Help Building A Gaming/Htpc Computer

[MenaGear]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming(Crysis) HTPC, It's going to be my TV also
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
1000-1200 without taxes
3) Where do you live?
New York, NY
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Nothing Everything is going to be new
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I plan to have a 22-24 But don't Include it in the list
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In 2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
The really important stuff
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
I already Have windows vista 64x

 

[lt_shiro]

LIAN LI PC-V351B Black Aluminum MicroATX Desktop Computer Case - Retail $110

Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE ... - Retail and Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail Combo $360

# CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8 G - Retail and EVGA 121-BL-E756-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 Micro ATX SLI Micro Intel Motherboard - Retail Combo $325

XFX HD-489A-ZDEC Radeon HD 4890 Xtreme 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $200

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM $75

LITE-ON 24X CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS324-08 - Retail $28

total before S&H $1098

 

[reasoN]

eVGA GTX 275 video card, i7 920 processor combo

antec mini p180 (on sale right now... this is a steal!)

If you are looking for a quiet case, this is the one to get. Also, stay away from case's with small fans eg. <=80mm

corsair 650W power supply

6GB OCZ Gold memory

western digital caviar "black" hard drive 500GB 32mb cache 7200 RPM

lite on dvd burner

Zalman heatsink with 1366 support clip

Grand Total (with shipping to Chicago): $1,155.43

If I were shopping for a gaming/home theater pc right today, this is exactly what I would buy. I would probably throw in a blu-ray drive and a nice sound card. The asus rampage gene has a better "onboard" sound card if you don't plan on buying a dedicated. gl with your build and happy fragging!

 

[reasoN]

Go with It_shiro's suggestion with the corsair memory and evga mobo combo and save an extra 10 bucks off the grand total!

EDIT: sorry for double post

 

[Dangman]

Case is a matter of personal preference. So go with either the Antec or Lian Li case mentioned in this threa so far.

I would not go with the WD 500GB Black drive as it is a horrible buy for the money since you can get the slightly faster and larger WD 640GB Black drive for $5 more.

I would not go with the Zalman 9500 HSF since there are significantly better HSF out there nowadays for the same or lower price such as the following:
$25 - Xigmatek HDT-S963 92mm Rifle HSF
$40 - Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit HSF

Mobo wise, you really can't go wrong with either the eVGA mobo that lt_shiro recommended or the Asus Rampage gene that reasoN recommended.

GPU wise, I like the HD4890 better since it's $10 cheaper but slightly faster than the GTX 275.

 

[reasoN]

I just did some research on heat sinks, here are top choices: Prolimatech Megahalem, Xigmatek's Thor Hammer and Dark Knight, They are expensive, starting at about $45. The Thor Hammer is sexy, I might add.

Say no to push pin retention systems!