Someone said not to trust geek squad, but that is the only group around here that I know of that's willing to build computers. anyone else have any views about getting them to build my comp? it seems that I can ask people on this forum what to get from newegg, and that should be enough to make certain they build the right computer! also I think they have a warranty on their build, and I won't have to pay for six months.

sounds a lot cheaper than digital storm, I imagine?

also if I get a i7 920 with a gtx295 graphics card does it matter if I go SLI (or Crossfire or whatever it's called)? do I need to get them to overclock or is that too dangerous? also is it ok to have a fan or do I need to go with liquid cooling? do I need a new power source? thanks, gentlemen

I'm glad people have had good experiences with digital storm (tell me if any other opinions) does anyone know if they have a policy where you don't have to pay for six months or so? i don't see that on their website.

one idea is call best buy and have geek squad build your computer using new egg parts they said they would do it for just over a hundred bucks anyone had that experience? i simply don't have the time or interest to build one, but this option seems cheaper than going with a computer from a website

darn, I don't want to have to wait until the summer, but it sounds like that is the best option! i want to future proof as much as possible and having dx11 capacity is probably smart since I only change computers every 5-6 years.

however, if I bought a i7 920 now with a gtx 280 card (rather than the 295 card), I assume i could buy an updated card with dx11 capacity in a year or so, and not have to buy anything else such as new motherboard or memory? i figure that is cheaper than buying a core duo now, then an entire i7 system a year from now. thanks

there were many positive reviews on newegg but the ones below were negative. again please clarify about dx11 and other questions. thanks

Cons: Expensive, hot, insane power draw, absolutely no support for next gen graphics features like DX11, so it will be technicaly obsolete in about nine months when Windows 7 drops.

Why spend $500 when you can get a compeling high range card for about $159 right now?

Crysis your game maybe? Okay, The 4850 is only going to push it at 60 FPS in medium settings, but everything else can crank to high and run your monitors refresh.

Sorry, you just can't offer me any evidence that running faster offers you any real world value, its just a benchmark braging right. Thats okay, I will keep an extra $340 for me or my customers that ask what a good value is.

Cons: For $500, I would want something future proof, this is not it. No real next gen graphics features, not DX 11, Windows 7 ready. Realy its just a bloated GTX 280 SLI. Runs very, very hot, Nvidia reference heatsink can not handle it, I expect many heat related failures from this line. Other than in Crysis, I could not see any real world performance bennefit comparied to a single GTX260/280 or 4850 or 4870. Other games may go faster than the monitor can refresh, but what is that realy buying you for the money? If crysis is your game, and you absolutely must crank every visual setting, the GTX295 might have value, otherwise, you would be just as well to spend about $200 on a single GTX260 or Radeon 4850 which perform very well, and draw considerbly less power. I have seen 4850 designs with dual slot copper heat pipes that don't load much more than 50C, the GTX295 burns at 90+C, its hot!! And a 650 watt supply is required with a massive 12volt rail, its just not efficient.

Other Thoughts: Like I said, I am not disputeing that the card is a speed deomon, it is, but there are far, far better values in the graphics market right now to be spending $500 on a card that offers no real next gen features, and that runs as hot, and draws as much power as this one does. The market has much better options, right now, my price to performance winners have to be the GTX260 and the Radeon 4850, if you get the 4850 spend a few dollars more on one with copper heat pipes for a cooling solution and you will be very pleased, unless you have to run Crysis at top specs. Also if your running anything other than a bleeding edge Intel i7 or AMD Phenom II based system, I don't see the value in bottlenecking this monster, it just does not offer you a good upgrade path, look elsewhere.