New build opinions

[whitedragon]

Hi all! I'm building a new system in a month, I've decided on the Intel Q6600 quad-core, but I'm torn on the motherboard/video cards.
I've narrowed it down to either
the ASUS P5N32-E SLI nForce 680i board & 2 EVGA GeForce 8800GT cards in SLI
or
the ASUS P5E board with the X38 chipset & 2 Diamond HD3870 cards in Crossfire

Either way, it's all going into a Coolermaster Centurion case with a Zalman CNPS9700 HSF & 2x2GB GSkill DDR2 1000 ram.
My current hard drives and DVD burners will be moved over.

Any opinions on which way I should go? Thanks!

[powerarmour]

Out of the two, I'd get the P5E with 2x HD3870's.

[bobseptic]

i had the Coolermaster Centurion and its useless for cooling & after 6 months the power button failed (switch)

get the antec 900. its very good build quality and 3 speed fan settings. 100% better case.

[whitedragon]

Thanks guys! Here's what I've got so far...
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wi ... ID=9653207

Antec Nine Hundred case
ASUS P5E X38 motherboard
C2Q Q6600 w a Zalman CNPS9700LED HSF
2 Diamond Radeon HD 3750 512MB video cards
2x2 GB GSkill PC1000 DDR2 ram
OCZ GameXtreme 700Watt PSU

DVD Drives & HDDs are migrating from current system.

[bobseptic]

now thats looking better

how about a raptor 150 gig
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... =HD-069-WD

i love the antec 900. it also would look well with 2 cold cathodes to go along with the other coloured fans (so get some) the 900 is a super case for cooling and keeping overclocking temps low.

also fit a 120mm to the side window blowing in.

also note the power supply goes on the bottom of the antec900 so make sure the OCZ fits with its fan facing the correct way.

[whitedragon]

Yeah, I was noticing that, I'll need to put the OCZ in with the fan facing UP.
I'm looking at a cold cathode kit from FrozenCPU.com, it's on;y like 10 bucks or so.
I've got a blue ThermalTake 120 here already that'll go nicely on the side.
I've already got hard drives, 4 WD SATAII, 2x500GB & 2x250GB, so I'll be skipping the Raptor. It would put me over my budget for this build anyway. The wife has set a firm $1500 limit on it.

[garikfox]

Nice a X38, Just wait you can buy a X48 in 2 mos. LoL !

Aka. (ASUS Rampage Formula)

[whitedragon]

Updated parts list:
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wi ... ID=5641854
I decided on an ASUS Maximus Formula & a single HD3870 X2.

The budget was dropped to $1300, gotta get some car repairs done as well...
so I have to keep the current PSU, it's an Antec TruePower Trio 650w.
Maybe later I can get another 3870 X2 and got CrossfireX...assuming ATi gets the software end working.

Tax Refund's supposed to be in on the 8th, so I'll (hopefully) have this baby up & running in a week!

[impar]

Greetings!

Updated parts list:
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wi ... ID=5641854
I decided on an ASUS Maximus Formula & a single HD3870 X2.

Link asks for a password.

[whitedragon]

Blast newegg!:lol: I thought I shared the list...
I managed to get my budget back, fixed my car myself (leaky brake line, 16 dollar part), so I'm getting good stuff. Anyhoo, here's the list:

NEW:
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
OCZ GameXStream 780w Power Supply
ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775
OCZ Titanium XTC 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel @ 4-4-4-15, 2.1v
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB (512MB x 2) 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
2x Blue 12" CCFL light tubes

REUSING:
2x Western Digital 500GB SATAII 16MB Cache
2x Western Digital 250GB SATAII 16MB Cache
Netgear WG311T 108 MBPS Wireless Networking Card
Samsung 20x DVD/RW SATA
Logitech MX-600 Cordless Desktop
Logitech 400w 5.1 Speakers
KDS 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit Edition

All in all it's gonna run about $1460 before S&H.