Possible New Build

***EDIT*** April 4th
Ok, so after talking to a few friends and reading a lot of reviews I am going i7. Still have the $1500 budget and wanting to keep it under so I can save some money for the monitor & for going SLi.

Should I stick with the GTX 260's or wait a little bit and get the GTX 275's?

Everything looks good, some good choices there.

About SLI: No, that motherboard does not support SLI. The only intel mobo that support SLI is the X58, an those only support i7 CPU's and DDR3 RAM. And they are expensive. Other then that, only nvidia mobos support SLI. I myself got the Asus P5N-D, which is an nvidia 750i chipset. If you're that keen about SLI, I can recommend that mobo. However, it only has support for DDR2-800 RAM, so you'd have to buy another set of RAM sticks (which would probably end up cheaper).

Also, if you're planning to go with SLI, I suggest you get a bigger PSU, 750+ Watts should do.

Another option would be to buy a GTX295 GPU, which is basically 2 GTX260/280 hybrids slapped together. However, it costs quite alot. On the plus side, you get SLI power without having an SLI board.

Don't really have enough for a GTX 295 right now & I really don't need it for the games I play.
How does this look? Picked out a different fan after looking around, added bigger power supply for future SLI, switched to 800/6400 RAM, and changed the MOBO.

CPU Fan : XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
MOBO: EVGA 132-CK-NF78-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified

It only adds $10 to the price with some combo deals.

FPS games(and most other games in general) would benefit from a faster monitor. Also, acer's tend to be less than great from my exp with them. They're cheaper than many other brands for a reason.

I currently have a 22 inch Vizio that I use for TV. Would I be able to use it as a monitor for a little until I get a new one?

Yes, you can use the TV as a monitor. It has RGB input as well as S-video input.

Is there a big difference between 800 and 1066 RAM?
Had some people tell me to get 1066 and others say just stick with the 800.
Was lookin at these, they dont really have much of a price diff.
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
or
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit

Link fixed, sorry about that was looking at too many things at the same time :P

Your mobo can handle either.....if the prices are close enough, might as well get the 1066.

And your link above is broken. It points to a cooler, not ram

Get 1066 RAM - it is a little faster, and the prices are quite close these days.

Comments:
- Stick with P45 chipset for the motherboard.
- SLI is unnecessary, especially at your monitor size. By the time your videocard is no longer giving you playable performance, upgrading to the current mid-tier card at that time will generally have a higher performance/price ratio than grabbing a second card for SLI.
- RAM speeds have very little impact on real-world performance. Memory bandwidth is almost never a significant limiting factor; the main reason to buy high-performance RAM is to make OCing a bit more flexible.
- For a budget gaming monitor, the BenQ G2400WD is hard to beat. If you can find the original G2400W, even better. If you don't care about screen real-estate, the L227WTG-PF is one of the fastest screens out there.

Ok so my budget has been bumped up to $1500 (WOOT!). My build is looking the same similar and still need to know if everything is good. The main change is the video cards and I have a few questions.
1. Would 2 GTX 260s in SLI be better then a GTX 285 with a 24 inch monitor.
2. Get a GTX 295 and get a 22 inch monitor. Can I just get a non SLI MOBO with the 295?
Also should I get a Quad Core now with the new budget? Im thinking about overclocking, but once I read up some more about it. I was thinking of maybe grabbing a Q6600 before they go or maybe a Q9550. Is the Q9550 worth the extra $75? (Q6600 with the 295/Q9550 with 285/260s)
I wanna keep this under $1500 as much as possible so still not sure about the GTX 295 yet.
Here it is:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
CASE: NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
MOBO: EVGA 132-YW-E178-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI FTW ATX Intel Motherboard
RAM: mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Any suggestions on other RAM?
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
Opt Drive: LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner
GPU: GTX 295, GTX 285, GTX 260

Extras
Keyboard: Logitech G11
Mouse: Logitech G5
CPU Fan: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler
Therm Comp: ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound

So after taxes, shipping, rebates, and combos it was...

$1400 with a GTX 295 ($1460 with Q6600)
$1290 with 2 GTX 260s ($1390 with Q9550 + 2 COD5s xD)
$1220 with a GTX 285 ($1310 with Q9550)

P.S Its late and I know I messed up somewhere with the pricing. Ill make public wish lists in a tomorrow or something. Already have HDD & OS.

Grab the Q9550, if you have the budget. The Q6600 is a very good choice if you don't, since it can usually be OC'd to 3Ghz easily, even on the standard Intel cooler. Unless you're planning on OC'ing, you can drop the 3rd party cooler (assuming you're buying a retail boxed processor) and save some cash.


Also, the ATI HD4870x2 is about $100 cheaper than the GTX295 and the performance differences are very small, so consider that unless you're totally an Nvidia fan. I wouldn't worry about SLi or X-Fire, though the X-Fire ability to use a totally different card means you're more likely to use it when upgrading later. How much difference it would make, I don't know.


Also, the Patriot Viper ram has a $25 rebate that makes it attractive, so does the OCZ.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220315

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227298

Personally, I'd stick to OCZ, Corsair, Kingston or Crucial.

I'm not a fan of NZXT, not very good quality and user friendlyness imo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119152 [my top choice]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042 [cheaper and better]

Don't buy that case - part plastic and a bottom mounted PSU = a big pain in the anus.

Plastic parts, I agree, but why is a bottom mounted PSU a bad thing? I got an Antec 900-2 and I much prefer the PSU on the bottom, provided it has cable management. Ok, so the 8-pin CPU cable is a (minor) problem since most of those cables aren't long enough, but that's not a big deal, at least for me.

I kinda just kept the case because I'm not at home and the wireless I'm getting sucks. I have always liked the HAF, but I like the side windows and was looking at the Apevia Jupiter(?) Full tower.
Ill probably end up getting the OCZ platinum RAM.
Ill look around at more cases and stuff when I get home.

So this is what I put together It says $1850 because I will be getting a 24 inch monitor and am going to Sli the cards at the end of the summer. I might use my current HD in this comp, but not sure yet. Also I am going to be using Vista Home Premium 64
Total in shopping cart $1420 with taxes & shipping + 40 in rebates.
Saw this here so im going to pick it up. Total for now is $1320 ( after rebates, taxes, shipping, & i7 @ microcenter)
Will the 750w be enough if I do decide to go for the GTX 275s?