Building a new rig

[Taladien]

Hey all.  Time has come for me to start putting togeather a new rig.  Current one is doing well, but showing her signs of age.  Its also about time for me to build my owe rig, anyway. So, heres the current parts list...


Case: Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower - 149.99

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X38-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - 209.99

Core: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - 275.99 - Overclocking to between 3.0GHz and 3.2GHz

Monitors: 3 x 19' flat panel monitors.  Already own 2.

Primairy Graphics: EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP - 259.99 - Supports center monitor only

Secondary Graphics: Some old PCI video card that I have - Will support left and right monitors.

Power Supply: SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM ATX12V / EPS12V 700W Power Supply - 179.99

RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kits Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Already have

Hard Disk: 4x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives - In a RAID 10 - 310.99

Optical: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S OEM BK - 27.99

Cooling: Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler - 39.99

OS: Windows XP.  Not touching Vista.



So, what do you all think?  I'm always open to input.  The rig will be built this summer (when I have more funds and don't have to worry about college classes), but I've already begun to acquire the parts.  All the prices are straight off of Newegg.com.  I'm currently bargan hunting to save the wallet a little. Blitz is helping me out some by possibly supplying a pretty sweet case /w some powerful fans, as well as (hopefully) helping with the over-clocking.

Discuss.

[SK_CROW]

The new 9000 series of Nvidia should be coming out in the summer or sooner.  You might want to definitely consider that since it suppose to really run laps around the 8800's.

[Taladien]

Any idea on the price range of them?

[SK_CROW]

It would depend on which variance they put out first.  In the past, they have released the GTX first.  So if that's the case, expect to pay at least if not more than the current GTX.

Edit:  Just posted today.  The first tested 9600 is a GT!  It looks like they will start on the low end replacements this time.  So their estimate release of the high end may still be on track for the summer.

Read here

[SK_CROW]

According to Digitimes Nvidia will role out the top of the line 9000 series on March 11 in the form of a dual GPU-9800 GX2.  It will be followed by the GTX and GT.  Looks like Christmas is coming early this year.    

[Taladien]

I'll defiantly give them a good look.  Prolly not going to make purchases of the pricier parts until mid May.

Any other comments?

[SK_CROW]

Or...you can get a pair for 8800GTX for just $339.99 each!

Check it out here.
It expires on 2/29/08 if you are interested.

[Taladien]

Sorry... 680$ for a pair of GTX's doesnt stack up to buying one super-clocked GT for 250$.  If I'm paying almost 3x more, I better have 3x the raw performance... and I wouldn't.  I'm not just buying the most expensive parts out there... I dont see the point in literally paying $2,000 more on a system for a 15% performance increase.

But thats just me.

[sK_Cookie]

im running dual 8800 GTx's and I can said that there is a reason to upgrade to the 9800's.  I spank every game their is, including COD4 and my MMO's in highest quality graphic settings.  I wouldnt personally see the need to pay for the upgrade especially at the price difference you are going to see.