HELP ON NEW BUILD! Sandy Bridge i7-2600k FIRST BUILD EVER!! Tips are highly appreciated!

[bvuong]

Hello and thank you for reading this post.
this is my first build and i will be upgrading from an i3-540 retail computer.
Since SB is dual channel ram I will reuse my 8gb(4x2gb) kingston ddr3 ram at 1333, zotac gts250 1gb eco edition, creative x-fi xtreme gamer sound card and i have a 500w tr thermaltake 500w psu

Tomorrow I will be going to a microcenter and picking up a i7-2600k cpu and a motherboard that would support 16gb ram and have a good amount of express slots for around $150. Probably an asus or gigabyte.

what I really wanted to do was use my 1tb WD green caviar as hdd but i heard you cant just put a hdd into a new motherboard and cpu.

Since it was a retail computer I do not have a windows 7 cd i can use to reformat it. and i dont want to lose my data either. What should i do? Should i buy a new hdd and try to find windows 7 off of my friend? my retail computer came with backup discs would that work if i put it in a new hdd with my new build?

Any tips are welcomed and appreciated. I'm frantic as i am setting up this computer soon and am in need of help.

Also what do you think is better i7-950 vs i7-2600k which is better and what should i grab? its dual channel vs triple channel ram and the socket1366 x58 motherboards seem to be higher end than a socket 1155 p67 motherboard

Thank you for your time!

 

[patonb]

Not going to comment on the win7 thing.... don't know alot on that.

The 2600k is better than a 950. 1366 is being replaced at the end of the yr with 2011 socket. The dual ram seems to not hurt the 1155 setup.

 

[Night Fox]

The hard drive should be just fine with a new motherboard and CPU...just make sure the motherboard supports the SATA connection (which I'm sure it does). On first bootup, I'd recommend going into the BIOS to make sure everything is right and that it recognizes the hard drive.

 

[bvuong]

...it wasnt haha i had to reformat but i guess i didnt get it all then had to go delete and defrag and registry clean runs a bit better now boot time is still slow but no more freezing

 

[farinha]

Why do you have 3 different threads open? On two of them you're talking about the hdd... Plus one on the OC subforum... It's hard to help you when the information is dispersed like that.

 

[bvuong]

sorry i'm new i think i posted one i the wrong spot

and cuz... i dont get many responses =( and i needed help asap