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Some bloody good suggestions in this thread - including the KVM which I somehow forgot about despite being familiar with the tech - Still, now I know what's possible I want to stick with one PC to maximize single-task performance FTM- from the feedback I might focus on a gaming machine that can manage 2-3 screens with a 4th for readouts as that should still be able to manage my VM requirements individually (with some extra performance in CPU & RAM over what a normal gaming rig would need). I could just run a slower game like CIV4-5 when I have the VM's running if that becomes an issue. What does everyone think about this build? (drawing on suggestions above) CPU: i7-990x ($1339) Mobo: ASRock X58 Extreme6 Motherboard ($255) - with USB 3, SATA3, & 3x PCIE16, this looks pretty attractive for the price range - anything fishy going on here? RAM:G-SKill Ripjaws 3x4x2 - run in 1600 on the 2200/1333/1066/800 mobo. How much performance variance between 1600-2200 MHZ RAM? ($378) GPU: Thinking about a single GTX590, depending on price point & performance from March 24. AMD is looking more attractive with the linux assurances - might 2XSLI some 6970's leaving room for a 3rd later. Or I could just do this with 2 6950's. Advice please. PSU: Zalman ZM1000-HP Plus ($275) SSD: Looking at a nice Vertex 3, 240GB or Vertex 3 Pro 200GB around march 23rd. HDD: 3x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 in RAID 5 (more for data loss prevention than speed) for 2TB total - This will mostly hold movies, old games, & swapped out games - will move newer games back into SSD before running. Still not sure if that justifies pairing SATA 2 drives with a SATA 3 mobo (the SATA 3 is for the SSD) ($177) Case: The HAF X looks good - but does anyone know any cases that come in non-black? I won't always have the luxury of running this one in a darkened room - just noticed that during the day in a room that gets a lot of sun, the black cases had a bunch more overheating issues. ($239) Total: $2663 before GPU & SSD. That leaves about $800 for GPU's and $600 for 200-240 GB of vertex 3. Will have to see how the prices work out to help decide between the March 23-24 new GPU & SSD releases or going with a larger number of older components. May well go to around $4500 (for an $1100 - $800 split) to fill this build out properly.

Hello all, I could really use some advice on putting together a high-performance gaming / working computer, dualboot Kubuntu Linux/Windows 7 64bit. I hope to be running several games as well as 3-4 virtual machines (mostly running windows XP & linux with 1-2GB of ram, some using SSH tunneling into work) at the same time (I like to multitask). I'd also like to SLI with 4 screens (this is apparently more difficult than it sounds). If that's asking too much, then the closer the better. Unfortunately, the last time I built a computer was 2003, so while I can physically assemble the components, I'm not up on component compatibility. Some specifics: Budget: $3000 soft cap, $4000 hard cap Purpose: Gaming, work (compiling code, router configuration, miscellaneous jobs & service logging through Service Now (http://www.service-now.com/)). Might also move into rendering. Location: Australia. This affects the budget a bit - about a 20% surcharge on components. But if someone posts a great $4000 USD system, I'll just have it shipped by an overseas shopping company (with the current strength of the AUD vs. USD, actually cheaper than buying locally) I'd like performance to be as snappy as possible, so that I can alt-tab out of a resources-hungry game and into a VM window without noticeable slowdown. As for some parts specifics, I'm looking at NVidia over ATI for the graphics card due to some apparent driver issues with ATI & linux. Unfortunately NVidia SLI seems to have some issues running more than 2 monitors at once. I'd like to be able to switch between 1-3 SLI-driven screens for games (including multi-monitor display for newer, prettier ones), using the remaining screens for system commands, work and VM's. I'd also like a full 4-panel extended desktop to use solely for work apps when I have to do multiple things at once. Having to switch from SLI to non-SLI mode to accomplish this would be a pain, but perhaps an unavoidable one. Finally, games run & resolutions. I'd like to get Metro 2033 & Crysis running at playable frame rates with the highest resolution possible, while retaining high graphics settings - keep in mind I want to run surround with 3 screens (again, if possible). Resolution slightly preferred over absolute quality - I'll turn the settings down if necessary to get a 3-screen spread. I'm also interested in some screen suggestions, but I'm interested in components first - I can scrounge 3-4 LCD's by replacing my older machine's displays with some dodgy CRT's. I'd be grateful for any help or suggestions. Cheers all