[Solved] New I7 860 build

Are you planning to overclock?

I would probably choose this CPU/board combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131405

And a 4890 would be a better value at this point:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

You shouldn't put too much stock in newegg reviews. Most of the people are too quick to blame a piece of hardware and RMA it without really knowing if it's the problem or not.

Usually the only issue you run into is, the fan on the video card can cover up a neighboring PCI slot. You shouldn't have any issue with your cooler or RAM slots.

+1 to the 4890 over the gtx 260. The 4890 is a much better card, and ATI is way better priced than Nvidia.

Thanks for the feedback. With the noted adjustments, the build now looks like this (got a couple more questions below):

Optical drive: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151187
$28.99 - (I decide to wait a while for blue ray to bring costs down)

Case: NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811146047
$ 99.99 -$20.00 Mail in rebate = $79.99

GPU: HIS H489FN1GH Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161299
$179.99 - $10.00 Mail in Rebate = $169.99
This is the one you suggested, but you have this one: Sapphire 4890 Vapor-X OC'd
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102841 on your big list of recommended parts $174.99 after $20 Mail in rebate. Which one is best for this build?

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 ... - Retail (Decided to go with this PSU from your big list of recommended parts and checking wattage calculator from your guide to choosing parts) Will this one be OK for this build + additional GPU, HDD and blue ray in the future? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139005
$99.99 - $10 MIR = $89.99

Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver CMQ-22G The high-density, ceramic-based thermal compound - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100012
$8.34

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231303
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231303
$94.99

MOBO: ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.273249
CPU: http: Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail
//www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.273249
$434.98 (Combo price)

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] 22-152-100
HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] 22-152-100
$224.98 (Combo price)


Total: $1,172.30

Shipping: $27.99


What do you think now? Good to go?

I would not waste your money on Windows 7 Ultimate. Home Premium or Professional would me a much better choice for most users. The new Samsung F3 drives are considerably faster than the F1 models. Here's a couple combo deals you might be interested in:

Samsung F3 500GB + 64-bit Windows 7 Professional combo $184.98

Samsung F3 1TB + 64-bit Windows 7 Professional combo $209.98

Ok. I have changed to the Samsung F3 500GB + 64-bit Windows 7 Professional combo $184.98
Changed PSU to 750TX (same price)
Changed GPU to Sapphire 4890 Vapor-X OC'd +$5

Should I be ordering and extra cables, connectors or other misc. parts that might be needed for the assembly? (I have a ton of zip ties already)

Do i need to worry about the Foxconn socket issue with the ASUS board? http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3661

I wouldn't worry about the socket issue. It's only been shown to affect extreme overclocks. Yes, I would pick MX-2 over Arctic Silver. It cools slightly better, has no cure time, and is non-conductive. I also doesn't need to be re-applied every couple years.

Once again, thank you all for the good advice. All the parts went together easily, until I got to the case fans. This NZXT case has 6 case fans, each with 3-wire mobo plugs and molex connectors. The MOBO has 4 places to plug fans in. CPU, Chassis_1, Chassis_2, and Pwr. CPU and Chassis_1 locations are 4-pin and Chassis_2 and Pwr are 3 pin. It took me quite some time to figure this on out. CPU fan is connected to CPU (Obviously), Front intake fans (2) are both connected to Chassis_2 (this is done by connecting one fan to the 3-pin mobo header and the other fan is connected to the 1st fans molex plug) Top fans (2) are connected to PWR (3-pin) mobo header and rear and side fans are connected to chassis_1 4-pin header (using only 3 pins). The mobo manual says each header can support up to 24W and the fans show a range of zero point something (I don't remember) up to 2W each. I ran into some stability issues trying to overclock through BIOS but have set everthing back to default settings (Chose X.M.P. setting for the DRAM) and it seems to be stable now. I am getting 50+ FPS on WOW with full details now as compared to my old Dell (9-10 FPS on low details). Now I need some tips to OC this thing without causing stability problems or overheating anything (Stock Cooler on i7-860, but 6 case fans ). What I have noticed is that with the XMP profile selected, the RAM timing is set as advertised from G.Skill and the speed is also correct @1600. If the XMP profile is not selected, the speed drops to 1333 and the timings are set to "Auto". With the XMP setting selected, any increase in base clock seems to de-stabilize the system. With the Default mem settings, the ASUS OC tool gets the Bclock up to 156 and multiplier up to 22 for 3.6something Ghz but this causes the mem to be at 1333 or less. Any ideas?