did you think of getting the Xeon X3210 quad core, some place's its cheaper,and from what I have seen it OC better then the Q6600.
OH the Coolmaster case is a sweet case compared to the 900. I have one and love it.

thats my two cents

[SpateD]

I don't know if your getting a wicked deal on the PSU, but 850W is pretty steep for what you'd be running, I got a 750W for $110. Before people knew I got a great deal on they said I could have ran everything with a single 600-650W.

[999Virus999]

I am presuming that you have no intention of running dual video cards in the future (crossfire board wont run 2 Nvidia cards - it will run 1 but not 2).

9V9

[misterlarry]

$1305 w/gst. You guys should be marriage counsellors. The outfit in Edmonton that I'm looking at to supply does not carry that particular CoolerMaster case. The Antec 900 is still the most appealing case available through them for the price. Will the P5K-SE Mobo suffice for non SLI? Thanx.

1 x Intel - Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz w/ 2x4MB Cache ( $279.95 ) 1 x CRUCIAL - BallistiX Tracer 2GB PC2-8500 Dual Channel DDR2 Kit w/ LED (2 x 1GB) ( $109.95 ) 1 x LG - 16X DVD-ROM, Black (OEM) ( $24.95 ) 1 x LG - Super Multi Security DVD Writer 20x20x12x, SATA w/ Lightscribe, Black (OEM) ( $42.95 ) 1 x Thermalright - Ultra-120 eXtreme Aluminum Heatsink for P4-775 / AM2 ( $69.95 ) 1 x XFX - GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB PCI-E Alpha Dog XXX Edition (678MHz) w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out ( $379.95 ) 1 x Asus - P5K-SE w/ DualDDR2 1066, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, PCI-E x16 ( $104.95 ) 1 x ANTEC - Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case ( $109.95 ) 1 x Antec - TruePower Trio 650W Power Supply w/ Triple +12V ( $119.95 )

[yycraven]

which company in Edmonton are you looking at
is it Memory Express

[misterlarry]

That's the one. I've never dealt with them before, but I like the idea of being able to pick the system up myself (and putting a face to a name) rather than having it shipped across the country.