Need advice for an i7 budget build around 1000-1500 CAD

[z258_14]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: during the next two weeks

BUDGET RANGE: Around 1000 but less than 1500 CAD, I don't want to compromise performance with budget, but I also don't want to spend too much

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Programming, Heavy simulations, MATLAB, VMWare, surfing the internet, watching movies

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: ncix.com, newegg, tigerdirect, ..., although I prefer the ncix so that I can ask them to assemble the parts for me

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

PARTS PREFERENCES: I prefer i7 920, but if it's an overkill I would go for i7 860 or an i5 750. I do want a good LCD preferrably 1920 x 1200 around 22-24" and don't mind spending a little extra for it (even if it goes a little over the budget).

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I would like a quiet and stable PC to use as a workstation, heavy simulations, most probably put linux on it and use windows through VMWare, so I prefer at least 6-8GB RAM. I don't think that I need a powerful GPU for now, but it would be nice to see how the newest games look like these days (the last time that I put more than half an hour on a game was about 10 years ago !).

 

[obsidian86]

Coolermaster cm 690 Mid Tower Black ATX Case 5X5.25 5X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound Firewire & eSATA

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26048

NCIX Gaming Bundle Deal Intel Core i7 920 D0 Processor & ASUS P6T SE X58 Motherboard

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=38832

BFG GeForce GTX 260 OC MAXCORE55 590MHZ 896MB 1.998GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I Video Card

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=38853&promoid=1051

OCZ Gold OCZ3G1600LV6GK 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL 8-8-8-24 Triple Channel Memory Kit

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35710&promoid=1051

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA2 3.5IN 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Hard Drive OEM

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=37232

amsung SyncMaster T240HD 24IN Widescreen LCD Monitor 1920X1200 5ms DVI VGA HDMI Component DTV Tuner

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=39287

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Fan 80PLUS Power Supply

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35456

Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22X DVD+-RW SATA DVD Writer Black OEM

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=41501

$1,608.79

 

[z258_14]

Hi obsidian86,

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. Although I am pretty comfortable when it comes to working with computers (have been doing low level programming for more than 15 years), selecting from different products in the market with diverse specs is so confusing for me. So forgive me if I am talking non-sense !

1. First of all, I was hoping to be able to get this done with less than 1200-1300, but after tax being added it goes for more than 1800, well I guess that's the price to pay for having a decent computer these days, but if there is a way to keep the prices down, please let me know.

2. Regarding the BFG GeForce GTX 260, I don't seem to be able to understand the high price tag on it, by paying 9$ more I can get the following cards with almost all the aspects higher than the BFG (not sure if those aspects are just marketing gimmicks or a real performance factor)

ASUS Radeon 4870 Dk 750MHZ 1GB 3.6GHZ DDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI HDCP HDTV Out Video Card

or

XFX Radeon HD 4870 750MHZ 1GB 3.6GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI HDCP Video Card

3. About Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB, I have read a lot of bad things regarding the faulty firmware of the seagate drives, I don't know if this one is among them or not, but what do you think about the following

Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM

Apart from the above concerns I am ok with the other selections, and will most probably buy them as soon as I get your/other members' views. Also if there is a promotion that I can take advantage right now please let me know.

Thanks a lot in advance,