Help with game rig

[waterbourn]

So I am looking to build a good gaming rig. Price is not an issue...of course i would like to keep it as reasonable as good functionality will allow. i would like to have a core i7, and will probably go with the 5870x2. i would like a motherboard to support crossfire in case I want that in the future. (although what is your opinion.. future looks better for SLI or crossfire?). So any recommendations for memory, case, motherboard, power supply and so on? The core i7 has to run DDR3 right? And is the cheapest core i7 plenty powerful, or go ahead and bump up to the second tier pricing core i7? I really appreciate your help!

[shadowpr]

The 5870x2? Never heard of it.

And we really don't recommend sli or crossfire. It's usually just a better idea to get a better single card down the road.

what is your budget?

[tomtoon]

He means the 4870X2.

You won't need Crossfire just yet as 4870X2 is the fastest card in the world thats affordable.

The only other one is the $2000+ nVidia 4GB card which is more RAM than some people have in their pcs.

[waterbourn]

lol.. yeah. that is the card i mean. sorry got carried away with my numbers.

my budget.. i would actually like to stay around 2000, but will go to 3000 if need be.

i only want one card.. but would like to have my options open for crossfire or sli in the future. i am just not sure which one would be the most reliable in the future. i want this build to be somewhat futureproof for upgrades.

as for case. i have seen a lot of people that like the antec 900 or other antec models. i have seen good reviews for OOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case. so just not sure what to go for.

as for motherboard.. i have seen the ASUS P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard. it seems this might support both crossfire and sli?

and for the corei7 i need DDR3 modules and three of them correct?

[tomtoon]

You do not need 3 of them.

You may have heard of them being called "Triple Channel" thats for DDR3.

Dual Channel is DDR2.

I think the list is ok.

Go with the i7 if you want good future upgradability.

I think most of the X58 i7 boards have xFire or SLI, however you wont need it if you put a 4870X2

[waterbourn]

gotcha. so you actually can just use 1 DIMM, but using 3 gives a supposed boost. that is good to know. so anyone else built a similar pc yet or thinking of building one with core i7? Any other thoughts or build lists would be appreciated. still really undecided on case. And any other mobo choices?

[tomtoon]

Yes but it is best to go with say 2X2GB because if one stick goes wrong, you can diagnose it correctly and still have your pc working at a decent speed while you're waiting for a new stick to arrive.