Please advise on this computer configuration, Thanks

I'd like to pick ya'lls brains if you don't mind. I recently sold some of my camera equipment so I could build a new computer. I have around $1500 (I can go a little higher if it would be a better value upgrade). Following some of the discusions I have been reading I think this is what I'd like so far. I have priced most of this stuff through Newegg, they did me right the last time I bought computer parts ( all though that was back in the PATA days when a 256mb graphics card was CRAZY fast).CASE: Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $180 (I have read this one has lots of fans for lots of cooling)Power Supply: ABS Tagan ITZ Series ITZ800-V2 800W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $130MoBo: ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $140 -$20 if bought with the power supply = $120Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail $190Unless the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9450 is worth the extra money @$320 ($130 difference)GPU: XFX PVT98UZHF9 GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $350 (and maybe getting a Second one a little down the line)RAM: G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5S-2GBPQ - Retail X2 @$39 = $78 (Can I run 4 of these to get 8 gig?)Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $190 I will be running Vista 64. I think I would prefer a Quad core because I need to run Photoshop, Flash, a web browser and sometimes iTunes and/or Dreamweaver.Please let me know what you think. I would love sugestions. Once bought it will probably be at least 2 years, maybe 3 before I can upgrade from this rig so I need to make it last.Please advise on this computer configuration, Thanks
Looks good except I would go with the 6600 for sure and def. stay away from the 9800 gx2's(they run very hot) go with the gtx 280's. As for the ram i wouldn't get anything over 6GB with Vista64.
That's my 2 cents.


One more thing, try to go with EVGA for your NVidia cards because they have a really nice step up program that allows you to upgrade to a newer card for the price difference, sometimes less, if a new one comes out within 90 days of getting your current one.Please advise on this computer configuration, Thanks
Thanks alot for the input, your the second, maybe third, person to tell me to check out EVGA :)
Glad my opinion could be of some use to you. :)
EVGA 01G-P3-1284-AR GeForce GTX 280 SSC Edition 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card from New Egg is $500 EVGA 896-P3-1266-AR GeForce GTX 260 FTW Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card which is $350. Is it worth the extra cost of the GTX 280 over the GTX 260 ($150 dollars). It also looks like I may need to change motherboards, the one I was looking at supports crossfire but does say anything about SLI :(
you could go with ATI if you want to stick with that board and go with the 4870 or 4870x2, but at for the two you listed I've only personally used the GTX280 and think it to be one of if not the best card out from NVidia ATM.
Go with the 9800GX2 and run folding@home ;) BFG has a trade-up program for 100 days.
Good setup but first of all, YOU CANT RUN SLI ON Intel Chipset, at least not for P45/x48 because you have mentioned that you might go with another later..

Secondly, i dont really test ABS PSUs so if you are building good setup and paying good amount, i'd go with something more trusty and reliable such as Corsair, thermaltake and Silverstone..Finally, for GPU, ATI HD4xxx cards are better than nVidia at this point because of their performance/$$ ratio.. 4870 beat GTX260 and they are very close in prices.. And if you were looking for GTX280 for more performance then 4870x2 is way better and the price difference is worth it especially if you are going to game on High-Resolution
Thanks All, I will revize my build and post it again soon. I greatly appreciate all the advice so far. On a side note, I see a lot of mention of ''folding'', that sounds like something I would like to help out with but i'm concerned about the amount of bandwith used since Comcast enacted there caps. Anyone have an idea of the amount of data transfered?
If you have a metered connection don't even bother with it. It would be nice if you could help out with it though, but like I said if bandwidth is going to be an issue it was nice enough of you to think about doing it.
Comcast, proudly standing in the way of medical progress, lol