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Core i7 based system

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I am building a new pc solely for gaming and media purposes
My budget is around $ 1200 for the CPU only

I have already visited hundreds of forums and read several reviews
still i haven't been able to decide on one processor or motherboard

Processor- i7 920 or i7 860(read several reviews still confused) :pt1cable: 
Motherboard - would be accordingly X58 or P55 based but Gigabyte or MSI, that's confusing
RAM - as requisite but one confusion is
does using dual channel ram with the i7 920 reduce its performance?
Graphics - ATI 4670 or Geforce 9600 would suffice
HDD- 1TB
Cabinet and DVD drive - anything will work

But my main confusion is which processor to go with the 860 or the 920
I've been through many forums but still am confused
your suggestions and opinions shall be highly appreciated
if they are really helpful ;) 

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What type of games are you planning on playing, also, what are the "media purposes" you suggested? This can help us put something together for you. Depending on what media things you do you could probably get the i5, which is cheaper and will allow you to get other components that may aid you more. The big difference between the i5 and i7 is the hyper-threading which is only useful for extreme multitasking and other multi-threaded applications (like CS4) which isn't really useful for gaming.

Games like Modern Warfare 2, NFS: Shift and upcoming ones like Assassin's creed 2 and others.
I just want to be able to run all the games in high res.
and for media purposes I mean movies and all, that's not important
But also I dont want to compromise on hyper threading and multi tasking
in the near future i might also need these functions
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I may need hyperthreading for other purposes although like Photoshop and other softwares. :) 
BTW what would be your suggestions regarding the processor i7 860 or 920
and regarding the motherboard gigabyte or msi?

I would say, if you really want the hyperthreading, to stick with the 920. It's only $10 more expensive than the 860 (although the mobo and ram will cost you more) and the X58 platform seems to have more gadgets to work with. Another benefit is that the 1366 has a better foreseeable upgrade path than the 1156.

As for Gigabyte vs. MSI, I'd choose Gigabyte, but that's just me. I have no experience with MSI so I don't think that I'm a very reliable person to respond to that question.

Yeah, I agree with mavanhel. The 1366 socket will likely have a longer upgrade path if you plan on keeping this computer for a long time.

Also you can have more RAM on a x58 which is important for Photoshop

I'd choose Gigabyte

My friend had issues with a MSi mobo recently and he switched brands and everything went was fine. I personally feel they are more reliable

Thanks for the replies I was really confused regarding the processor
Every other forum suggested different possibilities regarding these processors.
now I'm quite relieved but further suggestions are indeed welcome!!

CPU: i7-290

MOBO: ASUS P6T SE (didn't go with Gigabyte because all of the X58 boards were very expensive from what I saw. ASUS makes boards comparable to Gibabyte)

PSU: Corsair 750TX (gives room for Xfire in the future)

GPU: XFX HD 5770

Case: HAF 922 (Belkin surge protector included with this at newegg for limited time)

RAM: OCZ Gold 6GB 1600MHz

HSF: Cooler Master Hyper 212

OD: LG DVD Burner

Here's a preliminary build that should meet all your needs and comes to $1086.91 before tax, shipping, rebates, and looking for any combos.
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