Suggest Configuration for Rs.75000-80000

1) APC 650VA UPS: 3k

2) Dell 228WFP : 15k

3) Intel Quad Core Q9450 : 15k

5) ASUS P5Q Pro : 8.5k

6) 2x2Gb Kingston DDR2 800 RAM: 3k

7) Western Digital 640Gb HDD: 3.5k

8) sony/samsung DVD writer: 1.1k

9) Cooler Master Elite 330 cabinet: 1.8k

10) CoolerMaster Extreme Power 600W : 3.5k

11) Sapphire HD4870 : 18k

12) Logitech Cordless Keyboard + Mouse MX 3200 Laser: 4k

13) Speakers based on you budget (Logitech/Altec Lansing/Creative)

Oh I forgot -
I already have a dvd writer and speaker set so i don't need them.Thank you
Any other ideas?

Here is a solution for you that would last for not 2yrs but 5yrs.

Get a decent PC for 40k + PS3/xbox360.

Thank you.........but I don't think the gaming consoles appeals to me that much.......
And moreover I need all the cpu gpu power for my software projects on general parallelism.....

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300
ASUS P5Q
2x2GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
MSI GTX280
CoolerMaster Centurion 590
Corsair HX620W PSU
Dell E228WFP 22" LCD Monitor

totals to 78k. You can buy some cheap keyboard/mouse combo like Logitech Gaming G1 for 1.4k. Still leaves you 600bucks behind!!

desi's config,
you can get 640GB from Seagate to is good.
Get Dell 24 inch monitor, soon the 2xx9 series will come.
Check Dell 2209 or 2409.
Dell 2409 price is quoted equal to 2208WFP so if it comes exactly same it will come in 16-17K in here.
bought Seagate 32 MB Buffer 640GB HDD, in 3650 bucks

Also I checked in Staples(Bangalore) they got Dell 24 inch monitor, said me price of 18K and around 19.5K total with taxes.

^^Dont u think he should get a GTX280 with such a high budget?

22" lcd monitor is good for gaming....go for it

KPower Mania said:

^^Dont u think he should get a GTX280 with such a high budget?

Click to expand...

GTX280 costs 13k more than HD4870 and I think that amount can be invested in something else like getting another HD4870 after a year or so to get more out of games.

^^Ya... ok then, go with HD4870 SONIC 1GB and Dell 248WFP 24" LCD.

Hey guys.........great news.Budget has been upped to about 90000!!!!!!!!!

Any good idea?
Should i get a water cooler and do some heave overclocking or should I go for more graphics power?

then, wait for another week. Intel Core i7 will be released.

Release date: November 17

Nehalem represents the largest architectural change in the Intel x86 family since the Pentium Pro in 1995. The Nehalem architecture has many new features. The ones that represent significant changes from the Core 2 include:

* The FSB is replaced by a QuickPath interface. This means that motherboards must use a chipset that supports QuickPath. As of October 2008[update], only the Intel X58 does this.
* The memory controller is on the processor, not in a separate chip, so the memory is directly connected to the processor.
* The memory controller supports three channels of memory, and each channel can support one or two DDR3 DIMMs. This means that motherboards for the Core i7 have three or six DIMM slots instead of two or four, and that DIMMs should be installed in sets of three, not two.
* The Core i7 only supports DDR3.
* Core i7 is a single-die device: all four cores, the memory controller, and all cache are on a single die.
* Core i7 cores re-implement Hyper-threading. Each of the four cores can process two threads simultaneously, so the processor appears to the OS as eight CPUs. This feature was present in the older Netburst architecure but was dropped in Core.
* Core i7 has an on-die shared 8MB L3 cache.
* Core i7 is not intended for multi-processor motherboards, so it has only one QuickPath interface.
* Core i7 uses 45nm process technology.
* Core i7 has 731M transistors.

three models will be released first and this is the expected price:

1) Core i7 920 2.66GHz at $284
2) Core i7 940 2.93GHz at $562
3) Core i7 965E 3.2GHz extreme edition at $999

^^Cool.

Rs 14k approx for the first model...

yes. And the performance is gain is very high over existing core2quad models.

On the other hand, there will be price drop for existing core2quad models. (donno when that is going to happen)

If you have 90k in hand, better get Nehalem a.k.a Core i7 as it is just around the corner.

$ value too will get better in a week or two which means that you will get h/w at better price.

And what about the cost of mobo and DDR3 RAM ? Are their prices also going to be cut ?

Should be. Their usage is going to increase na.

It's better to play a wait and watch game. for a 30k-40k computer, I wouldn't suggest to wait but for 90k budget, it's worth to wait and get the rig once i7 comes out.

As you can see my first preference has been Bloomfield(NEHALEM).It's just awesome..................
But there are a few concerns regarding it.

1. The price ranges you have stated are valid for orders of 1000 procies from intel and retailers at the beginning often charge a premium.The i7 920 has been up there in US for preorder for about $450!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe that it'll take a good 2-3 months for the prices to gain sanity.But may be when it is actually launched ,it will be available at a better price.....so as you said it's best to wait and watch.But there are two more pressing issues.

2. The Motherboard manufacturers will be too eager to get their highest performing boards at first.....the lowest features can be seen on the MSI platinum x58.....but it's still one hell of a board.And there is going to be no mainstream chipset of the smackover(x58) like x48 had p45......the mainstream boards P55 are going to be launched with LGA1160 socket supporting Lynnfield and Havendale processors.
So maybe I'll have to churn out more than 40k for the mobo/procy combo alone.

3. Then there is the sweet little devil - ddr3 .
The ddr3 prices are going to drop when there is huge demand. I don't think that's going to happen until we see mass adoption of the nehalem procies.And for the price of 4gb ddr3 I can get hold of About 12 GB of DDR2!!!!!!!!!!

4. Then early adoption can often be marred by immature chipsets and processor bugs.
While chipset prob solns. will be only a BIOS update away .... I can't replace my processor for the later ones with better steppings.

5. And for the price drop..........INTEL has already dropped the prices recently and has set the stage for the bloomfield launch. The Q9400 , Q9550 and Q9650 have replaced Q9300,Q9450 and Q9550 at the same price points.And for the price of thousands the i7 920 is pitted against the Q9550(as per price) but performance wise beats the QX9770 marginally most of the time and sometimes falls between QX9770 and QX9650. But cosidering the premium of adoption at this stage...........i can say that the Q9550 oc to 3.4ghz can beat the i7 920 at a better price.
But these cons are far outweighed by the pros .....like the radically new architecture and the potential it holds and not to mention that the latest technolgy will soon be a thing of past.
And though oc with QPI and TURBO mode will be tricky...I bet it will oc like hell and will beat everything up against it.

Seems like the Core 2 Quad prices will drop again in the near future but when will the new pricing be reflected in the INDIAN market?????

I'm really confused........................please help me out considering all the points

Another thing www.core-i7.com states that the nehalem will be officially launched on 3rd NOV though tom's hardware and Anandtech states that it'll be 17th.

if that is the case, go for the rig now itself.

For 90k:

1) Q9400 - (12MB L2 cache 2.66Ghz 1333MHz FSB) Rs.14k
2) ASUS P5Q Pro : Rs.8.5k (I won't suggest spending more than 10k for mobo)
3) Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 (2 X 2GB DDR2 800MhZ C5) : 5k
4) 2x 500Gb seagate sata2 HDD's with 32MB buffer: 7k (put them in RAID 0)
5) Dell 248WFP (order to be place from Dell online) : 17k
6) Thermaltake Xaser VI MX Series : 7k
7) Corsair 750W Power Supply(CMPSU750TX) : 7k
8)Palit HD4870 Sonic 512MB DDR5 256Bit Dual Slot Cooler: 17k
9) Logitech Dinovo Edge Cordless Keyboard : 9k (
10) Razer LACHESIS 4000dpi 3G laser mouse:4.5k
11) APC 650VA UPS: 3k

Logitech Dinovo edge: *www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/192&cl=US,EN

Refined, minimalist design: Laser cut from a single, semi-translucent piece of black Plexiglas® and set into a brushed-aluminum frame, the diNovo Edge keyboard makes a bold statement in the office or the living room.
* TouchDisc™ navigation: Move a finger up and down or across the disc to move the cursor. Move a finger in a circular motion around the perimeter of the TouchDisc to scroll horizontally and vertically through documents.
* Premium typing experience: Logitech's PerfectStroke™ key system makes each keystroke fluid and natural.
* Media controls: A touch-sensitive volume slider makes it easy to quickly adjust the computer's volume.
* Rechargeable: No need to replace batteries. Simply place the keyboard in the charging base – a two-hour charge yields up to two months of battery life.



Razer Lachesis:

* 4000dpi Razer Precision 3G Laser™ sensor
* 32KB Razer Synapse™ onboard memory
* Nine independently programmable Hyperesponse™ buttons
* 1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response time
* On-The-Fly Sensitivity™ adjustment
* Variable true dpi setting adjustments in increments of 125dpi
* Always-On™ mode
* Ultra-large non-slip buttons
* 16-bit ultra-wide data path
* 60-100 inches per second
* Ambidextrous design
* Scroll wheel with 24 individual click positions
* Zero-acoustic Ultraslick™ Teflon feet
* Gold-plated USB connector
* Seven-foot, lightweight, non-tangle cord
* Approximate size: 129mm (length) x 71mm (width) x 40mm (height)

^^Instead of wasting on all of that, why not buy a Palit HD4870 1GB SONIC eh ?

^^ what do you say about that last config?? any modifications?

^^HD4870 1GB dude... it will rock !!

BTW, I had an insane idea. What if he gets a good C2D like E8400 and a XFX 790i board with 4GB of DDR3 1333Mhz RAM. What he can do later is just shift his mobo/proccy and he will already have RAM and a med range card (by then.... Mar '09 or somewhere) card. But this is just and insane idea remember. What say ?

Nice config by desii

I strongly recommend waiting for nehalem. .u've got a good enough budget for 4 gb DDR3 even when the prices are sky high. chipset being immature is something that we cant foresee. i think it wont kill u if u wait till this month end by which time we'll have all the info about nehalem. if nehalem is out of budget or chipsets aint good enough , then get a C2Q with 8 gb of DD2 . .i'm strongly against corsair tx750W. . 3.3 v and 5v regulation is not very tight. heatsinks arent that good. .temp reaches 75 C inside psu itself !! and tx750W is manufactured by CWT and not seasonic . .i think hx series or antec models may fair better. . .i'll dig up more info and get back here. .

update 1 :

with such a budget , i think going for X-fire will give you maximum gain. . radeon 4850 cross fire seems to hit the sweet spot at 21k . comes close to 4870x2 . .this also means that u HAVE to get a X-fire supporting mobo....

have a look at these charts and u'll be blown away by the performance of 4850 crossfire. .way better than 4870 1gb model too.
and x-fire scaling is only going to improve with upcoming games.

*www.guru3d.com/category/vga_charts_stalker_quake_wars/

and 4850 palit sonic model with dual slot cooler should take care of temps even in X-fire. get a good cabby like CM 690 which is roomy and has good air circulation..

more reviews :

4870 vs. 4850 crossfire : *www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hard...0-hd4850-crossfire-performance-review-11.html

notice that as resolution increases , crossfire is scaling even better. .u'll be probably playing at 1920x1200 or 1680x1050. .

particularly pay attention to the games you play and make the choice. .in my opinion , 4850 crossfire is winning. .
and quite a lot of guys agree with me
*www.tomshardware.com/forum/255670-33-4870-4850-crossfire

you can decide on the proccy and mobo after nehalem comes and all x58 boards will have crossfire support. .

2 . now to decide on the display and psu. i'll read up on psu's but for the money that u pay tx750w aint a good enough psu. .its a fine model and will support ur config but aint worth the money. . lets hunt for a better psu.

KPower Mania said:

^^HD4870 1GB dude... it will rock !!

BTW, I had an insane idea. What if he gets a good C2D like E8400 and a XFX 790i board with 4GB of DDR3 1333Mhz RAM. What he can do later is just shift his mobo/proccy and he will already have RAM and a med range card (by then.... Mar '09 or somewhere) card. But this is just and insane idea remember. What say ?

Click to expand...

yes.

take a look at Q9400.

6MB L2 cache
2.66GHz
1333MHz FSB

and if he can pay another 3k more, he can get Q9450 which runs at 2.86GHz and has whopping 12Mb L2 cache. With a little bit of overclocking, this processor beats Core2Quad Extreme edition

That would blow away any competition.

and DDR3 2Gb module price is around 8k right now.

Do a slight modification to the rig.

Get Q9450 processor.

Remove Logitech Dinovo Edge and get Logitech gaming multimedia keyboard for 4k.

Coming to DDR3. It's price will come down after the introduction of Nehalem.

^^Ideazone Merc Keyboard for 2.8k. Just google and see the images, you will fall in love with it !!

Great Idea thanks......that crossfire one.
I had seen the reviews but was till now very skeptical about CF scaling.But as everyone has suggested ......... I'll wait and watch for some coming weeks...........
It'll be foolish to spend so much money hastily.
And btw, did you know that the intel NDA is ending on 4th of November? So we can expect to see official and legal reviews of the i7 processor in all its glory very soon.Can hardly waithttp://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif.

Thanks guys for all your work. As the new models come to the market and the situation stabilises I'll have to count upon you all for gettting the most VFM.*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif

glad u approve of my views..

corsair hx620W appears to be the best psu for the config u r intending to buy.

*www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hard...0-hd4850-crossfire-performance-review-15.html

4850 crossfire is taking about 200W in idle and efficiancy of corsair hx620w is maximum at 250W load ( 88% ). so u're good there.. the load power is well within 400W , so no issues there. .corsair hx620 can handle load upto 700W easily. .

*www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/371/9

The tx750W gives out about 60 mV of ripple at medium loads and gives upto 90 mV of ripple near full load. its pretty close to the max of 120 mV as power atx specs. .have a look.

*www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/505/5

In view of all these , i strongly recommend corsair hx620W.

and oh , will the OP be coming back to check this thread or is it to be closed ?

^^ Dude. What you mentioned is pretty good. But don't you think 620W will be too basic for a crossfire setup.

That too Core2Quad and dual HD4850 take lot of power.

just my two cents.

For single HD4850, a 500W PSU is necessary. I think you need atleast a 700W PSU for a crossfire setup.

^^ yes , even i used to think like that. .but my views have changed after seeing the numbers in reviews. .

*www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...review-15.html

here a Core2Extreme is used which i think consumes more power than c2q.


and here

*www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3354&p=8

and here's the testbed used *www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3354&p=3 . again a C2extreme ! . . and still power consumption under load is around 300 W . .even having a 100W margin of safety , corsair hx620 will pull it off easily. . .even a gtx280 SLI is consuming less than 550W !!!!

and lets remember that a 1000W psu will have max efficiancy around 400W and a 620W psu will have max efficiancy at around 250W .. if general usage is 200watt and the load being 400W , 620W psu is definitely my choice.. and the corsair tx750W has simply too much of ripple. .90 mV !! thats not at all good. .

^^ Dude. don't come to a conclusion based on reviews.

My config is there in my sig. And after getting HD2600XT, extra HDD, I had to upgrade to 450W SMPS from 400W. I was unable to use my Creative soundcard with the 400W SMPS. After getting 450W SMPS, everything is working fine.

yes. sometimes 400W may work out. But that is not the case everytime. Once you start playing a graphic intense game, you do need a stable and continuous supply to every component on your PC and that is when the need of bigger SMPS kicks in.

And yes, I still do believe that you need to have a 700W SMPS for that CF config.

and BTW, HD4850 CF setup itself eats 300W power at normal load

at some reviews, the power consumption goes to 400W, sometimes goes to 376W

^HX620W will be more than enough....

@desiibond ,
No offense meant at all. I too had to change my psu from zebby 400W to CM 500W for the pathetic 8600GT to work without shutdowns .May i enquire as to the brand of the 400W you used which made you switch to a 450W psu ? i feel pretty confident you're pc ( for that matter , even mine ) will run perfectly fine on a antec earthwatts 380W psu.

If the op ( is he returning to this thread ? ) is still paranoid as many people going for X-fire are , then certainly 750W or higher psu will do very well .. A guy willing to pay that much money for his pc is not likely to bother about few percent decrease in efficiancy resulting in what ? 10rs increase in monthly electricity bill a month?

But i still feel corsair tx750W isnt a good choice. .
1. not good enough heatsink design. .temp inside psu reaches 75C ..
2. Too much ripple on the 12 volt rails..

corsair hx620w seemed to be good enough. .but higher wattage , yet low ripple , modular psu's are more than welcome.. might see the review of CM real power pro 850W , corsair hx1000W , antec 850W and above models.. but IMHO , he doesnt need them and is better off spending that money he saves buying a hx620w instead of a costlier psu on a asus sonar card or perhaps a custom cooler for the gfx card ..

Tagan 700W ?

sagargv said:

@desiibond ,
No offense meant at all. I too had to change my psu from zebby 400W to CM 500W for the pathetic 8600GT to work without shutdowns .May i enquire as to the brand of the 400W you used which made you switch to a 450W psu ? i feel pretty confident you're pc ( for that matter , even mine ) will run perfectly fine on a antec earthwatts 380W psu.

If the op ( is he returning to this thread ? ) is still paranoid as many people going for X-fire are , then certainly 750W or higher psu will do very well .. A guy willing to pay that much money for his pc is not likely to bother about few percent decrease in efficiancy resulting in what ? 10rs increase in monthly electricity bill a month?

But i still feel corsair tx750W isnt a good choice. .
1. not good enough heatsink design. .temp inside psu reaches 75C ..
2. Too much ripple on the 12 volt rails..

corsair hx620w seemed to be good enough. .but higher wattage , yet low ripple , modular psu's are more than welcome.. might see the review of CM real power pro 850W , corsair hx1000W , antec 850W and above models.. but IMHO , he doesnt need them and is better off spending that money he saves buying a hx620w instead of a costlier psu on a asus sonar card or perhaps a custom cooler for the gfx card ..

Click to expand...

You got me. Moved away from Zebronics cabinet.

Anyways, your suggestions looks good. Let's fix at 620W Corsair.

^^
cheap psu's have given me nightmares.and another cheap psu was giving out waves on my monitor everytime load became high. .it took me quite a while to realize it was a problem with the psu..

what is your view about intel making different sockets for mainstream and enthusiast proccys ?

@kpower mania , a few reviews and price will help the OP , i suppose..

^^Leave it. Price is too high.

core i7 reviews are out.

sisoft sandra and everest shows that it's on a whole new level when compared to core2Quad.

Start real world tests like video encoding, ripping and zipping.

Video encoding: yes, they are blazing fast.

Word is that core i7 920, the cheapest processor will be priced at probably around $315 on the street.

I think it will be the processor to eye for.

Q9450 (18k is the current price) is no match for 920. It's neck-to-neck with 920 in gaming but when it comes to video encoding and in tasks that fully utilize multi core processors, it's way behind 920.

This is going to make life even worse for AMD as the 920 is 1.5x to 2x times faster than the fastest AMD phenom quad core.

But but but but

don't get excited.

the mobo and RAM for core i7 costs a bomb right now.

My prediction is that core i7 will start dictating terms from February or so. It is a very tricky situation for those who want to buy h/w now.

Now, kpower's advice to get E8400 for 8k based rig makes lot lot lot lot more sense.

core i7 need a new socket.

so, get a basic setup for now.

1) Processor: E7200 for 5.5k or E8200 for 7.5k
2) Motherboard: MSI P45 Neo-F: 5k
3) 2x2Gb Kingston DDR2 800Mhz RAM: 3k

If I have 90k in hand, I will not waste money on processor and mobo right now.

I will get one that has good resale value, wait for nehalem to stabilize (3-4 months), sell of current mobo proccy RAM and then get a killer proccy setup.

^^Dude, I said he can get a 790i mobo and DDR3 RAM so he wont have to buy RAM if he upgrades but your idea pwns mine.... go for a mid range setup.

yes. he can go for 790i mobo. but what will be the resale value of that mobo and how many will be interested later to buy it?

if it's mass h/w like MSI P45 Neo and ASUS P5Q board, there will be lot of hands to get it later when he puts it on sale and he will not lose much.

all the 790i boards cost 20k or more and 780i boards cost 15k. Once core i7 settles, selling this board will be a headache and he will lose atleast 4k-5k. And for a 5.5k board, if he sell after 4-5 months, he may lose maybe 1k-2k, not more than that.

Just my two cents.

PS: It will be really stupid now to go for core2Quad high end setup.

^^If its a temp. setup then why not XFX 630i and E7200 plus 2GB RAM ?

yes. that i even better

the least you pay, the much better it is.

And ya, if he has money, he can keep this low cost PC and but an i7 one later.....

KPower Mania said:

^^If its a temp. setup then why not XFX 630i and E7200 plus 2GB RAM ?

Click to expand...

Or even better, replace XFX630i with a P31 motherboard (which costs 2.5K compared to 630i's 3.5K) along with a 1K cooler (which would have very high resale value and needn't even be sold) ?

Then he can go on an OC rampage and drive the E7200 up to 4GHz

And since games are not yet optimised for quad cores, he can keep this 4GHz rig for easily one year, and then, when Nehalem becomes truly mainstream and quad core gets supported by most games, he can upgrade. Till then, even if he buys a HD4850X2, it wouldn't be a bad investment because the same card would be valid even an year later.

^^yep. get the best VFM mobo+cpu+RAM for now.

Get the best of everything else.

how about sparing a few more bucks for an APC 800VA instead of 650VA one?

Desibond,

Are you sure you can get the Dell 248 for 17k? They quoted 19.5 a few days ago.

They quote TOO much alwayz!

Unless you can wait for Coer i7 to release. My current signature is the best high end configuration you can think of out of which you can replace the CPU with E8600 and GPU with HD4870 or GTX260. Don't go for current quad cores as wolfdale is much better for gaming compared to present quad cores because they can be overclocked very well. All you need is a good Heat Sink. Go for ThermalRight Ultra Extreme with a decent 120 MM Fan that will always keep CPU temprature in check and be a major factor in Over Clocking

Best thing is to wait for i7 ATM

and also to wait for HD4850 X2 that is reported to beat GTX280 fairly.

desiibond said:

and also to wait for HD4850 X2 that is reported to beat GTX280 fairly.

Click to expand...

Who told you that??

*www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1362151

GTX280 cards are in line up with HD4870X2. Even an HD4870 of 1GB Version can easily outperform an HD4850X2

^^ Just wait and watch.

AMD took it's time to make HD4850 X2 to kick GTX280.

*www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/11/05/first-look-sapphire-radeon-hd-4850-x2-2gb/3

*www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=16197&page=7

And there are many other reviews.

Both cards are neck to neck for normal resolution but once you turn on AA, 4850 X2 goes ahead of GTX280.

Only God can save nVidia now!!!

2 x HD4850
2 x 800 Stream Processors
2 x 1024M/2 x 256bit GDDR3 Memory Interface (2 x 512M/ 2x 256bit GDDR3 Memory Interface)
625MHz engine/993 MHz(1986 Mbps) memory
DL-DVI-I x 4/HDTV out
Dual Slot ATX Form Factor
Dual Slot Cooler with Dual FAN and fan speed control
DirectX 10.1
ATI CrossFireX™ Technology
Unified Video Decoder 2
PCI Express 2.0
HDMI with 7.1 surround sound.
HDCP
2 x 3 pin power connector+ 3 x 4 pin power connector

4850X2 is like 2 HD4850s in CrossFire mode. It was designed to be in line up with GTX 260 and HD4870. GTX280 is the next Level Card

HD4870X2 is the one which is in line-up with GTX280. Although it is faster than 280 and has more memory, but a lot of people have reported complaints about it consuming more power, getting more heated up and sometimes all the 2 cores don't synchronize together

*www.hardforum.com/showthread....D4870X2+GTX280

Well well,
75K to 80K !!!

Well am not sure about the current price, but if i were with his budget i wouldn't wait for nehelam or X58, instead go for the ones running the market rite now.

It would be like...

Q9650
Any good X48 motherboard with just 3 16X crossfire slots.
640GB HDD with 32MB cache
24" Dell
2 HD 4870s (2X1GB) (manually over clocked ) with water cooling kit (yeah... not the X2 one)
1 8600GT or better just for the nVidia CUDA and PhysX. (I have seen reviews, dont remember where this actually works).
4 GB corsair DDR3 ram
corsair 1000W PSU and CM cabby
Logitec G5 series mouse and keyboard.

OOps might have overshot budget..

check:

Q9550
MSI P45 Platinum Zilent
640GB
24" Dell
1 4850X2 2GB GDDR3
1 8600GT DDR3
4GB Corsair DDR3
cooler master cabby with 750 W PSU
Razer Keyboard Mouse Pair.


4850X2 is gonna be a lot cheaper than GTX280 with a lot better eprformance. I am not sure about other games, but i saw the benchmarks for FarCry 2 and Crysis... the so called NVIDIA favouring games... and its better than 280 in those games. I have a clear winner in my eyes. For old games that do not support crossfire... you would get too high a frame rate with a single HD4850 itself taht you would never miss the other graphics core.

^^4850x2 doesn't need crossfire.