1st build - looking for feedback on selected hardware

[tupera]

Hello – Sorry for the long post, but I’m building my first gaming system, which happens to be my first build period, and I was hoping I could get some feedback. My selected hardware (based on sharkyextreme.com's March Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide) is below and I have a few questions:

1. Are there any incompatibilities?
2. Is there one component that is an obvious bottleneck or overkill?
3. Considering budget, should I stay with two graphics cards and the Core 2 Duo E6700 or should I go with one graphic card and get the Core 2 Extreme X6800?
4. Any other case fan recommendations that are 120mm, LED, and quiet?

Thank you in advance for all your input and feedback, it is greatly appreciated! Tupera

Case - Cooler Master - RC-830-SSN2-GP (Stacker 830, Silver)
Cooling - Thermalright - Ultra-120 eXtreme
DVD Burner - Lite-On - LH-20A1S (20x DVD+RW/-RW)
DVD Rom - ASUSTeK - DVD-E616A3T
Fan - Scythe - S-Flex SFF21E (120mm for CPU cooler)
Fan - SilenX - IXP-74-14B (120mm Blue LED for case)
Graphics card - eVGA - 768-P2-N831-AR X 2 for SLI (GeForce 8800 GTX)
Hard Drive - Seagate - ST3320620AS X 2 for RAID 0 (Barracuda 7200.10)
Memory - PDP Patriot - PDC22G6400LLK 4 Gb total (eXtreme Performance DDR2-800)
Motherboard - ASUSTeK - P5N32-E
Operating System - Windows - XP Pro (OEM)
Power Supply - NZXT - Precise 1000 (1000W Modular PSU)
Processor - Intel - BX80557E6700 (Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe Dual Core)
Sound Card - Creative - Fatal1ty FPS (SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS)
Speakers - Logitech - Z-5500

[Windu]

The stacker 830 is a nice case but very exspnsive. Antec 900 is a nice case, has 120mm fans with LED's and 1 200mm on top. Very nice air flow, but not the quietest case there is.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021

I know some people who have the Armor and like it very much.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133154

If I had to do it again, this is the case that I would go with.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119042

[minsonngo]

If you want to use 4GB of memory... you will need a 64-bit version of Windows. The 32-bit version will only utilize 3 to 3.2GB of memory.

[perkster]

wouldnt recommend raid 0

[maxnik]

i would go for better video cards than a more expensive CPU, for gaming that C2D 6700 should not be a bottleneck of the system.
I would stay away from that PSU
look in PSU Guilde
you'll find supplies that are reputable and reliable.
Those case fans are probably fine, but most likely on the more expensive side. I like Yate-Loon fans, you can always find then on sale at sites like nextfan.com
I would also look at Corsair XMS2 line of memory - it's probably most popular memory around here.
good luck

[tupera]

Just a note to say thank you all for your input. I’ve already made some hardware changes based on your feed back. I assure you there will be no flame wars, I take all responses into consideration and weigh them to what I know (however little that is). Please keep posting if you think of something else.

Tupera

[Mr.Ferrari]

You do not need a additional heatsink assembly, your retail processor will come with one, using anything else will void the warranty.

-You have a dvd burner, it will play dvd's. You do not need a additional rom drive.

-Im gonna say it right now, SilenX fans are BIG ripoffs and are of shoddy build. If you want some quiet fans, look at the Yate Loon D12-SL and -SM from www.petrastechshop.com

-I would stay with ONE 8800GTX.

-Stay away from the Patriot and get some Corsair valueselect ddr2 667 or Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800.

-For a single 8800GTX, stick to the Corsair HX 520W power supply. If you wan't to future proof for two 8800gtx's then go with the Silverstone ST75ZF.

Otherwise, if you keep one 8800, and have no plans for SLI, you would be better off with a P5B motherboard.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by tupera I assure you there will be no flame wars,

That kind of behavior isn't tolerated here anyway and the mods take action very quickly so that things never get out of hand on these forums.

Cricket