putting together Super gaming machine, need help

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ITEMS FROM NEWEGG

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive OEM $169.99

EVGA 768-P2-N831-A3 GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $549.99

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply - Retail $129.99

CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5D - Retail $176.00

ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard - Retail $309.99
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail $279.99

Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM $169.99

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail $36.99
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ok i am planning on building a badass gaming rig within the next month and have just started doing some research on what i want to get, now here are a few things you should know, i already have a Xfi fatality sound card and cases are not important to me right now, i will buy one after i build my system and just use an old one for now, and my system i will be dual booting XP/VISTA, i have not been following the [H]ardware world for about the past year so i am not really sure what the best deals and hardware is but this is what i have put together from doing some research and seeing what other people are getting,

I want this to be a gaming machine for all the latest games, crysis UT3, quakewars etc i will probally get another 8800gtx for SLI down the road but i assume 1 will be good for now, as for the CPU and motherboard i am not sure if these are the best but from the research i have done they are good for gaming, and also the RAM i have been out of the loop for so long i have no idea what is good and whats not :(


also i have been saving my money for long time for this, my last computer i built was about 2 1/2 years ago so i have some decent money i can drop on this $2000-2500 for the components and then i am going to be getting a good HD LCD for it also.


so please critique my build put in any suggestions or anything i should know to make a badass gaming machine, like should i get a different motherboard, cpu ram etc?
 
No offense but you should have done a bit more research right here in the General Hardware. You would've found out a few key pieces of info:

First, don't go with that GameXStream PSU. It's an FSP Episilon based PSU that has out of spec ripple, or voltage fluctuations, at high loads that will damage/kill your PC over time. So unless you want your system to die, then don't go with that power supply.

I recommend any of these other power supplies instead:
Corsair 650TX 650W PSU - $137
Corsair 620HX 620W PSU - $140
Corsair 750TX 750W PSU - $154
Silverstone SST-ST75ZF Zeus 750W Power Supply - $160
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad -$161

Second, Dominator RAM is horribly overpriced. They are not worth the price considering the following:
- C2D systems do not benefit from faster RAM.
- You can 4GB of RAM for only $120:
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM - $120

Third, that AC7 Pro is not a good choice considering that there much better coolers for the price. If you're planning on overclocking, then spend more on the HSF. Here are some choices:
Scythe SCNJ-1100P Ninja HSF - $36
Tuniq Tower 120 HSF - $45
Thermalright Ultima-90 HSF - $46 & Panaflo FBA09A12M 92mm Fan - $3
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme HSF - $57 & Scythe S-Flex SFF21E 120MM Case Fan - $14

Fourth, you only need SLI if A) there is no SINGLE card that provides the performance you want and B) if you're gaming at a 1920x1200 + resolution. So unless you have a 24" monitor or bigger, SLI is a waste.

Fifth, ditch that mobo. It's not worth the price. What features are you looking for in a mobo? RAID? more than 4 SATA ports? 2 IDE ports? firewire? etc.

Sixth, don't bother with Vista Ultimate. Unless you need all of the backup and encryption features of the Vista Ultimate, then just stick with Vista Home Premium. And if you take my advice about getting 4GB of RAM, you will need a 64bit OS like Vista Home Premium 64 Bit in order to use all 4GB of RAM:
Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM - $112

That's all from me.... for now.
 
Danny Bui said:
No offense but you should have done a bit more research right here in the General Hardware. You would've found out a few key pieces of info:

First, don't go with that GameXStream PSU. It's an FSP Episilon based PSU that has out of spec ripple, or voltage fluctuations, at high loads that will damage/kill your PC over time. So unless you want your system to die, then don't go with that power supply.

I recommend any of these other power supplies instead:
Corsair 650TX 650W PSU - $137
Corsair 620HX 620W PSU - $140
Corsair 750TX 750W PSU - $154
Silverstone SST-ST75ZF Zeus 750W Power Supply - $160
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad -$161

Second, Dominator RAM is horribly overpriced. They are not worth the price considering the following:
- C2D systems do not benefit from faster RAM.
- You can 4GB of RAM for only $120:
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM - $120

Third, that AC7 Pro is not a good choice considering that there much better coolers for the price. If you're planning on overclocking, then spend more on the HSF. Here are some choices:
Scythe SCNJ-1100P Ninja HSF - $36
Tuniq Tower 120 HSF - $45
Thermalright Ultima-90 HSF - $46 & Panaflo FBA09A12M 92mm Fan - $3
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme HSF - $57 & Scythe S-Flex SFF21E 120MM Case Fan - $14

Fourth, you only need SLI if A) there is no SINGLE card that provides the performance you want and B) if you're gaming at a 1920x1200 + resolution. So unless you have a 24" monitor or bigger, SLI is a waste.

Fifth, ditch that mobo. It's not worth the price. What features are you looking for in a mobo? RAID? more than 4 SATA ports? 2 IDE ports? firewire? etc.

Sixth, don't bother with Vista Ultimate. Unless you need all of the backup and encryption features of the Vista Ultimate, then just stick with Vista Home Premium. And if you take my advice about getting 4GB of RAM, you will need a 64bit OS like Vista Home Premium 64 Bit in order to use all 4GB of RAM:
Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM - $112

That's all from me.... for now.
Click to expand...

thanks for the advice, first of all my decisions were because i have been out of the loop for so long, for the PSU and HSF i chose i pretty much just looked on newegg to see what the most popular were,

i dont think i need 4GB of RAM or 64 bit OS for gaming do i? and i want to get vista ultimate so i can learn all the features and why not?

and for the motherbaord i want the i680 chipset correct? what is a good solid gaming motherboard i was also looking at the EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail i remember it from a [H] review
 
Well you did say badass gaming rig right? 4GB of RAM does sound pretty bad ass to some. But to answer your question, 4GB of RAM might help with future games. Though, there is one game out already out where 4G will help. Supreme Commander is one of the few games I know of where 4GB WILL help.

Also, RAM is cheap these days. You can get 4GB of RAM for $115! I paid $189 for 2GB of RAM less than 8 months ago! So definitely get 4GB of RAM now while you can.

As for 64bit OS for gaming, some people say there's a performance increase, some say no. But again, you did say badass gaming rig, so a 64bit OS will take things up a notch.

Also, are you gaming at a 1920x1200 resolution or larger? If not, then SLI is a bit of waste for you.
 
The NF63-TR is unstable with quadcore CPUs and overclocking, so don't bother with it. If you need SLI, stick to the eVGA NF68-A1/T1 or NF67-A1/T1. But if you're billy badass, get the NF69-A1. Again, do you really need SLI? If not, go with a P35 board instead.

Ultimate just adds Premium and Business together. If you don't need the Business aspect of Vista, don't bother with Ultimate. Check the MS site to figure out which version has which features.

Go with Danny's recommendations in his first reply.
 
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