Hey Blind

ok! I'm ready to start installing components. I'm ordering the motherboard - Asus P6 Ultimate. And, the power supply (750 enough? Would it be sufficient for dual cards like the ATI Radeon 5870x2 or should I put in 100w to be safe?). I want to install the power and the Mobo so that I can get the fan wiring and the power supply bundled on the back side of the Mobo before anything else goes in.

Am I right that it is ok to install the processor core later? Or, is it better to fit that on and then install the Mobo? I think I'm right ...

After they're in, I'll start on the drives. Do I need an optical drive? I would prefer not even intsalling one if I can avoid it. I have an optical drive in my other computer. There has to be a way to copy the data on the CD onto a USB drive and install it on the gaming rig via the USB. Is there?

I want to go with a single 128gb solid state drive. That's about the best value in the drives.

The hold up is going to be the GPU card. I was going to install a single ATI 5870 until the NVIDIA Fermi series was launched. The 5870 performs so well that the demand has outstripped ATI's ability to satisfy it. As such, they're not available, unless you pay a premium to an aftermarket 3d party supplier, who charges a premium for a tweaked version of the card. Given the unavailability of the card, I plan on waiting until Jauary 10, 2010 for the electronics show to see if the 3 series Fermi cards are announced.

Anyway, what do you think of the installation order?


Sailus

I think, especially with the dual 5870x2's I would go to a 850 watt PSU.

Yes I would start with the by fitting the MOBO PSU and fans first.

The processor can be installed later, the cooling fan power is nearby so that's usually not an issue.

I think you would be causing yourself a lot of grief if you choose not to install an optical drive. Copying dvd content to usb sticks probably won't work because of copy protection and so on... there are ways around it but just doesn't seem worth it.

I would just get something like this and call it a day, just connect it when you need it and keep your case clean.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=481


Possibly even cheaper on ebay.

Ice has a solid state drive and seems to like it... at least the last time he spoke about it. I would certainly go with one, you have options where you can put it as well to keep the case clean.

The toughest things to deal with are the PSU and video card cabling, other then that it's fairly straight forward to route/hide the other cables.