[Solved] Core i7 Basic Build

Hello all,

I'm going to be building a Core i7 system in the near future, but am worried about parts and future paths. I already have most I need, and even though I will be gaming at a high resolution, I will be using a HD4850 until the new DX11 cards come down in price.

The Scythe Mugen2 seemed to get decent reviews, and it is rather quiet, so I was planning on picking that up. I'm planning on going with an OC to around 3.6Ghz, but I want to keep my system cool and quiet, so that OC is flexible.

I would like to keep my audio card also because I like the sound quality, and I will be watching movies with great frequency. Therefore, down the road when I crossfire, I still want to be able to use it and not have my video cards cover up all of the PCI slots.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 3 days

BUDGET RANGE: $750-$800

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, video encoding, photo editing, internet, general multimedia

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor (LG L246WP), case (Antec 300), power supply (PC&P Silencer 610W), audio card (HT Omega Striker), mouse (Logitech G5), keyboard (Logitech diNovo), optical drive, OS (Win7 RC)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: None (so long as there are reliable parts with decent warranties)

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes (in the future)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1900x1200

Other Comments: A quiet computer is VERY important to me.

Should I get a better motherboard, or is the UD3R sufficient? I'm also not very confident in my RAM decision.

Here is what I had in mind for what I need:


Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115202

Scythe MUGEN-2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835185093

XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150337

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128375

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227365

Total: $741.95

Thanks for the help!

the only thing I would add is the Megahlems really have no noise at all, since they do not come with fans. That is why I suggested the low noise, high flow fans to put on them. They are virtually silent on that cooler

Thanks for the advice on the CoGage. It is going to be a little louder than I am looking for however.

I'm still struggling between the ASRock board and the Gigabyte board. I have built with Gigabyte before, and things have gone very smoothly. Is there going to be a huge difference in having 4 ram slots vs 6 ram slots? Also, does it make sense to buy a 6GB kit now (like I'm doing) and then another 6GB kit later?