Help me build a PC. R18000 budget for tower

[Lethec]

Hey, as the thread title says, I have R18000 budget for a good gaming tower and all its components. This is excluding Monitor, HDD, OS/Software, Keyboard, Mouse etc.

So essentially I am wanting to buy:

• Graphics card(s)
  CPU
  Motherboard
  Memory
  Case
  Cooling
  PSU

With the help of a friend I have sort of pieced together a demo list of PC components to start off with, then look for similar/better deals and pieces around that.

Graphics card: Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD4890 16xPCIE 256-bit 1GB DDR5 w/HDMI + DVI X2 (+-R3000,00 each)
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/pro...ducts_id=25291
http://www.jump.co.za/product/sapphi...5-31462038.htm

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA1366 Processor (+- R3200.00)
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/pro...ducts_id=17928
http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/in...re-p-2416.html
http://www.shopmania.co.za/shopping~...~p-772038.html

Motherboard: Asus Striker II Extreme nForce 790i SLI Motherboard w/A8 + 2LK + FWa + SATA2 RAID (+- R3300.00)
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/pro...ducts_id=15874
http://www.shopmania.co.za/shopping~...~p-156751.html

Memory: Corsair DDR3-1600 4GB (2x2GB) XMS3 DHX CL9 Memory Module Kit (+- R1400.00)
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/pro...ducts_id=15168
http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/co...00-p-3506.html

Case: Coolmaster Cosmos (+- R3000.00)
http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=2584

Cooling: Zalman 9500 (R450.00)
http://www.shopmania.co.za/shopping~...p-1097438.html

Extra bracket for i7 (+- R50)

PSU: Thermaltake W0171 ToughPower - 1500W (R5000)
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/pro...ducts_id=13774
http://www.shopmania.co.za/shopping~...~p-327423.html


This all comes to a grand total of approximately R22 400,00. Now I can get almost all the parts cheaper from a friend who has direct connection with Suppliers via his job, but I am looking for some feedback from the community as to what you think. Do you think I am wasting my money on some thing where I could get something slightly less for a lot cheaper here and there etc. I am not extremely clued up on hardware so it is a bit hard for my to compare.

Thanks
P.S I almost fell off my chair when I found out my entire case in total will weigh 18kgs or more rofl...

[Tsar]

dude If you look hard enough you can get a better pc for that amount. Then again I know people who give it to me at cost.

ps it all looks good. But |I heard people having issues with the 1gig radeon cards.

[Lethec]

Yeah sure, easy to get it cheaper as i said above, im more just looking for recommendations and suggestions for alternate products if people feel strongly about it etc.

[GReeN_ORB]

dude If you look hard enough you can get a better pc for that amount. Then again I know people who give it to me at cost.

ps it all looks good. But |I heard people having issues with the 1gig radeon cards.

What issues? I've been running radeon cards for about two years now, and i haven't had any problems?

Any way, back on topic, I'd pretty much go with JackBauer's suggestion, except I'd buy a higher-end mobo than the MSI X58-Pro. Your budget should stretch to something like the Eclipse plus... Oh, and I'd take Mushkin triple channel memory over the Patriot - better value for money

[JackBauer]

I would recommend something that works for me:

i920 = R3200
MSi x58 Pro M/Board = R1995
tri-channel patriot 3x2gb 1600 = R1900
Antec 1000W = R2900
Haf 932 = R1500
Sapphire 5870 = R4500
Corsair H50 watercooling = R1000

Still in your budget and kicks ass. My 920 runs at 4.2ghz at 44 degrees....

[Lethec]

I would recommend something that works for me:

i920 = R3200
MSi x58 Pro M/Board = R1995
tri-channel patriot 3x2gb 1600 = R1900
Antec 1000W = R2900
Haf 932 = R1500
Sapphire 5870 = R4500
Corsair H50 watercooling = R1000

Still in your budget and kicks ass. My 920 runs at 4.2ghz at 44 degrees....

Nice suggestion and I will run some comparisons. One main thing i don't like is the Water cooling.

[Gradius]

Honestly I think you are utterly wasting your money here.
You don't need to spend R18 000 to have a good gaming pc.
The best will only give u max 15fps extra, it is not worth it. believe me, i'v fallen for this trap before

CPU: AMD 965BE
MOBO: Asus Republic of Gamers III - AMD version
RAM: Corsair Dominators
GFX: HD5870
Tower: it's a preference

[JackBauer]

The main reason i chose the spesific model, it overclocks a gazillion times better than most other mboards on the market and is dirt cheap. If you have the money go for the i7 setup.

[Tinman]

I would recommend the Radeon HD 5870. It's just a more elegant solution than the dual 4890s, plus you have the option buy another in a year from now when the prices come down.

I assume you are playing games on super high resolutions?

My HD 5870 with a 955BE and 8GB DDR3 runs everything (bar Crysis) on Max settings, 8xAA at 1680x1050. I'm upgrading the monitor to 1920x1200 next weekend, will report back on my performance findings.

Oh and also, if I was spending that sort of dough Id want DX11 support.

[X-Gamer]

The motherboard you chose ( the nforce 790) is LGA775, the Core i7 920 uses a LGA1366 socket.

Also, if you want to crossfire ATi Cards then you'll need a Crossfire motherboard, not an SLi one.

And like others have mentioned, you would NEED a TRI channel memory kit to extract the best performance from the i7.

And try spending less on the PSU, that one is horrendously expensive. Same for the case.

Then like Tinman said, get an HD5870, DirectX11 FTW!!!

Tinman, have you gotten that new setup benched yet?