Need advice on how to blow my tax refund!

With Rift and SWTOR on the way I've decided to build a new gaming PC to enjoy all the pretty eye candy my old system can't handle. The last system I built was probably five years ago, so I'm a little out of touch on what's good and what's over-kill.
If anyone has any suggestions on my picks, let me know!

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case A case a friend has sitting in the garage and will let me have for free...so the price is just right!

ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard Because it has the word sabertooth in it! (Actually have a ASUS in my other system and it's never had a problem...and it has the word sabertooth in it!)

EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card lil bit (VERY) pricey and will probably take a few more paychecks to save up for, but hopefully have it by SWTOR

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950 also pricey but at least its not the one for $999.99

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Nothing witty to say here...insert your own mass pr0n storage joke

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional 70SB088600002 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card Not sure if this is needed anymore. The motherboard has intergrated sound, but no idea how good it is...course I'm still using a sound card from a dell I ripped apart, so I'm sure anything will sound better

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory First system that will have Windows 7 (and a legal copy at that!), will probably start with 4g and upgrade as needed

I have a new 650 or 750w power supply, anyone know if thats enough? Might upgrade to a 850w for the 1.21 Giggawatts (Jigowatts?!?) of electricity I need to power that video card.

Think that's about all I can afford if I want to eat in Feb and March...Suprisingly this is about $500 less then my last system and makes my old rig look like a Amiga 1200 That makes me want to go play Monkey Island...

Wow. I think this setup makes half of NASA's computers look like Amiga. It's certainly overkill for RIFT, unless you plan to use very high resolution monitors. The power supply should be OK unless you run two 580s in the SLI mode.

I went with Sandy bridge Core i5-2500 which brings similar performance, but is lil cheaper. Unfortunately, Intel pulled socket 1155 motherboards from the market because of a chipset bug. You can compare performance of two CPU's here. For gaming, socket 1366 CPUs are preferred anyway.

The computer I'm using atm I built about 4 months ago. It's not quite top of the line like what you're talking about, but it ain't bad.

MSI 890 FXA-GD70 Motherboard
AMD Phenom II x6 1055T Thuban CPU
Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler
SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV02-BW Case
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W PSU
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) SDRAM DDR3 1333
2x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM Hard disks
EVGA 01G-P3-1373-AR GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked
ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" Widescreen LCD

Plus all of the other normal additions that make a computer more than a gaming rig.

Tal, you'll need three memory modules for optimal performance since socket 1366 CPUs have triple channel memory controller.

Well, I am looking at building a new system prior to launch as well, and I a bit like you have looked at this, and that and not 100% sure on which way to go......I see all this mean power.......and wants it.....oooh I wants it......but then I think. Hmmmm.....Do I really need that much to run anything, and just how far is it from having a kick ass system, to being insanely overpowered? lol

Well, we know for example, that this will run on a system as poor as that spectrum you had when you were 5, much in the same way as WoW does, so ultimately, power? You don't really need a huge amount. Graphics wise SW:TOR is not going to be as stunning as such AoC or LOTRO, so top end GFX is not overly needed.

That said, a good GFX will help with rubber banding and other ping/lag issues so worth it in my book.

Personally, though not sourced the final choices here, I am looking to build an i7 system, full DDR3 (At least 6 gig of it) And then its the usual ATI Vs Nvdia arguement in my head. ATI so quick...But brittle, Nvdia stunning GFX's but sooooo expensive in comparison to ATI.....hmmm...

All I would say if you are looking to build you new rig and want it to run as smooth as possible, is to ensure the motherboard you run is up to the task. I have long been an advocate that the single most important thing on a PC is the actual motherboard your running it on. You can buy all the other top end stuff you like, but if the motherboard is pants, you will never see the full benefit of all those shiny little gadgets you put onto it.

This is the bundle I am looking at getting as my starting platform.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-030-OB

I already have this as my PSU

Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750TXUK)

And then like I said, its down the GFX i use really? And honestly this is one area I am still very unsure on as yet, part of me wants to go for 1 big bad boy MOFO GFX, the other to take two slightly smaller and SLI....hmmmmm.....

Ok....am looking at this now for my GFX.....nice.......

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-153-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

hmmmmmmmmm......lol.....glad my credit card is not in my wallet right now......hahaha

Thanks for the replies all, especially the tripple channel bit...tottaly missed that one >_>
Now I just need Newegg and my Visa to get along...got the motherboard ordered but none of the others went through, Guess I'll have a shiny new paper weight till I get it figured out. At least it says Sabertooth on it!

I am in a similar boat in that I need a new computer. Unfortunately, my budget is much smaller. The system will be based around a NVIDIA 450 or 460 but the whole thing will have to be in the $450-$600 range not including optical drive and peripherals like monitor and keyboard.

WOO! First post from the new uber comp! Still saving up for the graphic card but got all the other pieces.
Trying to figure out windows 7 now, and DL all the drivers and junk I need.
Can't wait to try out a game...Diablo 2 on full graphics?!?! Ok, maybe Rift on ultra might be more of a test, untill I can find where I put Crysis the system killer