New computers

[Webslinger]

The first computer I ever built I got great advice from the posters on this site. It's been quite a while since then, and I am getting set to build my wife and I new desktops. They will be identical gaming rigs, and I am working with a budget of 3k soup to nuts. I was looking for a while about 6 months ago, but then I had a little military detour that sidetracked my plans. I'm back at it now, and put together a list. Any advice/criticism is welcome.

Case:
Antec 900
109.99

I'm not set on this case. I'm not real concerned with the aesthetics, but I do worry about jamming in the video card I chose.

PSU:
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V
134.99

Mobo:
ASUS P5Q
119.99

CPU:
E8500 Wolfdale
189.99

RAM:
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB)
62.99

Video:
GTX 260
299.99

I spent the last 5 years with ATI, and I want to try NVidia this time.

HD:
WD6400AAKS 640GB
74.99

Optical:
LITE-ON
29.99

Keyboard:
Microsoft 9VU-00001
57.99

Monitor:
ASUS VW222U Black 22"
199.99

OS:
Vista 64-Bit Home Premium
99.99

1380.89 x2 for

2761.78

And I think that is about it. Again, I would appreciate any and all feedback.

[shadowpr]

Great build. All quality parts.

Only suggestions would be that you could lower the psu to a 650.

The video card should fit fine in that case.

[Doom]

First of all, I think you'd be golden with the setup you've got. It's very similar to a rig I recently built that does gaming very well. Some food for thought though..

If you want to drop your case price by about $20 per rig, the Cooler Master CM 690 is another great case. My first rig was an Antec 900 and I just built w/ a CM 690. The 690 was easier to wire for me, had tool-less installation, and was able to fit a GTX 260 (this card rocks by the way) with no problem. The air flow is very equitable to the Antec and should be sufficient if you're not overclocking. The PSU goes at the bottom of each case for stability, but the CM 690 has a vent just below the PSU, so my new rig's PSU exhaust goes directly out of the case instead of up into the internal airflow.

I love the GTX 260 and think it's a combination of price and performance if your budget can support it (which it obviously can). The latest www.tomshardware.com rating for GPU cards was the primary reason for my choice and I recommend checking that site out.

I'm a fan of Corsair PSU's, though the one you've got picked out is a winner also. The Corsair 620w modular system would have enough juice and cables for your rigs...but the modular cable design was something I really liked in my last build. It costs a few dollars more than what you've got picked out...but the ease of internal wiring made a difference for me. Unlike my first rig, the un-used cables are outside in a little bag...not scrunched inside. The 620w has enough PCI-e 6-pin connectors (2x) to run the GTX 260 or it can SLI two cards which only require one connector (e.g. nVidia 9600GT).

Finally, thank you for your military service and sacrifice.

[not important]

The list looks good and I would agree with Doom on the CoolerMaster case. I recently did a build with one and found it to be a very nice case.