Another i7 920 build

[jsrhino]

Thanks for all the inputs..

1. Will be used for moderate gaming and photo processing, eventually a small amount of video processing.

2. Budget around $900

3. Will be buying in the USA

4. No real brand preference

5. Will keep monitor (Dell WFP2007), keyboard/mouse (LX700), case (Antec Lanboy), and DVD burner.
I also have an 4 year old Antec 520w powerstream. Is this sufficient? Should I be concerned about a 4 year old psu

6. Have searched and read several other threads

7. Planning to moderately overclock, no SLI/Crossfire

8. In the next 2 weeks
__________________________________________________________________

CPU: Intel i7 920 (265.99 oem at ewiz or 284.99 retail at ewiz)
Q: is the retail heat sink worthwhile (I've heard different opinions) or is there a recommended heat seak?

Heatsink (if required):
Vigor Monsson III LT (54.99)
XIGMATEK Dark Night (39.99)
Recommendations?

RAM: OCZ Platinum 3 x 2 GB DDR 1600 ($69.99 AR at Zipzoomfly)

MB:
Either
Gigabyte UD3r (184.99 AR at neegg))
MSI X58 Pro (158.99 AR at amazon), reviews at Newegg have me a bit concerned
Q: Both state the support 1333 for RAM, I should still be able to overclock the memory to 1600, correct?
Any significant differences between the boards? Recommendations?

Video:
XFX 4890 ($229.99 AR at newegg)
Sapphire 4870 (179.99 at ewiz)
Is the 4890 reall worth the additional $50? Any other brand recommendations or even nvidia card recommendations?

PSU (if required, currently have 4 year old OCZ 520W Powerstream)
BFG LS-550 550 Watt (59.99 AR at newegg)
Corsair 650TX 650 Watt (89.99 AR at newegg)

Flash Reader
Super Talent All-in-One USB2.0 Internal Card Reader (Color Bezel) ($5.99 at ewiz)

OS
Win7 64bit RC (until win7 is released... I don't want to buy vista then buy 6 months later to upgrade to win7)

Any and all recommendations will be appreciated!

Thanks!
Rhino

 

[In2Photos]

I know a Rhino that is into photography, I wonder if this is the same one!

The stock heatsink on the i7 is good enough for stock speeds. If you intend to overclock get the Xigmatek or something similar. My i7 stock with the Dark Knight idles at 25C!

Ram looks fine, especially at that price. To reach 1600, you will need to OC, otherwise go with 1333 or even 1066 as you likely won't see much difference in speed.

I have the MSI and so far it has been great. Again I am at stock speeds but I know others are at 3.8GHz with the MSI so it should be fine. I have had a couple of MSI boards and they have been great so I decided to save a few bucks this time around as well. I just didn't see anything on the more expensive boards that I needed.

Don't know much about video cards since I don't game.

The Corsair 650TX is great! I am glad I spent the extra money on a quality PSU.

Flash Reader. Check out the AFT Pro-35u. It is more expensive ($30 at Newegg) but reads SDHC cards and has some nice drivers for displaying icons for each drive in My Computer. I went cheap first and had to replace it after 3 weeks. It can be used internal or external and with or without the USB slot on the front since it has two cables.

OS, I can see your point to a small extent, but make sure you can get drivers for all of your stuff for Win7. I went with Vista since there is still some stuff not even supported in Vista 64, much less an RC version of Windows!

 

[jsrhino]

Thanks In2Photos, Are you happy with the MSI X58 Pro?

 

[In2Photos]

Originally posted by: jsrhino
Thanks In2Photos, Are you happy with the MSI X58 Pro?

I am. I had one scare with eSATA, but it turned out to be a bad cable. Everything else has been solid so far. It had everything I needed and more so saving a few bucks over an ASUS or Gigabyte was nice.

 

[jsrhino]

Any comments regarding using the old psu or buying a new one?

 

[theAnimal]

Your current PSU should be sufficient.