Finally settled on 955BE

[bmuell]

Just ordered!!

GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P $139.99

AMD Phenom II X4 955 $245.00

DISCOUNT FOR CPU/MOBO COMBO #186486
-$20.00

OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB DDR3 1333 $59.99 (Cas6 DDR3 for 60 bucks? OKAY!!)

Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB $74.99

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V $39.99

Subtotal $539.96
Tax $49.95
UPS Ground $5.99
Order Total $595.90

I'm going to reuse my OCZ PowerStream 520W psu, Lian Li PC-V1200, and my old nvidia 6800GT (only until starcraft II comes out, then I'll buy a 4870 or 4890).

I couldn't decide between a cheapish i7 and a decked out 720BE (since I definitely wanted to go DDR3...I'm still using DDR1) so I went for the middle ground with this 955BE. It also turned out to be part for part exactly what Anandtech recommended in their latest buying guide. Here's a link to the article for those interested.

So many months of research, I'm sort of surprised how easy the decision was all of a sudden with the release of the 955.

 

[Proximon]

Yes, Intel is going to have to scramble to sell those LGA775 quads now.

 

[bmuell]

Everything posted on the first try. I'm a little annoyed that the memory slots on the Gigabyte mobo are so close to the CPU socket. For being an overclocker's product, it doesn't accomodate large aftermarket heatsinks. My Xigmatek Dark Knight completely blocks dimm slots 1 and 2. It's fine for now, but I'll have to switch heatsinks if I ever want to upgrade to 8gb. I'm not surprised though.

I'm actually thinking I might just sell the dark knight and use the retail unit that came with the 955. It's actually not bad with copper heatpipes, plus the 955 overclocks pretty high at stock volts.

I'll take some pictures of inside the box when I get a chance.

I haven't even looked at the bios except for enabling USB keyboard and mouse, so I can't report on the overclocking capabilities. I just finished formating and installing OS last night.

 

[Proximon]

Hmmm good to know about the cooler. Perhaps the Scythe Zipang or some such would be better:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185062

Would that have been a better fit?

 

[bmuell]

Probably not. The Xigmatek is only 120mm in width and that Scythe is 140mm.

Actually it's hard to tell because that heatsink slopes upward. Ram might fit underneath it.