Now and then nVidia do come out with something special "remember the 6600GT 125mb but a blistering performance !", i received my ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 this morning

Congrats, Cat!

Thanks ken about two weeks to go until i can get the CPU

It's not the destination, it's the journey. (Yeah right . . .NOT!) It will be great when it's all there and you can put it together.

Oh i quite like the journey, its very enjoyable researching components, deciding on what to buy, deciding how the Computer will look and perform, i get quite excited at the prospect of the build, just going to a store and buying a Computer seems dull compared

I agree, the research is an adventure in itself. I have never and would never buy a 'computer off the shelf'. What I meant by 'journey' was waiting for parcels to arrive. I guess I'm just impatient.

Same here Ken i would not have a Computer off the shelf as they tend to be underpowered and overpriced "using budget components to maximise the profit margin" resulting in a £1500 system worth around £500 - £600.

You also learn quite a bit when you research. Something I didn't do with my previous PC, hence, I lost out on value and quality.

Apparently the 9600's are very well priced. Makes it hard to decide on what card to buy. Would still stick with an 8800GT at the moment (if I were to buy now) though, I'm waiting on the 9800's >.<

I'm also looking forward to seeing the 9800s, my ATI 3870 x2 is running good "and surprised me as its so quiet !"

There are some benchmarks on various tech sites on the 9800 GX2. It looks a bit crap if I'm honest. I mean in comparison. For example, two 8800GT's in SLI could probably outperform it and would cost around the same price. SO I'd like to know, what the heck has nVIdia done thats a real improvement over the past series?

I await the 9800GT and GTX benchmarks though. They are supposed to be released at the end of this month. The 3870 X2 is looking attractive to me right now and I usually prefer nVidia.