Can I do better than this build for $1000?

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nsomniac

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That's a really good build for $1000. I don't like the case much though (looks and not too good cooling), but unless you can go overbudget, there's not much you can do about that. I have that RAM, PSU, and motherboard, and they're all great. The PSU is really nice since it's modular, so you don't have any unnecessary cables clogging up your case. The only things I could suggest (and there's really no way to take off the price) is an aftermarket HSF if you plan to overclock and a case with better cooling. That's about it.

Looks good :).
 
That case has a good airflow. The front panel is made of wiremesh coverings. Tie a 120MM fan using zipties to your empty 5.25 inch bays that sucks air in, put on in the back and you have a very good airflow!
 
I have the Windowed version of that case [ CLICK HERE ]. It is by far the best case you can get for $50. Mine came with one 80mm fan in front and one 120mm fan in back. It has a dust filter built in which is a nice touch and you don't have to mess with those stupid doors.

Like RockyZ said you could add another 120mm fan in the front if you want but I don't think that would be necessary. The air comming out of the back of my case is cold.
 
This Asus mobo I hear is simpler to work with and has just as good OC options:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131569

Opertons come with 1mb cache for about the same price but I've heard don't get them unless you OC and that they are more for workstations than gaming machines.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103588

Last thing to consider would be 2 80gb Seagate drives and putting them in RAID 0, RAID 0 gives amazing performance.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148107
 
Wouldn't RAID 0 sacrifice reliability a little though? I think just a 160GB would be the best choice.

I do agree with the Asus MB that macdawg pointed to; I've also used it before. And the Centurion is a good case as well. Sounds like a good build.
 
Thanks for the input...I'm not too worried about cooling right now, because I won't be overclocking right away. Maybe eventually, but for now I'm chicken :) That's also why I decided on the X2 3800 instead of the Opteron 165.

And pardon my ignorance, but what is it that would be easier about the ASUS mobo as opposed to the MSI?
 
Honestly, I can't back up that statement with much evidence; but I have had more experience with ASUS motherboards and none have failed on me yet. Also, it looks to me like a lot of people have had trouble with the MSI from Newegg (read a couple pages into the reviews: chipset fan issues and failing after several days).

ASUS does have fairly good overclocking menues in their BIOS which make it very easy to perform.
 
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