Well,  I decided to order up the parts for my new computer last night.  My current system is just not cutting it anymore ( nor has it been for some time)  This should be a fairly good rig... Let me know what you guys think.  I really didn't know exactly what I was doing but most of it made sense :)   [[ MIR = mail-in rebate ]] [[ FS = free shipping ]]  

/edit - prices are BEFORE mail-in rebates.

BFG Tech BFGEGTX260896OC2E GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - $304.99 [$25 MIR & FS]  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143147

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - $107.99 [
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - $169.99  [FS]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P10664GK - $109.99 [$15 MIR & FS]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227298

OCZ Core Series OCZSSD2-1C64G 2.5" 64GB SATA II Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - $279.00 [$40 MIR & FS]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227344

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - $84.99 [$35 MIR & FS]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $119.99  [$40 MIR & FS]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

SAMSUNG 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - $269.99 [$22 MIR & FS]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001268


Another main reason for building this rig is because I just bought this:

SAMSUNG 46" 1080p LCD HDTV - LN46A550 - $1,409 [FS]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889102203

I bought a DVI to HDMI cable and tried to watch the Matrix at 1080p off my current computer, and needless to say my BFG Tech 6800GT AGP was not cutting it.. (~20 fps)

Hopefully everything goes smooth!! I will have the parts and system together by the weekend! Pictures will then be posted!

Well, I think that you have choose well but, onestly, I prefere Ati HD4870 (although Catalyst) to GTX260 and a WD Raptor HDD to generic SSD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive#Disadvantages

I fully understand your preferences.  The ATI cards are faster, and cheaper.  Although with this build in mind I had already had my sights set on NVIDIA.  (plus, the results are pretty darn close)

---

I already have 2x 10k Raptors in Raid-0.  I got the 64GB SSD because I already have had speed with the raps... and now I want more!
:)  Plus, storage is not a problem as I have multiple external harddrives. [1TB,320GB,250GB]

So, you have a 64bit OS or are you going to enjoy 3.25GB of memory? :P

NitroX infinity wrote on 05.08.08 at 20:31:00:

So, you have a 64bit OS or are you going to enjoy 3.25GB of memory? :P

I'm not sure yet.. I am going to play with multiple OS's and then decide... I don't pay for them so I will test accordingly :)

Nice setup.....

I have never had a Gigabyte mobo.... but I have never spent under 200.00 for a mobo either.  It's your most important part....   8-)

razrx wrote on 06.08.08 at 01:18:37:

Nice setup..... I have never had a Gigabyte mobo.... but I have never spent under 200.00 for a mobo either.  It's your most important part....   8-)

Gigabyte is an ok brand.. it was my selling point because of the supported FSB and RAM, BUT mainly because of the PCI-E 2.0 Slot.

Do you want to OC your Rig? If so DON'T go for the DS3L. At least take the DS3 or above. The "L" Version has a far worse power supply to the CPU (I don't now the correct english term - it just isn't able to supply stable enough voltages when you OC), I wouldn't even recommend using this Board for fast Quadcores w/o OC..

I thought a bit more about what I ordered... so now I am looking at getting a different mobo/ram/psu.

will update :)

Suggestion????

I have a DFI Lanparty P35 T2R board.  It rocks!  Of course there are newer boards out, but I like DFI Lanparty boards.  Or tried and true Asus is usually a good choice.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm241/razr_x/th_LPUTP35-T2R.jpg

I second the DFI vote.

Their mobo's rock the best, they use premium quality parts all over their boards and they are always to be found in the top 5 of the lists of motherboards that can reach the highest fsb's when overclocking.

I still have an nForce4 Ultra, socket 939, I tried hitting the max fsb and that was somewhere around 330Mhz fsb, where 200 is default ofcourse.
Never had any problems with leakage of anything, always rocksolid, and ofcourse, their custom bios' which you can find on their forums.

They have an awesome forum where DFI employees regularly post new bios releases that have been optimized for use with certain memory chips, like for my the Samsung TCCD chips, they have special bios' for that.

I don't know how the Gigabyte Intel boards are but the new board I got from Gigabyte with my Phenom chip is rock solid and OC's pretty good too. I would think the quality of the Intel boards would be right up there along with the rest of the competition.

Looks like a good setup though.  :)

I just read on tweakers.net that a site has layed their hands on an ES from AMD, the 45nm Deneb core.

With the extra 6MB L3 cache, it is 5 to 10% faster then an equally clocked agena core.

And best of all, overclockability and power consumption.

There were screeshots, the cpu was running 4Ghz, @ 1.475V, but still.
On it's default speed, it consumed a little below 60W, where 35W was idle mode.

this is a very good thing, and I'm glad I decided to wait with my upgrade untill these cpu's hit the shelves.

btw, here's the link:

http://nl.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hardspell.com%2Fdoc%2Fhard%2F79405.htm&lp=zt_en&btnTrUrl=Vertalen

Long story short, the build you see in my first post I ended up building for my girlfriend... lol..now we play UT3 and Crysis together.

I however, went with the following -

EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz - (running @ 3.6 w/ stock voltage)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001268

2x OCZ Titanium XTC 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - (8GB TOTAL) [4-4-4-12 @ 2v]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227270

2x BFG Tech BFGEGTX260896OC2E GeForce GTX 260 896MB SLI- (running @ 700/1200/1500!) (stock is 630/2126/1350) (core/memory/shader)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143147

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260

SAMSUNG 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001268

As always, now come the pictures!

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/9080/28091536jn7.th.jpg

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5932/44977270cu5.th.jpg

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/6866/31778915sa1.th.jpg

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7492/96301257xo7.th.jpg

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/6244/71344888bn9.th.jpg

The results are in - :)

http://www.abload.de/thumb/clipboard05a0v.jpg

(this was my first initial run with a slight overclock.... it can only get better)

/edit/update -

I also installed a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series sound card and a new CPU hsf. (thermaltake v1) Runnin cooooool now!  8-)

As you will see I had to get a flexible sli bridge to accommodate the new soundcard that convienently got in the way - :p

http://www.abload.de/thumb/sn15216216n.jpg [sorry for the crappy shot, was just a quick snapshot]

Awesome hardware! 8-)

But I would still prefer XP to the crapfest that is Vista! ::) :P

The rig I built in the original post has lasted me a few years, and it has been retired and replaced with this beast:

Case - Antec 1200
Motherboard - EVGA P67 FTW 160-SB-E679-KR LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
CPU - Intel Core i7-2600K @ 4.4Ghz
CPU Cooler - Corsair Hydro Series H80 Liquid CPU Cooler
RAM - CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Videocards - 2x EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-TR GeForce GTX 570 in SLI
SSD - Crucial M4 128GB w/ 0009 FW
HDD (overflow drive) 300GB WD VelociRaptor
PSU - CORSAIR Professional Modular Series HX850w (+3.3V@25A, +5V25A, +12V@70A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@3A)
Soundcard - Creative PCI-E Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium

I first only had one 570, and just bought another :)
http://rottentreats.com/megalith/0.jpg

http://rottentreats.com/megalith/1.jpg

http://rottentreats.com/megalith/2.jpg

http://rottentreats.com/megalith/3.jpg

Nice clean rig, I like the colour scheme, looks pro. :)

Nice, but is it windows 8 ready ? :)
Should last you a few years or until Tri-gate rocks up.

Man, you're making my i7-920/GTX480 rig look old.  I try to adhere to a 2 year upgrade cycle, so I'm already overdue.  I just can't justify the cost given the fact my rig still runs all new games at >60 fps, all settings maxed, at 1080P resolution on my HDTV. 

Nice rig here...cable management could be improved a little bit. ;)