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Need help with a new system build and memory

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Hello,
I've been wanting to build my own computer for a while now, and I think I've got everything set up the way I want it. This computer will be my media center, I'm going to have it hooked up to two samsung tv's (a 23" monitor and a 32" monitor) and plan on watching streaming videos from hulu. I also do some minor photo editing in photoshop from time to time. This is the system I have picked out with links to the newegg product.

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

OCZ 700W powersupply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Core i7-920
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Rosewill case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...



All of this comes to a grand total of $760.94. My budget is around $900 max, but I'd love to keep it under that. My problem is that I'm not sure I understand what kind of memory to get because the board says it only supports 4 different speeds. I'm looking to buy it where ever it's cheapest. I have $50 off at bestbuy at my disposal, and fryselectronics is only an hour away.

Bottom line

If I buy say 1600Mhz or 1800Mhz memory will it work in this motherboard at the correct speed? what would happen if I used it?

Also, is this a good system build? I've been putting it together online for a few months at newegg, and so far as I can tell I think it's going to be a great build since I already have windows 7 and the missing components (optical drive, hard drives, etc). I would appreciate it if someone could tell me it will all work together.

Thanks!

Tom

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The build will work together. The most important thing to keep in mind when picking RAM for the new Intel chips is that you can't get RAM that requires over 1.65v. You'll want a triple channel RAM kit. Did you get the 64-bit version of Windows 7? I hope so, or you'll be limited to about 3GB of usable RAM. The most common setup for X58 systems is 6GB. This CAS 7 DDR3 1600 RAM that runs at 1.5v is about as good as it gets.

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI - Retail $179.99

Don't forget to use the Newegg combo deal for the motherboard and CPU you picked.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Thank you for checking my build! As a student I can get the 64-bit version for free from my university, so I'm pretty excited for that. Thanks for checking the combo, I actually already have that combo and the psu and video card in a combo too.

Will that memory work with my mobo? It's speed is 1600 but the board says it only supports 2200/1333/1066/800 types of memory.

Yes, that RAM will work just fine with your motherboard. The rated RAM speed on a motherboard don't really mean much. That just means the maximum RAM speed the board is rated to run is 2200MHz. Anything below that is fine.
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You will probably just need to manually set the RAM speed/timings/voltage to their rated values in the BIOS. That's not really a problem, though, since you should do that anyway. That RAM is rated at 1600MHz with 9-9-9-27 timings at 1.65v, so you would manually set all those values in the BIOS.

Also, I've been told that the i7 does integrated high definition graphics really well. Does anyone know if this is true or recommend a good board with integrated graphics. I think my current build kicks ass, but I'm beginning to realize that my funding is only going to go a little above $800, at least for now.


I currently have an EVGA Geforce 8600 GT PCIE video card, would that do an alright job?

All I do is watch hulu, i'm not doing any computer gaming. All I want is smooth playback.

You would want more than a 500W PSU for Crossfire 5770's. A quality 500W PSU would be plenty for a single GPU, but you would be better off with a quality 650W PSU for Crossfire.

There are no i7 chips that support integrated graphics. I think what you're referring to is the new dual-core i3 & i5 chips and H55 motherboards. You could use your 8600GT if you're not doing any gaming at all. It's a pretty weak GPU, but Hulu doesn't require a fancy gaming GPU.

If you're looking for ways to lower the price I would consider an i5 750 build with a P55 motherboard and dual channel RAM.
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