You should probably make me one too... just because

Whats the price on the I7 965? The 920 is $250. Retail on the 965 is nearly $1,000. Worth the extra performance?

Dual 8800 gts. Wow.

The solid state drive sounds like a good idea. 32 gigs should be fine for a dedicated gaming computer. I would expect that a solid state drive is faster than a mechanical drive. No?

I think I need to get started too. I guess the obvious place to start is with the case.

Sailus

I've been thinking about the processor, I have a quad core extreme 3ghz cpu now (I'll move that to my media center pc) but it does not fit the MOBO I want, but your right, to much money I think. Plus I really want to do a nice job with the case so I may spend some extra $'s there. I'm going get the inside of the case powered coated.. black or maybe a black chrome.

I have the 2 8800 gtx's already, this is truly a great card!! I'd recommend it to anyone, I see the 768mb ones on ebay for about $150.00.

Yes any good Solid State HD is much faster.


One thing I learned about the solid state drives is the type, if you want your os and apps on a Solid State drive make sure it's Single Layer Cell (SLC) as opposed to Multi Layer Cell (MLC). MLC it seems is best for storage, stuff you don't need to load that fast... movies etc.

My plan is pretty much to get it together with stock air cooling, make sure I like the performance and aesthetics.

Then figure out how I'm going to liquid cool it, reservoirs, radiators, fans, pumps, gauges, lighting, cooling blocks, tubing and fittings.

Get that all together and working make sure all is well.

Then break it all down, send a bunch of stuff off to get powder coated and then reassemble.

Going for a black and chrome look... with maybe a LITTLE splash of red. Or maybe a black on black with a little red, not 100% sure yet.

So yeah, I should be done around 2012 or so.

I've read that in order to truly take advantage of a solid state hard drive you will need to wait for Windows 7. The current window version will not give you the full performance that these SSHD's posses. And, if you want to use it with Vista you need to really need to know what you are doing to configure your PC appropriately. It's not for the novice. I was also going to get a solid state hard drive. I am going to wait for the new windows operating system to come out. Hopefully by then the SSHD prices will have been reduced.

I'm gonna roll the dice

One note on power supplies, personal preference maybe but I would get a modular PSU if you can.

[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?CurImage=17-256-038-05.jpg&Image=17-256-038-11.jpg%2c17-256-038-04.jpg%2c17-256-038-05.jpg%2c17-256-038-06.jpg%2c17-256-038-07.jpg%2c17-256-038-08.jpg%2c17-256-038-09.jpg%2c17-256-038-10.jpg%2c17-256-038-02.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&WaterMark=1&Item=N82E16817256038&Depa=1&Description=SILVERSTONE%20ZM1200M%201200W%20Power%20Supply]PSU1

PSU Modular

The more I think about these Solid State drives the more I like them.... so much so I may not even use a conventional hard drive at all.

Think of the possibilities with these if one is building a custom pc. There is no need to mount them in a bay, they are so small and no vibration.

Could mount them say.... under the MOBO, side wall, up top, wherever you can imagine.

Yeap.... ssd it is.

Having the inside of the case powder coated is decorative - right? It's like having the engine compartment of your car painted. If so, I think I can safety avoid that one.

This computer is probably going to be dedicated to gaming only. My old Dell is servicable for the house and I have my work laptop for any serious applications I may need. So, I like the solid state drive.

Windows has set the release date for 7 in May, so the solid state drive should be no problem with the OS.

I'm starting to think about ways to keep the design inside of the machine clean of any errant wire bundles. I'm sure that a lot of mini wire ties are in order but is the something like a covering that you can put over the wires to keep them looking clean. How about shrink tube? What do you do with your wires?

Sailus

You could always get a some primer and black spray paint.. not glossy though, and paint the interior. If your careful it will come out nice, worth the time I think.

I'm gonna put together some good links for you, but if your looking at cases now look at one's where both side panels come of easily.

Sleeve and heat shrink all cables basically run the wires behind the panel the MOBO is mounted to. It's the worst part of the job but well worth it in the end.

Here's some nice cable management here:

http://www.clan-h2k.com/worklog/murderbox-fc-08.jpg

http://www.clan-h2k.com/worklog/murderbox-fc-11.jpg

http://www.clan-h2k.com/worklog/murderbox-fc-12.jpg

i just found the thread (cuz i nvr go on here) but to tell you about nvidia vs. ati, my first computer i had for 7 yrs and ran everything perfect. it was top o' the line when it came out. it ran an ati card.

The comp i have now is from hp (cuz i wasn't allowed to custom build yet) and it has an nvidia 8500. I have more problems with this card after a year than i did with the ati after 7 yrs. It can't handle much (i know it's just an 8500 but still), it won't update drivers (still on the ones it came with), whenever i try to download drivers i get hte blue screen o' death. With the 8700 i had in my laptop it had the same problem, and driver nvlddmkm would not update (it's essential to run games on vista) There you go.

P.S.
Why doesn't vent work!?!