PC builders of AF.com unite!

Ok, so I'm wanting to build a new tower. I must admit, for a geek, I've never built one from the ground up. I need some help.

I'm not going to be doing high-end gaming. I might run some AOE2 or Monopoly Casino, but that's about it.

I would like it to be able to handle up to 4 monitors though. When I do development work at home, the more monitors the better.

I also don't want it to go obsolete too quickly, so I'm thinking at least Quad-core.

Here's a general idea:

• Processor: Quad-core
• RAM: As much as possible/Max out the Mobo.
• Hard-drive: at least 2 TB with RAID (another thing I could use help on. Which is the best?)
• Tower: Whatever works.
• Mobo: Whatever fits in the box and will handle the proc.
• Video: Whatever it takes to run up to 4 monitors.
• Power Supply: Whatever it takes and is fairly quiet.
• Card Reader: I'm tired of using my SD jump drive.
• Firewire: Would love it to be on the front, but just need one port, at least.
• USB: Plenty.
• Optical Drives: DVD burner for sure. Insanely good deal on a BR burner is a bonus. If DVDR, then DVD-ROM 2nd. If BRR, then BR drive 2nd.

Other things to know:

• Speakers don't matter.
• I'll probably just use the keyboard and mouse I have now.
• This will be Windows, but I'm thinking about doing a dual or triple boot (Maybe WinServer 2003/2008 and/or some Linux distro just to see what it's like because I'm a Linux virgin).

Get creative. This will probably be a project I attack over 10-12 months so I don't have to finance anything, but at least get me looking in the right direction.

I'm not wanting to spend $10k on it, but I don't want to go insanely cheap, either.

 

Love the dealnews.com ads. What about this Mobo?

http://dealnews.com/Gigabyte-Socket-1366-ATX-Motherboard-for-Intel-6-GB-RAM-for-210-after-rebate-15-s-h/279624.html

 

Nice! Thanks!