I too am back in the mood for a super-spec PC.
One thing I would advise is buy it with WinXP and get the voucher for Vista (so you can add Vista when you want). Dell will still not let customers pre-install Vista to a 'gaming' machine and other vendors have advised customers not to select Vista.
Unfortunatley, I never really got to test Blitz3D with my Ultra big-boy PC I bought a few months back.
However, I am still going to get the 8800 GTX with a 680i mobo - I think it wise to go for the 680i - however, I would advise you not to buy the Striker Extreme (which is what I did at the time). Personally, I am not currently considering an ATI card - I am adamant that my next card will be nVidia and I want the 8800 GTX.
I'd certainly go for the minimum of an E6600 Core 2 Duo - this benefits from double the cache of all the Core 2s below it. For me - it is Intel all the way at the moment - I will not install an AMD CPU whilst Core 2 is Larging itself. There is a rumour that Intel are going to reduce the prices of their Quad Core range later in the year - MAKE SURE YOUR MOBO CAN TAKE A QUAD CORE CPU - A Core 2 is fine for now - then later you can easily upgrade by just swapping it with a Quad Core - easy as that.
RAM - You want 2GB RAM (minimum) - make sure it is 2x 1GB. Get DDR2 and go for a miniumum of 6400 (800MHz) - BE WARNED faster speeds/bandwidth do not necessarily reap benefits - just make sure it is at least DDR2 (6400). April's PC Format (UK) has a DDR2 RAM Supertest if you want further info.
For me it is an Intel CPU with 680i mobo and a nVida card.
One thing I would advise is buy it with WinXP and get the voucher for Vista (so you can add Vista when you want). Dell will still not let customers pre-install Vista to a 'gaming' machine and other vendors have advised customers not to select Vista.
Unfortunatley, I never really got to test Blitz3D with my Ultra big-boy PC I bought a few months back.
However, I am still going to get the 8800 GTX with a 680i mobo - I think it wise to go for the 680i - however, I would advise you not to buy the Striker Extreme (which is what I did at the time). Personally, I am not currently considering an ATI card - I am adamant that my next card will be nVidia and I want the 8800 GTX.
I'd certainly go for the minimum of an E6600 Core 2 Duo - this benefits from double the cache of all the Core 2s below it. For me - it is Intel all the way at the moment - I will not install an AMD CPU whilst Core 2 is Larging itself. There is a rumour that Intel are going to reduce the prices of their Quad Core range later in the year - MAKE SURE YOUR MOBO CAN TAKE A QUAD CORE CPU - A Core 2 is fine for now - then later you can easily upgrade by just swapping it with a Quad Core - easy as that.
RAM - You want 2GB RAM (minimum) - make sure it is 2x 1GB. Get DDR2 and go for a miniumum of 6400 (800MHz) - BE WARNED faster speeds/bandwidth do not necessarily reap benefits - just make sure it is at least DDR2 (6400). April's PC Format (UK) has a DDR2 RAM Supertest if you want further info.
For me it is an Intel CPU with 680i mobo and a nVida card.