Please help with these specs and a PSU recommendation!

[AFJ_rsm]

Hi all, I'm looking at parts towards building a new PC (my first diy build!)
Here's what I have so far:

Mainboard
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $249.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail $239.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
Memory
Transcend aXeRam 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1200 (PC2 9600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $118.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208343
Video Card
EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $289.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130325
Case
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
Optical Drive
ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 14X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - Retail $35.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156
Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $84.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140
PSU
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Crossfire Edition) EPS12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, RoHS - Retail $159.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011
Sound
Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series - Retail $135.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102005


Total (so far!): $1,395.91

Thanks to the replies on this thread I've already gotten past my initial doubts. Now all that's left to do is receive any additional advice or recommendations anyone might have!

EDIT: switched hard drive to a seagate barracuda 320 gig with 16mb cache
EDIT2: Included PSU
EDIT3: Switched Vid Card and Included Sound card
EDIT4: Changed the case to the CoolerMaster CM690

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Go for the PC Power & Cooling silencer 750, all the psu you will ever need and quality all the way. Also, I'd change that hard drive, get one with a 16mb cache, that one has 8mb.

[AFJ_rsm]

Thanks for the speedy reply!

Alright I switched the HDD

Now I found 2 PC Power & Cooling silencer 750 PSU's. One is a crossfire edition and then there's the standard.

The crossfire is 10 bucks cheaper (and at this point for me, every dollar counts!). Is there some sort of propietary technology or something that would prevent me from eventually using this crossfire edition to power 2 nvidia's in SLI?

Here's the links:

Standard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Crossfire:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

There's no difference, the crossfire edition wehn it came out was the only one with two 6pin PCI-E connectors AND two 8pin PCI-E connectors, that was the only difference. Since then all of them have those connectors and I think it's cheaper cause most don't like red, lol.

[AFJ_rsm]

Thanks again

Updated the list with PSU.

Anything else I might be missing? Any advice on video card or in general?

Mobo, memory ok?

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

I would look at some of the reviews for the new 9600GT, looks like it is on par with the 8800GT until you turn up AA and AF, then it's more like a 8800GTX or ultra, and for less than the 8800gt. Seems like a good card, worth checking into.

[FoolTrottel]

Anything else I might be missing?
A dedicated sound card maybe?
A good Speaker set?

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/35.gif Duh! Completely forgot about soundcard, yeah, you'll want an X-FI. And don't get that crappy little extremeaudio or whatever it is, there's no sound proccessor on that one.

[AFJ_rsm]

what about the Sb Live! 5.1 Value on my current rig? Is it worth it to upgrade to an X-FI from a strictly performance point of view?

My speakers are not that great so I doubt they would take advantage of whatever the XFI has to offer in the sound department.

EDIT: I guess this is the one?
Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102005

[FoolTrottel]

SB Live! does work, but is not that good. Sound wise/performance wise...
(A bit of an understatement...)

x-Fi Extreme gamer is much better.
(I've got a non-fatal1ty one, and it's pretty good, the one you linked to is probably a bit better)

http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/10.gif But do make sure you get a good speaker set to go with it!

[steiner562]

Originally posted by AFJ_rsm:

Also another thing that still has me pretty much lost is the video card. I keep hearing great stuff about the 8800GTS yet when I go over to tomshardware it says the 8800 GT is still better and cheaper... http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx...odel2=722&chart=318 (http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=859&model2=722&chart=318). Am I missing something here? Did I select the "good" 8800GT or would I be better off with the GTS?

They were referring to the old 8800 GTS320mb/640mb,which the GT will out perform,the latest 8800GTS 512MB is faster than the GT(10-15% AND RUNS COOLER) and worth the extra bucks (IMO) as you'll have GTX+ performance,but not at the highest resoloutions.
The 8800 GT is most definately the better bargain I guess,bang for buck that is.

[AFJ_rsm]

Thanks for the replies guys

Included the SB XFI and switched the vid card for a 8800GTS g92 which only costs 10 more bucks than the GT I had. Plus I like that brand EVGA which is the same as my current gf6800GT

Sadly I can't afford decent speakers, although the product description for the XFI said it can mix surround sound even through stereo headphones, and my stereo headphones are pretty slick so hopefully it'll sound great through those!

Any other recommendations or advice will be greatly appreciated!

[RAF_OldBuzzard]

PSU? Corsair 750TX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Or, if you want to go with a modular PSU, the Corsair 620HX.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002

Either one has more than enough power to run what what you want, and are both $144.99 after MIR.

CASE:
Nothin wrong with the one you are looking at. But if you don't have to have a full tower for one reason or another, but still want a lot of room inside, you may want to take a look at the Coolermaster CM690. Not overly large outside, but still lots of room inside. Especially for the long vid cards. I have one and recommend it highly.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

[AFJ_rsm]

Alright I like that case, should be easier to ship than the Stacker.

Plus its cheaper and I like that! Positive reviews as well.

Thanks!

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Yeah, the 690 is a great case, it rivals the antec 900 for way less money.

[RAF_OldBuzzard]

Actually, the CM690 is MUCH better than the Antec 900 for clearance for the longer videocards. I've seen a number of guys with 900's complain that an 8800 will just barely fit in it. The CM690 will have about 2" or better clearance from the end of an 8800 to the HDDs.