Need some advice on my new build.

Looks like I finally got the green light from my other half to build a new comp and I was just looking for some input, any general advice is appriciated on this build.

My budget is in the ballpark of 1500 bucks.

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
COOLER MASTER HAF 932
EVGA 896-P3-1171-AR GeForce GTX 275 Superclocked
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB (x2 raid)

Now I wanna get it to 4-4.2 on air. So I'm gonna need a D0 stepping processor. Is there a way to tell the stepping on the processor from looking at the box? The reason I'm asking is I may grab everything but the processor from Newegg and get the proc from frys so I can check to see if its a D0 i7.

Also, I'm gonna need a cooler. I'm going air on this build and may do water at a later date. My question is which is the best Air cooler. I did some research and I keep seeing the thermalright IFX-14 coming up but will the back pipe cooler fit on the asus board and is anyone using that combo? Is there a better combo out there? The case looks like it will move air easily as well, and I wanna keep my components nice and cool.

Anywho, I'm turning to OCforums for some input.

Cooler: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme

PSU: I would step up to the TX750W. It has 4 6-pin connectors for future expansion.

If you order a 920 from newegg, you're going to get a D0 stepping almost guaranteed. The D0 stepping came out 4 months ago.

I'm using a scythe mugen 2, and to be honest, the chip runs cold as stone, for being clocked at 3.8 ghz w/ 1.25 vcore

Go with the Prolimatech Megahalems CPU cooler. It's better than the TRUE.

MicroCenter regularly has the 920 on sale for $200. You can pick out the stepping. Fry's might even price match.

This website gives you the different sSpec codes that correspond to each CPU stepping. The sSpec code is written on the box.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ParentRadio=All&ProcFam=3052&SearchKey=


The Caviar Black 640's will be a little bit faster than the 500's due to it using higher aerial density platters.

Thanks for the advice. Looks like im gonna hvae to do some more research on the coolers since I've gotten 3 different responses . Is the RAM i chose ok, or is there a reason it was under a hundred bucks for a 6gig kit?

Manjiru said:

Thanks for the advice. Looks like im gonna hvae to do some more research on the coolers since I've gotten 3 different responses . Is the RAM i chose ok, or is there a reason it was under a hundred bucks for a 6gig kit?

Click to expand...

There are always good deals on RAM. How do the timings/voltages compare to other DDR3-1600 sets?

Try posting in the RAM section if you want the best performance at a decent price. I haven't played w/ any DDR3 yet, but from what I've read the i7 platform has more than enough spare bandwidth, so going extreme on the RAM doesn't have a lot of merit...still fun, though! I'd definitely go w/ 1600+ to ensure you have the freedom to adjust your OC as you see fit w/o limitations.

Manjiru said:

Thanks for the advice. Looks like im gonna hvae to do some more research on the coolers since I've gotten 3 different responses . Is the RAM i chose ok, or is there a reason it was under a hundred bucks for a 6gig kit?

Click to expand...

I would recommend spending a few extra dollars on some CAS 7 Ram. The OCZ Gold you piced out is CAS 8. If you want to stay with OCZ, they offer the Platinum version for only a few bucks more, and they're CAS 7. They also have the Flex series and the Reaper series. They all use the same chips, they just incorporate different cooling designs.
I personally use the Platinum's, and have run them up over 1700 mhz without a voltage increase. You will notice tighter timings more than you'll notice increased speed, so keep that in mind when price shopping for Ram. The cheap stuff always has looser timings.
On the cooling front... you can never go wrong with a TRUE. If a TRUE can't keep it cool, then nothing will (Using just air of course)