Thoughts on my new build

[SMTP]

It's almost time to build a new gaming rig so here's what I'm thinking:

i7 920
ASRock X58
6GB DDR3
Crossfire 5850s (or x2 if it's out by December)
Corsair 750HX PSU
Cooler Master HAF 932
Scythe Mugen II

Couple things...I do plan to OC. I know I'm looking for a D0 i7 if possible. Also I'm thinking running at 3.6 is a good 24/7 clock. Is that possible with the Mugen II and HAF at good temps or should I look at another cooler? Also do I need DDR3 rated for 1600 or will 1333 work? I usually go with Corsair memory.

 

[Evilsizer]

well i would look at another cooler.. well im not using a D0 but im at 3.6ghz as it is and it can go higher. bought it used/tested by brolloks so... 3.6ghz for a D0 is cake....

at this point i would go with higher speed ram... though im considering dropping down to dual channel on the 920 for this kit. here is why i say that, this is a good read for all,How memory frequency affects latency - Tighter timings vs. Higher speeds?.

though my 920 currently has DDR3-1333 cas7 1.65v. at that time it was much cheaper then DDR3-1600. though i will say my ram is running at DDR3-1451 or there abouts. has way more bandwidth then the cpu really needs, which is why im thinking of going dual channel agian.


though this might sound wierd, i would like you to consider a LGA1156 setup. This though really depends on what/how long you plan to keep the setup.

750TX psu, is way overkill for that setup. even if you got the 5850X2, you could get away with a 650TX or 650HX.

 

[SMTP]

I probably should have also mentioned I'm going for as quiet a rig as possible with air cooling...I also looked into i5/P55 and it's tempting to save a few bucks especially when the difference between the two setups with 2x 5850s is pretty much a wash. However, I'm also looking at upgrading to Gulftown at some point.

I know the 750HX is more than enough but it's a bit of future-proofing. Down the road I can swap the i7 for a Gulftown and 1 or 2 new GPUs and still be okay with that PSU.

 

[georgelogy]

A bit OT, but, it seems every time I bought a motherboard for future upgradability, rather than current price/performance I ended up always upgrading the motherboard later anyway.

For me, there always seems to be new technologies or some sort of motherboard compatibility issue that ends up making you want to upgrade your motherboard with the CPU.

That's partly why I went 1156. I got to use my old cooler, didn't need to buy as many sticks of ram, plus, the motherboard was a bit more reasonably priced than many of the X58 options I was looking at with similar feature sets. I almost went i5, but wanted i7's HT so I splurged a bit there. I should have saved ~$70 and went for the i5 as I really don't utilize it that often.

This chip is able to hit 4.0 on air with 1.32v (24h Prime stable), although I normally run it at 3.8 with 1.27v to keep my room from becoming a sauna.