Why is everyone so in love with Vista? Always have used XP, never any of the issues a lot of poeple have with games. Gaming performance is also better since it's not such a resource hog. I don't get it, but nevermind.
Tip for better performance: get 2 HD's. Install OS on one, put page-file on the other. Gives a very minor benefit, but since you're throwing money at it like there's no tomorrow I figure you have the option to spend.
For excellent advice on these matters I can recommend
http://forums.guru3d.com/
You might wanna consider signing up there and posting your rig, they'll straighten you out. Especially picking MoBo can be tricky. I just stuck with a P35 chipset, SLI and such still seems far to fickle.
IMO: -If your gonna run Vista you might consider 4gb RAM.
-A good soundcard is a must for a gaming rig.
-Just buy E8400, spend the money you save on good cooler and overclock. Less money, same performance. Maximum CPU OC will be a little lower, but GPU is way more important.
-Scythe offers some excellent CPU coolers as well.
-Don't forget to order some high performance thermal paste/grease!
-Perhaps some cable-sleeving kits to tidy up inside and increase airflow. Nothing will kill the cooling capacity of your case like wires dangling all over the place.
-Alot of large fans is nice, but make sure they have good capacity (move a lot of air) and they don't sound like a jet-engine when you switch on your PC.
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Originally Posted by Seminole
My 3 SLIed 9800s crank out fantastic framerates .(SHIV for example,runs over 70fps in the middle of the biggest convoy attacks even with the enhanced effects mods installed) With all the games I play, some released back in 2000...and thats with eveything maxed out ...AA...Aniso...ect...ect..ect...I have seen nothing short of fantastic improvement in gameplayability.
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I manage the same on "old" p35 MoBo with 8800GTS 512. Not in terms of framerates, but certainly playability. Old games all maxed out, no stutters whatsoever in SH4 on max ingame settings + 16xAF and 4xMSAA (any more and sun halo disappears). SLI does however offer much benefit if you're gonna be running everything at 1600x1200; lot more bandwith available (still use old CRT monitor for better colours, max 1280x960 @70hz). Multi GPU also doesn't always work "as advertised".