You don't need a $100 dvd writer either do you? there are plenty of options that are a lot cheaper.

yeah.. bump for more ideas

Sorry, have to do it: http://www.apple.com/macpro/

my specs will own that apple macpro anyday..

Im checking out graphics on that apple and the cards suck.

A 8800 ultra or even gtx will own that..

I recently built a nice 700.00 system, but you'd likely spend more with the video card for yourself.

Gigabyte 965p-DS3 mobo Rev 3.3 (only 115.00 and a nice board for a "budget overclocker")

Core Duo 6420 CPU (check the benchmarks and you'll go Intel... I've been an AMD guy for years, but Intel simply wins now. Performance and nice overclocking)

Spending some $ for a nice cooler vs stock will be a good investment for a low price. I chose a Freezer 7 Pro (Arctic cooling) and temps with a nice ventilation are low (27c as I type this and still under 50c with a full dual core Orthos stress test).

I'm not a big overclocker and just picked up some g.skill pc6400 and set the mobo settings and run at 3.2ghz. I would say if higher is desired then an e6600 or higher. Overclocking though you never know how well the results will be. I can clock 3.4, but then I have to add more voltage and I choose to keep the voltage safer vs pushing it for a small difference. 3.6ghz was the max I could overclock with the chip, but had stability issues. e6600 or higher and I think 3.6 seems pretty standard with the results from others. Still, I got a 50% overclock and running cool and quite a bargain price for a system build at that price.

I'm not a big gamer and got a GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3. I've tried some new games just to see how well it performs and it's played everything fine so far. I'm quite happy with it for my needs, but like most video cards I find the tend to need their shitty (because they're so loud) fans replaced.

Main thing you're missing though I think is to add some nice cooling. The included is fine, but why not run it nice and cool and more quiet for 30 bucks more. Your HD I have already I assume is SATA, if not then that might be something else overlooked.

Hell, Im already out of the loop on builds. Check benchmarks, find what you want.. buy it and build it and then a month later it's all changed or dropped in price because something else is better. Just the way it goes.



With your video card and especially if SLI mode is in your future (or current) I'd be looking for a 30+ amp power supply. Nothing worse that under powering your video card. I chose an ENERMAX Noisetaker II EG495P-VE ATX12V 485W at 32 amps and I like it. No modular cabling, but that isnt a cocern for myself, but it may be for you if you want a side panel and neon lights and stuff like that. I'm not into that stuff personally, but to each their own. My case is a Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW (Black)

In the past I've used Newegg almost exclusively, but this time I found some good savings by using MWave.com I was impressed with them, but their website itself is a bit more bland (like I care about that though).

A 150.00 dvd writer? Im not sure why so high on that price, but maybe there's something faster or included with it that my 40.00 one doesn't have.

I can't say I have the fastest computer on the block, but it's way better than my last and a nice 3.2 core duo system and far under your 2500.00 budget, which gives you plenty of money for something similar to expand your video cards and even run them SLI in that price range.

Happy building!

go dual screen!

get a TAGAN PSU.

Actually I have to agree with that. I bought my PC from Velocity Micro and they use a slightly customized version of the "Lian-Li" cases. You might check VM's product line of high performance PC's and gaming machines before going through the effort of building your own.

A warranty.

i have a evga 680i and the onboard sound is good, but NOTHING compared to a x-fi soundcard. onboard sound may have come a long way but its still shit

this 50 spot is dedicated to skynet:thumbsup