Building my first computer

[Arsenalftw]

I've got several questions regarding the computer I'll be building.

It's going to be a gaming computer with an emphasis on cooling and performance.


Video cards:

Can any card be crossfired? The graphic cards I've been looking into are

MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr II OC GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-127-564&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

Single, not cross fire

XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150530

Cross fire

MSI N580GTX Lightning GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-127-579&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

Due to the price, single

HIS H687F1G2M Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161349

Cross fire

Which one would you recommend? I'm looking for the one that would provide me with the best results? I'm looking to build a computer that can provide me with good results for atleast 2 years, with this year providing me the best results possible.

I'm slightly leaning on the first option, however would a cross fire of the radeaon hd 6950 provide better results?

Also I'm quite clueless on the motherboards, I have no idea what to get because I don't know what I'm looking at. Should I get an intel motherboard or AMD? Or does it matter?

What power supply should I get? I'm guessing due to the graphic cards I'm considering I should get something with 700-800 wats?

[Geek-9pm]

First of all, I am not even going g to try and make a recommendation. Just some observations.
Yes, you need 700 watt for what you want to do.
Some prefer Intel, but AMD can give you more performance for the money.
Just an idea, which you may have already investigated.
Look here:
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/landingpages/intel/i7/?gclid=CNHdwMOBhakCFRpVgwodIWU_pA
These people think they have some super computers for sale. Maybe their choice of components would give you some clue as to what those  people think is a good combination. You might try that with other companies that offer special gaming packages. See what combination they think are hot.

For example:
Have you looked at New Alienware Gaming PCs ?
Go to http://alienware.com
and see what they say is hot. You might be able to duplicate what they offer  for less money and higher performance.
Nice cases.

[Berenost]

i too am relatively new to the computer building scene. for what its worth, i stumbled onto this site:
http://www.kitchentablecomputers.com/index.php
maybe it will help, maybe not.
Also, i would suggest this website for cases, power supplies, etc. seems like they have something for every budget:
www.xoxide.com