Advice needed for new i7 build

[hpstp]

Hello, I'm getting a new computer and thus far, this is what I'm looking at. I'm mostly concerned about the PSU (is it beefy enough?), the motherboard and RAM choices. Also, is Saphire a good Radeon brand?

Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD1601ABYS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136200


SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7T-6GBPK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231230

MSI X58 Platinum LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130216

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Any help is apreciated. Thanks in advance =]

 

[Liderc]

You should be fine if you don't plan on adding another 4870 for xfire and or overclocking your 920 very far. I would suggest a different mobo, looks like that MSI x58 has terrible ratings on newegg.

 

[hpstp]

I'm not too good at OCing, my goal was to reach 3 , 3.4ish ghz and be happy with it. I might add another HD4870 in the future tho.

What's a good x58 mobo that's not too expensive? I chose this one because it was the cheapest pretty much...

 

[Liderc]

Most good ones are going to be 299, bite the bullet, you get what you pay for in this business.

 

[roadrunner197069]

Your hard drive will be a HUGE bottleneck.

 

[hpstp]

Your hard drive will be a HUGE bottleneck.

What would be a better one in my case?

Also, I'm reading arround as to how easy it is to OC a 920 and am interested in trying. I'll prob need a better cooler then stock for that, was thinking this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109130&Tpk=hermalright%20cooler
Is it any good? is there a better one?

Thanks =]

 

[tdot jack]

I would recommend the P6T Deluxe mobo, its about 299 on newegg


Dont overclock unless you know what your doing, That cooler is a 775 socket(wont fit). Wait a bit until better i7 core coolers come into the market. Its what im doing

Also get the wd640 aals hd, 180 is penuts these days

 

[Akebono 98]

+1 to tdot jack.

Asus P6T Deluxe mobo and the WD Caviar Black 640 GB are excellent components. Don't see how you could get by with a 160 GB HDD these days unless you wanted a 2 drive setup with 150 GB Raptor and secondary data drive (for speed).

If you're looking for a LGA 1366 socket cooler, there aren't many out there right now. Probably best to go with the stalwart Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme--that will take you as far as you need to go on air cooling. Just make sure that it will fit in your case.

For your planning purposes, try using a power supply calculator to determine your needs in relation to your intended upgrade path--that would help. Your Corsair 650W is probably enough for your listed build, but if you intend to use multiple GPU cards in the future, then you'll need at least 750W to future proof. Try this link: Power Supply Calculator

Your first post is a bit thin on background. What are you going to use it for, what OS are you going to use, what are your preferences, what size monitor will you be using, are you bound by any legacy components, etc.? If you provide some more info, that would help to balance out the equation. You might also want to take a read of the many posts in these forums regarding new i7 builds--that will give you a good idea of what others are building right now.

 

[hpstp]

I'm building this new computer from scracth. Plan on putting Vista 64 on it, since I need a 64bits OS to run all the 6gb RAM. I use PC mostly for gaming, on a 19" screen (1440x900).

On the HDD side, I forgot to mention I was getting 2 of those drives to use in a RAID0 setup. Is that good? Or better to just get a single, bigger drive?

Also, I found a 1366 socket cooler, Thermaltake V1, aparently it's getting good reviews on the net:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106102
Any good?

Thanks for help =)

 

[shortstuff_mt]

If you're looking for a replacement for the MSI motherboard that doesn't break the bank, check out this one:

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-DS4 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128366&Tpk=ga-ex58-ds4 $244.99

You're much better off going with one of the new 640GB drives instead of RAID0 with two old, slow drives.

 

[Akebono 98]

+1 to shortstuff.

Don't put in a RAID array unless you know what you're using it for. It's not really necessary for gaming and you're better off with one fast drive from the most current generation. If you want to read up on RAID, here's a place to start: RAID FAQ. A good way to use RAID would be for data backup, like this: one small & fast drive as primary / boot drive (such as a Velociraptor or SSD drive), combined with two large (e.g. 1 TB) data drives in RAID 1 (mirrored).

Don't know about the Thermaltake cooler, but for socket 1366, you could also look at the Noctua NH-U12P which, however, is pretty close in price to the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme.

Your 4870 video card is overkill for your intended 1440 x 900 resolution; even 4850 is more than enough. Your consideration here should be upgrade path and your intended future monitor size. If you want to later go 24", then one 4870 would be sufficient. At 30", then crossfire 4870. Depends also on what games you play (are you playing Crysis on high at 19"??), or will be playing in the future.

If you're going to go with bigger video later on, then make sure to buy a big enough PSU now to accomodate your future expansion.

If you want some ideas on a top notch i7 build, take a look at this recent thread for comparison.

Edit: Corrected per shortstuff_mt

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The new i7 mobos can run both Crossfire and SLI, so you could also consider the GTX 260 Core 216 as an alternative to the 4870, if you prefer nVidia.

Not all X58 boards support SLI. Nvidia charges a premium for SLI certification. Pretty much only the $300+ boards support SLI. Neither the MSI board in the original post or the GA-EX58-DS4 support SLI.