Ok everyone, after much reading and research (my head hurts) I have decided to go with this final Setup:

Tower:
http://www.buyxg.com/store/item.asp?key=CS-130-117

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130159

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227267
($25 mail-in Rebate)

GPU:
2X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130337
in SLI ($60 total mail-in Rebates)

HDD:
3X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288
2 in Raid 0, plus an extra for Data storage

DVD Drives:
2X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151153

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

OS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116493

CPU Cooling:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118019
($30 mail-in Rebate)

Thermal Compound:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186020

Case Fans:
4X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185060
2 for Exhaust, 2 for Intake

Fan Filters:
2X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999208
To keep Intake fans from bringing in dust

Other Accessories:
5X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812123171
for the 2 OEM DVD drives and 3 OEM HDD, as I was told they don't come with cables


Here is a condensed version of the above:

Cosmos 1000 Silent Gaming Tower
MSI PN7 Platinum 750i Motherboard
E8400 Wolfdale Processor
4GB (2x2gb) pc6400 OCZ Reaper ($25 mail-in Rebate)
2x EVGA 8800GTS in SLI ($60 mail-in Rebate)
3x Seagate 7200.11 HDD (2 in raid, 1 for data)
2x Samsung 20x DVD Read/write
Silencer 750w PSU ($30 mail-in Rebate)
Windows Ultimate 64-bit OEM
Zalman CNPS9700 110mm CPU Cooler
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
4x Scythe SY1225SL12SH 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fans
2x Generic 120mm fan filters (for intakes)
5x OKGear 24" SATA II Cables (for OEM HDDs and DVDs)


Total Cost (with shipping):
$1,984.60
- $115.00 in rebates

equals $1869.60 TOTAL!!!


I chose the MSI board because of it's 8 phase power design as well as solid state capacitors for better overclocking. Some people frown on the 8x PCI-E slots but they are 2.0 and no cards utilize that much bandwidth currently from what I'm told so there will be no performance decrease vs. an EVGA FTW, which I was also considering. All in all I think this build is solid!

What do you think? Should I "clicky-clicky" on the order button?

It's all compatible, however, depending on what you're expecting to get out of this, you can definitely save yourself some cash (and potentially increase the performance a tad) by altering some of the items on that list.

Not thinking it were an issue, I too purchased a pretty hefty case (Thermaltake Tai-Chi), which weighs a tad more than the case you have there I believe. Let me tell you, it's a pain in the *** when your moving your things around, and my beast is on wheels :/. You could definitely save a penny or two, however, given the fact that it boasts of it's "silence" and it's steel, I assume that's what you're after, just a little heads up.

Personally, I'd opt for another motherboard which supports 1066MHz DDR2 frequency (and take advantage of it with faster RAM). Also, I'd drop one of the 8800GTS' as the performance gain with SLI is relatively negligible depending on the situation.

Not a bad choice on the HDDs.

You do not need a 750W PSU, this is argued on a weekly basis on these boards. Time and time again people are told they don't need it and then they respond back almost mocking the person telling them. I challenge you to test this system's power draw when you get it with a device such as Kill-a-Watt as you probably won't even come close to 400w being pulled. That said, the PSU you've chosen is a solid one at least...

Whatever motherboard you buy should come with some SATA cables for you - still might need 1-2 or so though. The MSI P7N SLI Platinum comes with 4 SATA cables.

You could shave $200-$300 off pretty easily, however, as you've stated all in all it's a solid build.

I agree with Zenosinckts. You can also save by going to www.directron.com or www.zipzoomfly.com. $20 on the hard drive alone. Shipping costs are also less... and sometimes free at Tigerdirect. We just received a big order today from Tiger. Free shipping at nearly $200 savings vs NewEgg.
The case is very heavy and too expensive.
You really have to watch those Rebates. Some can take four to six months, if you get them at all..

The motherboard may have two 16X PCI-E slots but the chipset will only run SLI at 8X per slot. The performance difference between 8X and 16X is small, but I just thought you should know. Currently the PSU link points to your Seagate hard drives.

I don't know what you're going to do with two DVD burners, but I usually have one for burning and one for ripping. Not all ripping programs work well with all optical drives and if that were my new rig I'd have a Liteon drive in the mix because there is a lot of enthusist software out there that can be usefull when ripping/burning DVDs. But I have nothing bad to say about the Samsungs other than if you use a program that doesn't work well with one it will do the same thing with the other.

Aye, I sent out a rebate back in January I believe for an Antec PSU - still have yet to get it. They say it should be mailed this month, though. Haha...

Just an update for you all. Made a few changes that were recommended and here they are:

CPU cooler is being switched to this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233003
(XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler)

Read the review for it here:
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm


Also decided to go with the EVGA 750i FTW board instead of the MSI cause it also has solid state capacitors and will allow me to use this faster RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227289


I'm going with the Retail Version of Vista Home Premium also.

[quote]EVGA 750i FTW [/QUOTE]
I like that board i remember hamstery was thinking about using it.

Very nice research. I think its fine but personally, i would probably go for SLIng 9800GTX's as reviews say that scaling for that card is actually about 80%!!!!

For GTS's i would use this PSU:
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

Corsair will be solid in case you were worried.

For 9800's you will need four six-pin connectors so i would go with this:
XIGMATEK MC NRP-MC751 750W ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V Ver. 2.92 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817815002

i don't know about the brand, but heres the power search of all power supplies with at leaast four six-pins.

and yeah that ram looks great.

Thanks for the update. All wise changes.

I don't think I will be going any higher than the 8800 GTS boards for now as the price doesn't seem to justify the increase in performance. Maybe I'm wrong.


That PSU looks nice. It's modular...and can support the newer cards coming out so maybe I should go with this option just for upgrade ability. If Nvidia comes out with a card that's significantly better than the 9800GTX I would like to have a PSU that could handle it. What do you think?

Parts have been ordered. Will post a list after I get back from work. Thanks to everyone who helped me in this decision making process, it is much appreciated!

!! ok that was rushing it but there is no reason not to though.
8800GTS is fine. Its just that the 9800GTX is a little more efficient and cooler (temp wise) so yeah 8800GTS is better in price to performance it think.



sorry i didn't respond but yes probably. It does have 6 + 2 pins (aren't those just 6 pins that you can use as 8 pins) and i hear that is probably what newer more powerful GPU's will use.

Remember: know your positive and negative colors!! i spent an hour or more trying to figure that out


HOLY CRAP i just looked at your fans. 110 CFM!! and 4 of them too?!!?
Maybe check out this fan controller?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811998038

It has 4 independent knobs and 4 LCD fan monitors (rpm temp stuff like that) and 4 temperature probes + 2 extras!

I remember there was this one fan and it was 90CFM and 18 decibels......

My parts have arrived and here is the layout of my FINAL BUILD

updated with correct links for your viewing pleasure!

Tower:
http://www.buyxg.com/store/item.asp?key=CS-130-117

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188026

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227289

Thermal Compound:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186020

Case Fans:
4X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185060
2 for Exhaust, 2 for Intake

Fan Filters:
2X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999208
To keep Intake fans from bringing in dust

Other Accessories:
2X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812123171



Here is a condensed version of the above:

Cosmos 1000 Silent Gaming Tower
EVGA FTW 750i Motherboard
E8400 Wolfdale Processor
4GB (2x2gb) pc8500 OCZ Reaper ($25 mail-in Rebate)
2x EVGA 8800GTS in SLI ($30 mail-in Rebate)
3x Seagate 7200.11 HDD (2 in raid, 1 for data)
1x Samsung 20x DVD Read/write w/ lightscribe SATA
1x Liteon 20x DVD Read/write IDE
Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750w PSU ($10 mail-in Rebate)
Windows Vista Home Premium Retail
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
4x Scythe KAZE SY1225SL12SH 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fans
2x Generic 120mm fan filters (for intakes)
2x OKGear 24" SATA II Cables (for OEM HDDs and DVDs)


Total Cost (with shipping):
$2034.00
- $65.00 in rebates

equals $1969.60 Total!


I know this is about a hundred more than I had originally. However I got trigger happy and ordered the original setup which included the 2 samsung SATA DVD drives, the OCZ Silencer PSU, and one IDE 7200.10 Seagate HDD.

On this final build I went with the Corsair 750w PSU, a Liteon
IDE DVD. I think it will be a better setup than the previous. The Corsair PSU has more connections for upgrades, which is my main reason for switching. And instead of having one of my HDD on IDE I can have all 3 on SATA now.

So now I have an OCZ Silencer 750w PSU, a Samsung 20X SATA DVD Drive, and a Seagate 7200.10 IDE HDD that I am going to RMA back to newegg unless someone convinces me otherwise.

I've recieved all the parts except my Cosmos Case, which should be here tomorrow afternoon! Hopefully installation will go smooth and I can post my victory thread on my new system shortly after I get it built. Any final suggestions before I start building?

That's a good list. Go ahead with it all, I'm sure you won't have any problems. BTW, I just got that same PSU and it is superb, to say the least.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

my suggestion - send it to me for burn-in testing. i will send it back after a few months, well-tested.

Could you test my old Packard Bell and 1997 eMachine while you are at it. I will send the return freight costs.

i will be boating this summer and i need an anchor. i will tell you whether the emachine or packard bell works better.

what do you need those sata cables for? the mobo (Evga 750i FTW!!!!!! awsome board) comes with 4 sata cables.

looks fine though. Maybe a bit loud

wait newegg is having a HDD BLOWOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3x Seagate 7200.11 HDD (2 in raid, 1 for data)
Those are on sale for $120 !!!

also I want you to know that the new WD VeliciRaptor 10000rpm 300gig 2.5" hdds just came out. I started a new thread on it for no reason