Corsair 800DW Obsidian Gaming Build.

Hey there, I'm just another noob trying to get into the art of building himself a computer to fit my professional gaming needs. Im getting sick and tired of hearing the same old get an alienware excuse....for the hell of it Id thought I see if i could do it for cheaper.

These are the parts I would like to see:

Corsair 800DW Obsidian

Intel Core i7-980

Intel Desktop Board DX58S02

EVGA geforce GTX 580

Corsair Professional Series HX1050

I realize im missing key components but I am not very farmiliar with the compatibility of computer components. Will these parts so far work together? Or perhaps the professionals have another build that would suit my needs? Im looking for top performance. Money really isnt an issue however if a lesser version performs just as good then top of the line I would perfer to go with that.

Certainly glad that you've decided to build your own, but be aware that part of the extra money that Alienware charges isn't just for the name but for the building, tweaking, testing etc.

Your performance requirements are entirely dependant on what you want to do with the machine - for example, a six core CPU isn't going to perform 1/3rd faster in all games over a four core CPU.

I wouldn't recommend you pick up an LGA 1366 chip (The i7 980) right now. The two extra cores are not really worth the additional cost, and it will lock you to a board that cannot take the impending LGA 1155 Ivy Bridge chips (Q2 2012).

Your more up-to-date choices include the i7 2500K, the 2600K (both LGA 1155), or if you want the current extreme chip, the Sandy Bridge-E 3960X (12 cores, LGA 2011) or the slightly less extreme 3930K.

The i7 2500K is what you start with - if you want more power, you go to the 2600K (slightly higher stock-clock, but also has hyperthreading), then stepping on up to the 3930/3960 if you have the budget (and need the extra power).

As for GPUs, it depends on whether you want any of the frills - multi-screen setups (EyeFinity or Nvidia Surround) or 3D gaming. Currently, the 79xx series from ATI offer better performance/price over the 580/570, but Nvidia will be rolling out their new 600 series soon (sooner rather than later).

I'd recommend taking a look at a site like Maingear. They're prebuilt systems, like Alienware, but that is where the similarity ends. They're customisable to a far greater degree, have much better build quality (through the selection of decent components) and offer a better build for the same (or lower) price. Even if you don't buy from them, you can see what sort of specifications they offer and come up with a list of components based on that.

Also, don't forget you'll be wanting memory - Corsair Dominator, btw :p

Thank you for your quick reply. I have been doing some more research and this is what I have come up with:

Corsair Obsidian 800DW - 263.99

Intel Core i7 2600k - 359.34

Corsair Dominator DHX Pro - 269.99

Corsair Professional HX1050 - 239.99

Intel Desktop Board BP67BG - 189.99

EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Superclocked - 349.99 x2

Thats the list I got so far and by the looks of things I am pretty sure they are all compatable so far. If I am missing something or you see something that could be improved/ save me some money I would appreciate the critism.

I am also interested into the water cooling aspect of computers. What are some of the pros and cons with water cooling? Do I just purchase a kit to install? Is it difficult to install? Thanks.