New core I7 budget build

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within the next month (as soon as a check comes in the mail) BUDGET RANGE: $1,200 (lower the better)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Playing games, Homework, photo editing, Converting Video, storage space (partially for ease of use, A home server will handle the heavy long term storage), surfing the web, listening to music,

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, and monitor is already provided (need a replacement mouse don't want to continue to pump in batteries). DVd burners

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I like newegg/tigerdirect line of companies. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: I want to use Intel core I7 series the hyperthreading is attractive to me.

OVERCLOCKING: No SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe later on.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1440x900

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: very cool needs LONG life.

Parts I've selected:

Processor: Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115214 $289.99

Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131404 $149.99

Currently a combo discount: $414.98

case: Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129043 $159.99

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371026 $94.99

Currently a combo discount:229.98

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAKS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136161 $47.99 (will be doing a raid array 95.98

Ram: CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145260 85.99

Video card: A Radeon 5850 (primarily depending on which one is in stock at the time $259.99

Mouse: Microsoft N71-00007S Black 3 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Wheel Mouse - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6826105026 $9.99

Misc: 1ST PC CORP. 12" 8-pin EPS extension cable Model CB-8M-8F - Retail (BIG CASE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6812706004 8.99


Total: $1105.90

About your hard drive, Western Digital is based on my expirience the way to go so a caviar blue is a great choice however consider adding 2 more dollars and you will be able to get a "(Samsung Spinpoint F3)", now I don't own one so I can't say how good it is but I have seen solid reviews for it and I know that for 2 more dollars you can get a hard drive with twice the space (500GB) and significantly faster speeds...now this is all based on benchmarks. Moreover, if you want serious storage reliabilty i suggest getting a Fiber Channel Hard Drive, more expensive but more reliable. Take a look at this and see for yourself at the samsung spinpoint f3
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] ,1010.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] ,1009.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] ,1011.html

These links give you read speed benchmarks mainly, you can also find write speed benchmarks also if you need them.
Rest of your system looks pretty good although please tell me which Operating System you will be using as it can affect if you need more RAM, because photo editing requires lots of juice.

About having a long life, its quite simple, try to stay from overclocking or messing around with hardware because it increases chances of mistakes and usually reduces a hardwares life. Also you should make sure you have a good case which sits in a well ventilated spot in your house and has good cooling.

I'll back up the paste couple replies. It is NOT a good idea to set up a RAID 0 setup using those old, slow 250GB drives. The current drives are much faster. A single Samsung F3 500GB drive would be as fast as the RAID 0 setup with the old drives for considerably less money. If you're dead-set on RAID 0, at least use decent drives.

I wouldn't worry about it. It only seems to be a problem if you're looking to do an extreme 4.3GHz+ overclock. The OP said he wasn't interested in overclocking. Those articles haven't scared me yet.

Oh I forgot to ask, what kind of raid do you plan on doing? 0 or 1? Raid 1 is a go ahead IMO but raid 0 is dangerous if you are okay in putting important data on it and won't mind if a hard drive fails and you lose everything then fine. I woud suggest just doing a back-up of it. And as shortstuff said if want a Raid 0 then get raird "01" it requires 4 hardrive but gives you the speed of raid 0 and the security of raid 1.

I modified some parts took the 902 case with the true power combo swapped the ram/hard disks. Now just waiting for the durn check to get here/clear.

(I hate waiting this beast will be the finest pc i've ever had.