[new build] Video editing / game machine

So here i am, typing this from a crappy old 1.2 gHz amd because my old pc just died.
i have been looking around for a new rig for some time now, and since i have not been keeping up with hardware for the past 3 years it took some research.
i would like to know what you think of the rig and what i should change and why.

asus striker extreme mainboard

8 gb ddr2 (still undecided as to which to take, would like suggestions)

intel quad core q6600 cpu (for video editing mostly)

either geforce 8800 ultra or 2x geforce 8800 gt 512 mb (no i dont want to wait until march for the 9800 series )

seagate barracuda 1TB 7200 sata2 hdd

NZXT Zero case, alu chassi, 8 fans

Zalman CNPS9500LED Ultra Quiet CPU cooler

BenQ 24" LCD G2400W TCO03 screen


everything will be clocked to the max so watercooling would be a good suggestion but i wouldnt know where to start.
also would a physics card have a huge difference? or can i just leave it out?

thanks in advance

SLI isnt worth it. Not sure if it ever will be, but now is not it. If it were me and my system I'd get one 8800gts 512, and save rest for 9800 or something like that.

For hdd get wd7500aaks as its the best as per thg charts found here on this site. Get 2 of them in raid 0 + smaller hard like wd2500ks to be system hdd. If you're gonna do video editing consider strongly raid 0 as your bottleneck is going to be hdd not cpu or ram.

Rest seams decent. In fact I could use a tip or two on what case/psu to get. To me SILENCE IS n1. I got coolermaster real power ultra uber silent 600w psu. Its silent-yes, but even so its the loudest part of my pc. I can control all other fans inside except that one, and I feel pissed paying so much for psu that really isnt that silent. At times i consider ripping it open and tearing the fan out of it.

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EoDEo

Take me to your leader

Smokegfx, heres the thing. I recommended GTS simply because it is faster than gt. It is in GTX rank reaching into ultra. In my mind, the most sensible way to go is single 8800gt, but when someone is talking about ultra or sli crap, I figure he's got money to burn and in that case GTS might be better than both. Ultra is old crap i wouldn't recommend to an enemy... well maybe an enemy, but that's not the point. And sli is useless and heres a simple why:

Forget sli not being supported. By modern games it IS supported, for all the rest GT will eat them for breakfast sli or no sli- and heres the kicker, GT is so good in fact that it will eat any game, new or old for breakfast. So while you do get some fps more in sli, its just wasted, as either way you get more than playable fps either way.

The ONLY exception to what i said is crisis, afaik. And thing to consider now is this: Do you want to play this game? If not- problem solved for 6months, at least. Its highly doubtful that another game company will have the balls to release another hardware sawy game like that any time soon.

If you do plan on playing crisis, you really ought to look at just how well a single and a pair of GTs do, and ask yourself- is +5-10fps worth x2 $?

"unfortunately i just migrated to denmark (europe) and have no idea where to find such a set here or i wouldve put one on my wish list for sure."

why is that unfortunate? I live in Serbia, also Europe, and a very good friend of mine lives in Denmark. Europe is NOT crippled in supply or the prices. If something it just might be cheaper than in states. And while I can't guarantee it since I have no idea which part of DK are you at, i'm pretty sure they have a comp hardware store somewhere around you.

And about watercooling, apparently you didn't own a watercoling set yet. Well neither did i, but from what i hear you don't get it for the quite. That's not to say its loud, only not much, if at all, more quite than a good air solution.

My current setup is very very quite. You could guess that from the fact that ultra quite psu is the loudest thing in it. The problem i have with it is at night when i go to sleep i can hear it humming, and I'd really rather not. During day when there are ppl and cars going about, you cant pick it up from background noise. At night however, it's a different story.

So, I'd like to take the opportunity and hijack your thread and ask anyone which psu to get, I hear zerodba is good, not making sounds at low loads. Problem is i cant get it here so I'd like to hear an alternative. Or-better yet, a way to control fan speed of my own. If I could get it run 10-20% slower than right now... I use fanspeed for all other fans(all other- mobo and cpu fan)

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EoDEo

Take me to your leader

If you've seen scores single and sli gt gets, and know that this is what you want, go ahead. I was against it not from personal experience, as I never owned sli/cf system, but from I read all around the web including thg.

And as for getting "low-end" card and sitting it out till the next big thing, would be 3850. For around 150$ you get full 320SPUs and a bit lower clocks compared to 3870. On average its about 20% slower than gt, more on higher resolutions if you get the 256mb version.

Having said that, waiting-it-out-before-purchasing game can be played indefinitely. Technology isnt going to stop and wait on us, at some point we have to break and say, this far and no further- and get whatever system we can afford.

And a quick not on watercooling- now I'm intrigued. Does the psu also get it, or is it still air cooled? Right now, only my "ultra quiet" psu is the loudest part, and i'd just like to change its fan or it completely to get real ultra quiet.

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EoDEo

Take me to your leader