Advice on building a budget rig

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next 60 days

BUDGET RANGE: US$1000-1350

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Some photoshop, movies, web surfing, school... a do it all

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor and mouse, OS and MS office

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:
dont really have a preferred website for parts, just as long as they are easy to deal with and will replace faulty parts with relatively low hassle (if its possible)

PARTS PREFERENCES: No real preference, if the tower could be smaller that would be nice, but i dont want to sacrifice noticeable performance and i dont want my system running super hot.

OVERCLOCKING: Not much on overclocking, and ill only sli/cf if i really need to in the future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

This is the build im currently looking at
PSU
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139006

RAM
Crucial 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148244

CPU
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115202

HD
Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136358

Vid Card
ASUS EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121291

Heatsink
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 120mm SSO CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835608007

Case
NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811146047

CD/DVD
G Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe LightScribe Support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827136153

Monitor (not factored into the budget as its a gift im getting)
Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 27.5" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor 500 cd/m2 800:1 Built-in Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824254026

I have no idea what i should be looking at as far as a mobo, so help me please!

The monitor would double as a tv for movies and my ps3, and it looked like a really good deal. If someone has a better idea or a really good reason not to get that one, let me know.

One of my main concerns is future proofing the pc. As far as i can tell the next 6 months are going to be big, with i5's and the dx11 cards coming out. So i would like to keep the option of upgrades open. Someone was telling me something about pins, that it should look like 2x6+2 or something. Im not really sure, so if you can figure out what im talking about and explain it, that would be super. Tell me what you guys think

Core i7s will still be the high end Intel family, core i5 is going into the mainstream space. i7 will still be where you want to be, though the price points may change slightly once i5s are available. For a true gaming rig, you're going to be pushing the top end of your budget. 1st recommendation is to get 6 GB of low latency RAM, 3 is ok, but you'll be wishing for more. Better to get at least 6 all at once.

Don't use a WD green drive as your primary drive, it's not fast enough. They're great for secondary storage, but not as your primary C: drive. Get a 500 GB Caviar Black. If your budget can handle it, a HD 4890 is a good video card to choose. If it pushes you over, the 4870 is a good value.

If you don't want to do crossfire or do a lot of overclocking, you could probably save a little money by going with a corsair 650 watt PSU. Otherwise, stick with the 750 as you selected.

Thanks for the quick replies. And i can go over budget if there is going to be a big difference in performance. But i feel like with the current set up there wont be anything that i wont be able to play on fairly high settings.

That mobo will be able to support everything that will be coming out in the future?

and will the 4870 do dx11 ok?

well i can hold off and wait if i need to, i dont really want to. I just havent heard any specific dates. Just 2nd half of this year. WTF does that mean

Rumor is:
Sept 6 for P55 and i5.
Sept 20 for ati card.

For a smaller tower with outstanding cooling, look at the Antec 300. Low price, but no "bling"

Go with >3gb.
http://www.corsair.com/_appnotes/A [...] alysis.pdf
http://www.corsair.com/_appnotes/A [...] vs_3GB.PDF