I7 860 build - buying tomorrow! [Just purchased everything!]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: As soon as possible!! BUDGET RANGE: around $900

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: multi-tasking (usual programs); programming; multimedia; gaming (mostly WoW)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: I'm not buying any peripherals (monitors, kbd, etc) and I'm reusing one of my SATA HDDs

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: NewEgg or any reputable site

PARTS PREFERENCES: I want to build a solid i7 rig

OVERCLOCKING: Yes, but nothing extreme; maybe to 3.6 or so. Something solid and stable to run 24/7

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Not initially, but I would like to keep the option open

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is what I have put together so far:


Case:
I think I finally found a case I really like. I'm pretty much set on this one unless someone know a specific reason not to get it.
Lancool K62

Motherboard:
Due to the fact that there just aren't any reviews our there for P55 motherboards, I've kind of just picked this one randomly. I figured Asus was a good brand and the CPU/Mobo combo was a good deal.
Asus P7P55D Pro

CPU:
Decided to go with the i7 860 because I could save some money from the i7 920, and I really don't need SLI or Crossfire (which seems to be the major push for the x58 chipset).

RAM:
Not positive on the RAM, but this seems like it will be a solid set from a good company.
OCZ Gold 4gb

Graphics Card:
I'm going with the eVGA GTX 260 because I like the eVGA step-up program. I hope to use it next year when the 300 series nVidia cards come out. The RAM/GPU combo seemed like a good deal.
eVGA GTX 260

Power Supply:
I hope that this is a powerful enough power supply. I'm sure it is now, but I do want one that will be able to handle several more HDD and maybe another GPU. This one is priced really nicely especially after the MIR. It's modular too.
OCZ ModXStream Pro

Optical Drive:
Just a standard SATA dvd/cd rewritable

Cooler:
Not sure what to get here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm planning on ordering tomorrow so I thought I would just throw it up here to see if there were any last minute suggestions. Let me know if you see anything that won't go together well. Thanks for any suggestions!!!

^+1

im glad you didnt make a mistake here why_me. are you high or something tonight?

Just finished ordering everything! I hope it all goes well! I'll post an update after I get everything in and finish the build. I'm super pumped, but now I have to wait for it all to arrive...

If you have anything specific you would like me to run on this system when I get it going, just let me know. I'd more than happy to run some games for you.

Thanks for the tip, but it's about 15 minutes too late lol... I checked some of the prices and they aren't bad. I just finished buying my components off of newegg and some off of zipzoomfly.

I just realized that I didn't order any thermal compound or anything. Should I go ahead and order some Arctic Silver 5 (seems like it's pretty commonly recommended)? And then I guess I might need some removal stuff too?

This heatsink came free with the i7 so I thought I would give it a shot for now. If I need some better cooling I'll just get a better one. (this one was free so can't argue with that)

Okay cool...thanks for the suggestion. I'll order some of that stuff and see how it goes. Do I need to order the removal stuff or is there a better way to clean off the cpu?

[Edit]
I like your pic under your name by the way shortstuff. I drive a jeep too and they are so much fun! I've only been rock climbing in a jeep once but it was awesome! It's crazy what those things are capable of.

I am doing an 860 build as well. I have ordered everything, however my graphics card ran out of supply so I am waiting for that. I dont plan to do sli or crossfire so I cant see why the 860 wouldn't work. Plus from everything ive heard they overclock pretty well.

Which GPU? I'm waiting on the EVGA GTX275 to come back in stock. Am I racing you for the same GPU? Or are you waiting on the new 5870s? Would it be so much to ask if you could post your build configuration on my other thread?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ming-build

I'd like to know how you went about it. Thanks!

cgleckman and era86 --

Are you guys planning to OC your 860s much? I'm wanting to overclock it some but nothing too crazy. I read that it wouldn't be too hard to get it to 3.4 or so and that would be able to turbo up to 4 on single threads.

I'm starting my 860 build this weekend. Got everything but the motherboard. I think I'm going to just pick up the Asus P7P55D. I was hoping for more reviews by now but I'm going to have to make a decision tomorrow, reviews or not.

I'm with you cgleckman. I'm not planning anything more than getting the system up and running first. Depending on how that goes, and after it's been running for a while, I'll consider OCing.

ekoostik - Yes, please post your build up and PM me a link to it. I would love to see how you configured your 860 build as well.

Sounds like a plan, however I am purposefully not O/Cing until atleast 3-4 weeks after the systems up and going to be safe and break it in.

Run it normally, use it for whatever I need to, gaming, design, etc. Then after a week of regular use probably run a stress test for a few hours. I have always been told its not smart to run a stress test right away. Prob use it for a good 2 weeks after that and then run another test to make sure its really stable and then go for 3.0. Test for stability and use it for a week or 2, test for stability again then go for 3.2. After 3.2 if I go for 3.4 ill only stay at 3.2 for a week give or take.

Same. I know alot of guys on the OC forum buy a new system like every month.. O/C it till its maxed out and it fries.. I am not here for that.. Unlike them I cant afford a new Setup every single month haha.

ya same for me, however I made sure I can upgrade in the future if I want and no matter what people say, I don't believe that cpus using 1156 pin counts are going anywhere for atleast a few years.

thats really a long process and its time consuming and theres no point in waiting...

when the chip is made, it has been stress tested already to make sure it works..

after you stress test, if it can pass it using prime95 then it is 99.99% stable. no need for getting stuck on it for a week or two.

you need to do more research.

My bad, it was a typo it's 1155 indeed.

you know what it may be being replaced but the technology wont catch up to it for at least 2 years after that. I firmly believe the 860 is a good choice for the cost, and will be supported for longer then 1 year.

Replied