Building my own gaming machine and need advice?

I am thinking of using the XFX nForce 680i SLI motherboard. Would you recommend this? There is so many on the market its so hard to choose. Then what CPU would you choose? Oh and would you go for the 1 big graphics card or 2 smaller ones. ThanksBuilding my own gaming machine and need advice?
I would not get a 680i board, that chipset had alot of problems and there are much better options out there. You would be better off getting an asus p5q pro p45 based board, or if you want sli, then evga 750i ftw edition, not regular 750i. As for the cpu an e8400 will be a great processor, coupled with a xigmatek s1283 heatsink, you will be good for at least 4ghz. And I would go with one big card (like a gtx280 or 4850x2), instead of getting multiple cards.Building my own gaming machine and need advice?
780i nvidia mobo


9800gx2 vid card


2x2gb g.skill ram


800w power supply


120gb 10k rpm hdd.
Realize that the 680i board does not support the 2 latest rounds of processors, the 45nm Wolfdale and Yorkfield, as well as the new Core i7 processors.





Personally, I have a Q9450 (yorkfield) and an HD4850. It runs my 22'; monitor great! But if I had a 24';, it'd be a little underpowered. If I had a 19';, it'd be overpowered. I have a quad core because I do rendering and video editing. This would not be appropriate for a true gaming computer. A dual core would be better. Just keep in mind the E8400 and up are 45nm and not supported on that 680i.





Really it takes a good pairing of CPU, Monitor and GPU. Let us know what monitor you have.
i would go 1 big graphic not smaller :) and that mobo is gd handles CFs and CPU, choose Intel Duo 3.0ghz or 3.2 but whoever u do But dont buy quad, technically There is NO games that require quad core.