I'm attempting to build a new system to replace my p4 2.6 non ht machine... Must haves: quad core, support for lots of drives, RAID/0. I'm going for speed here... I sometimes game (FPS type games), sometimes run VMs (microsoft virtual server), sql express, visual studio 2008 pro, sometimes do video encoding (i have 26 years of tv episodes to start converting from PAL to NTSC and encode to disk). Please let me know if the following parts are in fact compatible (my fear is that I'll buy a PSU or MoBo or Case that doesn't work w/ the rest). As a bonus I'd like it to be pretty quiet. Oh, and my display tops out at 1600x1200.

Proc: Intel QX9650 http://www.buy.com/retail/product. [...] caid=15889

Case: NZXT Apollo ATX Mid Tower http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811146025

MoBo: ASUS Maximus Extreme http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131235

RAM: Patriot Viper 4gb PC3 12800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220285

PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703009

GPU: XFX GeForce 8800GT 512MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150252

Sound: SB Audigy SE (don't care) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102002

HD: Striped Raptor Raid/0 2x150gb 10k RPM as OS Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136012

and FAN: AeroCool Dominator http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835129048

For a grand total of : $2924.86 + tax & shipping

Good, bad, or something won't be compatible?

I should add that I would probably like to overclock the CPU at some point, and I undersand that the RAM I've selected isn't very overclockable... I'm ok w/ that -- not crazy about messing around w/ RAM timings anyway.

what's the budget???

i'd recommend spalshing out on a higher-end card, ie the 8800GTS 512, or waiting for the new 9800...

An interesting build lol. I was trying to figure out why optimum price/performance didn't apply to your choice of cpu, mobo, and memory yet seemed to dictate your choice of graphics card.

I can only presume you view the 8800GT as "good enough" for your current use, perhaps to be replaced by next gen whatever. The rest of the rig will certainly support that lol.

I'd never seen this cooler before . . . wait, let me check one more place . . . nope, no trustworthy review/comparison that I could find quickly. While it certainly looks big, capable, and quiet, without other info I'd probably have chosen either the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro for simplicity, effectiveness, and dramatic ease of installation . . . or one of the top rated stronger performers from here to be safe:

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooli [...] i=3210&p=8

Cool case, too. Not for me personally, but I can see the appeal. Mobo, case, psu, and graphics card should fit together fine from the NewEgg reviews.

Have fun putting it together!

Trying to sneak this one in under $3000 (i'm taking some liberty w/ the tax/shipping). An extra hundred on top of the rest might be difficult -- I do have to keep this within the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).

I'll look into the 8800GTS 512's. Is there that much of a diff between the GTS and the GT? The reviews I saw actually had the GTS benchmarking LOWER than the GT: http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] i=3140&p=7 for one.

PS: thanks very much for the reply.

There you go... that's my mindset exactly. In fact, I have a GeForce 6600 that I could cannibalize... but that seems downright criminal in this build.

This is where you drill right to my inexperience in choosing a fan. I will definitely research the fans that you've generously linked here.

Thanks... It actually reminds me of the alienware cases, without their crazy pricepoints. I was waffling between that case and this which comes with a 1000W peak power supply, but couldn't find any info on that power supply and it had me nervous.:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119136

Great reviews AND lower cost... seems like a no-brainer. Updated my build with the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro. Thanks!

the gts is better than the gt, the review you link to is the old 640mb gts (g82), the new 512 g92 beets the g92 gt http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] i=3175&p=4

Thanks for the clarification -- I will have to consider that upgrade...

Oh, and the inconsistency behind which is their higher-end model, the GT or GTS really bugs me!

no prob, i made same mistake, its the only reason i knew

I'm actually surprised noone said the RAM was overkill...

OK, to summarize changes, for 2966.86 thanks to TwoBoxer's fan upgrade & discount, as well as the upgrade as per amd_fanboi and cmdr_keen (i loved that game, btw) to the 8800GTS, I am still in the realm of reality (I'll have to sneak Crysis on there as well But at least i get vista and server 2008 for free).

Any thoughts on EBay parts?

what i would do:

I would get a Q6600 and OC it rather than get a QX9650.

I read what you said about OCing. But OCing is nothing more than changing a few numbers in BIOS, and there are a million guides out there that walk you through it. If you have the intelligence to throw parts together to build a computer, you have the smarts needed to OC.

What I want you to do is go to the overclocking section of Toms and read the sticky about OCing.

And what I would like also is if any other forum members more advanced than me (I'm still wet behind the ears) have an opinion one way or the other, teach me something

The 4mb L2 cache vs the 12MB L2 Cache in the QX9650 is what most drove me to the 9650.. and to have the highest-end proc as I'm not going to be upgrading for a while. The current build was approved by the wife w/ no remarks, surprisingly.... so I guess I'm just going to start the ordering... The wait is the killer part!

Lots of wasted money on CPU and RAM.
Q6600 with DDR2 far more reasonable.

Don't buy eBay.