Would Greatly Appreciate Some Help With a New Rig

So I build a new system every few years and it has come time yet again. I work at Best Buy so I typically do the Intel retail edge purchase bundle when it looks good and go from there. This year they have a nice processor and a nice ssd but the motherboard isn’t so great and there is no discount on it anyways. So that’s where I have questions, I have decided to buy something other than the Intel extreme motherboard and I am looking at ASUS P6X58D-E or GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R. I am leaning towards the asus based on past experience but I am open to recommendations. Also I don’t know what ram to use, the processor "Intel Core i7-970 Gulftown 3.2GHz 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7970" supports Integrated DDR3 Memory Controller, and triple channel ram and I honestly don’t know what that means or how to take full advantage of it. Also on the Asus what does "features Triple channel DDR3 2000(O.C.)" mean, not clear on triple channel or O.C.(I'm thinking overclocked???) This system is for gaming and burning disc's I do no video editing. I just want something I don’t need to upgrade for years. Thank you very much for any help you give me. My new rig is as follows

Intel® Core™ i7 970 Processor 6 cores – 12 threads, 12MB Cache,.32nm process technology
ASUS P6X58D-E or GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R
PNY VCGGTX4601XPB X 2 SLI
PSU COOLMASTER| RS850-AMBAJ3-US RT
Intel® X25-M 160GB Solid State Drive
Corsair H70
RAM-Cmx8gx3m4a1600c9(8gigs 1600mhz)/Cmx6gx3m3a1600c9(6gigs 1600mhz)/CMX6GX3M3A2000C9 (6gigs 2000mhz) Not sure which one

For ram I could also go with 8 gigs of slower ram(1600) or 6 of faster(2000) not sure which is best.

Thanks again.

Hey! welcome to Toms! =D
First off, two things, Wait for Sandybridge on Jan 5th, and Build this yourself....

@totalnoob Amen brother (even though I'm not christian)

Oh and if your not going to wait, I'm going to critique that system. PNY sucks for the 460s, you don't need 160gb of SSD storage, specially from intel (ughh worst price/gigs on SSDs I've ever seen). There isn't a main storage HDD.

That processor.... If you can get it below 400$ sure... But even then.... I still think that even the i7 875K would be a better choice, you can OC that thing easily to 4.5 on a very high-end air or some fake water cooling like the H70. (which isn't worth 100$) I think (strongly) that you should wait till SB.

oh, I thought you were buying from Bestbuy, for some reason... my bad =p



Get the 950, there is no point for the price step up on the 970... Core i7 950 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product ~ 294.99

Not a good SSD... It is a "mid-level" SSD.... I advise getting any Sand Force base SSD... my current favorite of the SF SSDs is Mushkin SSD (120gig) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product ~ 235.99 that is the one for your price range....

Triple channel is RAM in THREES, so 3, or 6 sticks.... or RAM in sets of 3, 6, 12, 24...

The faster 6 gigs...

+1... Get Spinpoint F3 1 TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product ~ 69.99

Careful with LC, I don't care what other people say, Liquid in a computer is dangerous ( for you and the computer)....

I'm sorry to here that.... D,=

^ I'm Buddhist

BTW SB Benchs: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3871 [...] s-in-a-row

If that don't change your mind, I don't know what else will. Mid range SB i5 2400S = than i7 980X thats got to say something.

Yeah, thats the same page I found after the first reply from atotalnoob. It would seem foolish to upgrade now. The next time I will have a chance to upgrade is summer, so I may just wait until then. I have just been been buying part for the last week as I find good sales. Thank god for holiday return policies.

I do want to say thanks to atotalnoob and aznshinobi for taking the time to give me some recommendations.

Oh yeah, well when ya return we'll be here to help you out with your build!

Dude... I'll be to busy working to buy my SB as well as working to get me water cooling build XD. Trying to clock my SB (when I get it with H20) to 5.0ghz+ You've seen the benchs for SB OC you know what I'm saying.

Lol Phenoms can hit that... but with liquid nitrogen. LOL Maybe Intel is pulling some bs. But at IDF, they had an SB booth preview for some insiders. 4.9ghz on air ran cinebench so freaking fast. OMG Imagine what you could do with H2O!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKGnaTrxS_k