2. Haven't decided on OS. The optical drive, hmmmmm, I don't care about Blue Ray....Got a PS3. Any ideas for these two?
I suggest going with Vista Home Premium 64-bit, its pretty stable now after SP1 and also since you have a new computer, you shouldn't experience the lag that some people do. Since you already have a Blu Ray, I suggest to stick with a cheap DVD burner.
3. I didn't know the onboard sound was any good....I'll try that first. The games I play most are FPS's, MMORPG, and FSX.
I don't think you'll have any problem with the on-board sound unless you're an audiophile and work a lot with music and the like. Try on-board first and if you don't like it, we'll happily recommend a better one for you.
I guess I need some bad@$$ cooling case, and a monester fan on my cpu, especially if I do decide to OC the CPU.
This is a personal preference, I too don't like fancy lights on my computer as I sleep in the same room and also I am not very strong so a heavy case is out of the question. The case in my build list is just so that I know I'm not going overboard however that case is very nice but it does have that red LED fan at the front and its also a bit heavy. Try to find one you'll like and just make sure the video card will fit.
For overclocking the CPU, make sure you get a nice aftermarket heatsink like the
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 with the
Retention Bracket.
Oh and this MoBo
ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATXhttp://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131284
This board is too pricey and it supports Crossfire only and since you selected an Nvidia video card, you won't be able to take advantage of the Crossfire configuration. I think going with P45 board will be sufficient. Go with an
Asus P5Q Pro or the Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. Though if you want to stick with this board, it should work with the rest of components I suggested.
Here's the build list:
Coolermaster HAF 932 - $159.99
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P - $129.99 (with a $20 Mail-In Rebate)
EVGA GTX 280 SSC Edition - $434.99 (with a $30 Mail-In Rebate)
Mushkin XP 4GB Ascent (2x2GB) - $112.99 (with a $20 Mail-In Rebate)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 - $319.99
Samsung 22x DVD burner black - $24.99
Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB - $74.99
Corsair 750W - $119.99 (with a $20 Mail-In Rebate)
Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM - $99.99
Total is: $1477.91 before Mail-in-RebateTo save some money, get a cheaper case and also you can get a cheaper
non-overclocked GTX 280. I would also like you to know that the new Intel i7 Quad Core processors are out but it is only supported by one type of motherboard (x58 chipsets) because it can only be installed on a motherboard with an LGA 1366 socket. This will be a bit pricey though (expensive processor, motherboard and RAM) but if you want something really new then you could wait for the prices to go down.
Hope that helps.
Kamille
Edited by kamille316, 17 November 2008 - 05:11 PM.