I have put allot of time and Effort into the researching of this. My goal was to stay under 3k. This system will stand the test of time for sure. It is High End gamers Dream System. Before I buy it I would love your Input so please write away! Oh, this is my first post...Hello All!!

Cooler Master Stacker 830 Evolution ATX Full Tower- Ok I chose this case for a number of reasons. Great reviews, BIG, great ventilation and looks good. $259

XFX LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Motherboard- It was the best SLI motherboard I could find period. I really like the DFI MB but no SLI so this is the one. $249

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16Ghz LGA 775- This was an easy choice came down between this and E8400. I choice this one cuz I am running DDR2 not DDR3 so no need for Quad and had 3k budget. $269

ZALMAN 9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU cooler- Ok I went back and forth, back and forth on this pick. I was originally going to go with yes you guessed it. The Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with Scythe S-Flex 120mm fans. But after more research and the crazy size and a you tube video, I switched to this Zalman. It has amazing reviews and way better price. $59

Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Case Fan- I chose 3 of these for my case fans. They are just amazing quiet fans. My case will be COLD!!! $44

XFX GeForce 9800 GTX Black Edition 512MB- Ok this wasn’t as easy to decide one. So many to chose from. The reason I chose this card is the stats on it were amazing. Supports true 1920x1200 resolution and c’mon it’s the black Edition. Only got one but that is what make upgrading a blast. I will get another. $319

Mushkin 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) memory- Again it came down between this and OCZ and this one edge in reviews. Same Price.
$279

Seagate 750 GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 32MB Catche- I am not really all that clear on RAID but my plan is to run 3 hard drives. This one will be my main. $159

Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM 32MB Catche- I got 2 of these, again I am not real savvy on RAID but I noticed allot of people either went with 2 or 3 total HD. $159

XIGMATEK 750W Power Supply- It came down to this one PC Power & Cooling and ABS one. I chose this one because it had Modulated Cabling and Price. Great Reviews as well. It’s the sleeper pick. Had numerous people running Duel 9800's in SLI mode with no prob. $129

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional- I chose this one because of my OP system I will be running. This was meant for 64bit OP system. Only had 2 reviews on it. It’s fairly new. But the reviews were great 100%. $149

SAMSUNG 20X DVD/R Burner w/ LightScribe- This will be my All in one Optical Drive Choice. It’s just better than the rest. $30

Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate- Had no choice its here and its here to stay. If you want to have a Gaming System that will stand the test of time your decision is already made. $169

NEC Display Solutions 24'' 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor- I researched this like crazy. Back and forth. I went with this monitor for one its had GREAT Reviews the best. The Price. It was a must to have a monitor that would max out my Bad Arse Vid Card with 1920x1200. This is the one for me hands down. $439

Ok that does it. Here is my end result. Don’t believe I left anything out my final price was 2,724.82. Well under budget. Again this is a High End gaming solution under 3k. The only thing I was not a 100% on was the whole raid thing. Maybe Just 2 hardrives would be the right choice??

I would like to think Newegg, Sharky Extreme, Tom's Hardware and google lol. That is what I used for my research.

Thanks,

DeepSeaDoc

I would go with the Xigmatek:

Top 5 heatsinks:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

Memory: I like OCZ, Corsair, Crucial and Patriot.

PSU: Go with a Corsair SLI certified PSU:

Top Tier PSU:
http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiere [...] ngs?t=anon

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1460

Silent PSUs
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html

AMD Certified PSUs (Single+Crossfire):
http://ati.amd.com/online/certifiedpsu/index.html

Certified SLI-Ready Power Supplies
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

Sound Card: Asus Xonar, I prefer.

Man I just got thru looking at my post its like a damn thesis paper lol. Here is a condesed version of it.

Cooler Master Stacker 830 Evolution ATX Full Tower
XFX LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16Ghz LGA 775
ZALMAN 9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU cooler
Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Case Fan x3
XFX GeForce 9800 GTX Black Edition 512MB
Mushkin 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Seagate 750 GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 32MB Catche
Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM 32MB Catche Raid 0 I think?
XIGMATEK 750W Power Supply
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional
SAMSUNG 20X DVD/R Burner w/ LightScribe
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate
NEC Display Solutions 24'' 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
Total= $2,724

Thanks,

DeepSeaDoc

Don't fall into the trap of getting a SLI motherboard with the intention of buying a second video card later.
When that time comes around, there'll be a video card just as cheap as the 9800GTX that'll beat your SLI configuration.
Go for an Intel chipset with a single card. You'll save money for not having a SLI motherboard and it'll work out better in the long run.
Oh, and consider the 8800GTS G92 over the 9800GTX. Cheaper and there isn't much of a difference between them. The 9800GTX is virtually an overclocked 8800GTS G92.

That memory seems awfully expensive. Maybe it has super tight timings at that speed, but you can get a 4 gig kit of corsair dominator at the same speed for less than half the cost.

I'd say take a look at the Xigmatek coolers. I've got a Xigmatek rifle waiting to be installed at the moment, so if I have any big issues with it tonight I'll update this post and let you know. They seem to perform quite well at a rather low price point.

It looks like a nice machine with or without changes.

at your price point, wait for the new ATIs and nVidias later this month.

you talk about longevity, definatly get a quad. many new highend games (Crysis, AoC, SC) already use 4 cores. in a year, all the decent games will run better on a quad.

dont get the 9800gtx its not worth the extra $$ get the 8800gts 512. same card just a little slower speeds. heck you could probably get two and still be under buget.

and go for the quad core.

I got that same case for my new build, I received it yesterday but the rest of my parts come in Friday. I have to say it's really cool looking and it's big and well-built so good choice on the case!