Want advice on Comp. Build

[greglives74]

Here's the main deal I want to build the best computer I can and have about $2500 to 3000 to spend and I need your help deciding what to what to put in it. If you have can help me I would appericate the help since this will be the first time I build one. What I have linked below is my idea if you have a better suggestion I would love to hear it.

This is what I'm thinking about building but it will be my first atempt at building a computer and want some opinions on weather everything is compatable and will fit properly into the case I have choosen. I will be mainly using it for gaming so please help.
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811129021
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131074
ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814143080
BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXOCE GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail _______________I want 2 of these

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817814012
ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ1100 ATX12V / EPS12V 1100W Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115028

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822136011
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822136040
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KSRTL 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106072
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827135143
ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16832116213
Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

Which Processor

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model
or
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz LGA 775 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569QX9650 - Retail

I hope you can make sense out of what I have linkes and I would appericate any advice. I want a great gaming computer and I'm willing to pay for it. Thank for your help

[Katreat]

I am not a fan of SLI but if you have the money to throw at it look at the new 780i chip set MBs, suppose to the newest and best.

For video card stick with the new 8800 GTS 512 (G92). Tests show it to be just a little slower for much less cash. You might even consider the 8800 GT (G92) which has really performed well in SLI. Check out this comparison review.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/...ming_graphics/

Base your PSU purchase on these two sites. The first to find out what is certified, the second to make sure it is a good brand. Certification does not mean quality, it just means it ran SLI in a test.

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

Personally think raptors are way over priced for a very small performance gain but again, if you have the cash go for it

Your second HD looks good, I would get a couple of those instead of a raptor and have more space, save money, and have almost as good of performance.

The new Yorkfields are suppose to be really nice. But I have not really seen any comparison tests yet to see if they are worth the higher costs. For gaming at this point a quad is not needed. That could change in a year or so, but prices will come down also so might be worth waiting for. The E8400 is the sweet spot in the market right now, performance / cost, but if you can find a QX 9650 for a price you can afford go for it. I don’t think you will be disappointed in the performance of the E8400 in games and not sure if the QX 9650 will really help any since very little software is optimized to use more than 2 cores.

Kat

[Masaki 7-11]

How long do you plan on using the computer for? If it's 4 years or more, than spending more money on a computer makes sense, but if you're going to replace it within 2 years or so, then spending more than around $1400 isn't going to give you much of an improvement over a $1400 PC.

The quad core vs. dual core argument is similar to the single core vs. dual core, programs and games became optimized for dual cores, and single cores began to perform slower than their dual core counterparts. If you're using the computer for a small period of time, it may be a better idea to get a fast dual core, but if you plan to use this computer for a long time, quad core is the best choice.

[liambl]

You should consider Crossfireing 2 3870 X2's. They perform much better than the 8800GTX and are $10 cheaper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102723