Here's my rig...tell me what you think.

[senseless]

Case: Lian-Li 6070 ATX
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
CPU: AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-55 Processor
RAM: Corsair TwinX XMS PC3200 (2 GB)
Power: TruePower 550 Watt
Heat sink: Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu
Hard Drives: WD Raptor SATA 10000 rpm 74GB X 2 in Raid 0
Hard Drives: WD Caviar SE SATA 7200 rpm 250 GB X 2 in Raid 1
Optical Drives: Plextor 7116SA and Pioneer DVR-A08XL
Video Cards: BFG GeForce™ 6800 Ultra OC™ X 2 (SLI)
Sound Card: Creative SOUND BLASTER|AUDIGY 2 ZS
Speakers: Creative Inspire™ T7800 7.1 speaker system
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor
Keyboard/Mouse: whatever

Let me know what you think...and if I could improve upon it.

Rind

Get an m-audio firewire-410 if you've got the cash. Otherwise get the revolution 7.1 or audiophile 192 or 2496. Soundblaster cards dont have onboard dsp, and use the driver & cpu cycles to process dsp. You don't need an 800$ processor to overclock to decent speeds. Once i get a new heatsink my 3200 should run stable at 2.7-2.8 (2.0 factory speed, clocked to 2.6 atm). I'd recommend the 3500 or 4000. Also, ive built a couple systems using the a8n-sli motherboard, i prefer the giga-byte board. But it's more personal preference than anything, it has some to do with the design of it aswell. The lian-li case is solid, i just built a dual operton in one.

 

[Rind]

thanks!

I appreciate your advice! The sound card is where I really struggled to make a decision because I know so little about it. I'm not really that much of an audiophile, though, so I figured that a solid Creative card would be fine. I'll look into your suggestions though.

I'm pretty set on the mobo.

Afford it? It's been a dream and I have a good job so I'm making it happen. Sure appreciate your expertise.

Rind

 

[dhw200]

damnit man, i im in envy of you!! the system im having shipped to me as we speak (c my sig) seems puny by comparison! (well, except my vid card).

 

[YanBooth]

Firstly, go for the Audigy 4, it has got to be better, and reviews seem to like the speakers I have on my desk, and in my sig more than those creatives, unless you are 190% on 7.1, like I was, but the reviews persuaded me after a while!
Also, the RAM in my setup (similar setup to yours) is much faster, while costing a bunch more however.
Also, for all that stuff, I would say jump up to a more powerfull PSU, like the one in my sig, which was modeled for the SLI systems.
Also, Asus seems to have gone WAY down in quality in the last few months, plus it is not as configurable, and OC-able as the LANParty (again, see sig).

Last thing! I am not sure what the response time is on that monitor, but since this is a strictly gaming rig, you really want to be careful, the response time really MUST be 16ms or below for games!

100% best of luck!

Yan

 

[woot7800GT]

Jeez... I thought I was lucky getting my new comp.

 

[Chrono]

waoh, nice!

Thats gotta be nice to drive

*drools*

 

[AZNRockThis]

i dont think there are too many ways of making that beast of a computer better, but for the mouse i would suggest logitech mx510

 

[Rind]

thanks again

Sure appreciate the input. I will look into the stuffs in your sig!

As for the monitor....it refreshes at 12ms...it's a sweet 24-inch LCD and I've read rave reviews!

Rind

 

[VIII]

got some pictures of it ??

 

[diabloII]

try getting a DFI lanparty ut nf4 ultra-d SLI

and for your mouse, i wouldn't get wireless; my friend has a logitech wireless mouse and it's pretty damn heavy and i got pissed using it