Need your help with my first build (core i7)-Suggestions/comments, please

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crewsro

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I've been planning on building now for about 1 month. After reading countless reviews and learning the basics, I've come up with a build I hope will work. I'm not really working on a budget however I don't want to over spend. My build's I've come up with have been ~$1100-1300. I want to build b/c I want a machine that I will be able to upgrade whenever I get bored in the future. Of course I want the biggest and the best, (don't we all), however I don't want to upgrade to something more expensive and not be able to tell a difference in performance. On the other hand, I don't want to sacrifice future performance or future upgradability just to save some dough or because the technology isn't here just yet. Right now I mostly just browse the web and do basic computing. I am a gamer, but up until this point I've always been a console gamer. Hopefully this build will change that. I also want to be able to use it as a home theater pc. Right now I'm using a laptop plugged into my 52" Panasonic plasma so eventually it'd be nice for this pc to be my comp, tv, dvr, and multimedia machine. I don't have any experience in overclocking however it is something i've always been interested in but haven't had the time to delve into it. If I have a capable machine, I will learn the basics of overclocking. Basically I want a build that I will not be restrained by if I decide to start overclocking, or playing crysis, or storing all my media digitally.

Phew, I hope you made it this far. Without further ado, this is what I got-

Case: LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case

OR NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel

OR APEVIA X-PLEASURE Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Case

CPU:
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

MOBO: ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

Memory
:OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK

Graphics: SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X 100269VXL Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

CPU Cooler: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler


My Questions/Concerns:
-I was originally going to go with the OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6G, but I found a sweet combo with the OCZ gold + CPU + MOBO. I have a feeling that I won't be as happy with the OCZ gold. OCZ Plat vs gold? Anyone have any suggestions for different memory?​

-What do you guys think of that MOBO? I thought about going with the Asus p6t Deluxe V2 but I didn't know if I would be able to utilize any differences to justify the upgrade? Is there another MOBO you would recommend?​

-The case seems to be the hardest decision to make. I like the cases with the side windows and blue fan's and LEDs. I picked the Lian-Li because someone recommended the brand. That case was really the only one I liked out of their selecton and I guess its so new I cant find any reviews on it. I want a case that looks cool but but also has good airflow. I know the Tempest has good airflow and I like the window but I'm not to big on the face. Unless you can recommend anything better, I guess I'm going to go with the Tempest. I like the way that the X-pleasure looks but I've heard that some Apevia cases are lower quality.​

Thanks for making it through my long post. I will be waiting for your comments. I'm so ready to hit the submit payment button cause that mean's I'm through with the decision making process. After I get this thing built, I don't know how I'm gonna spend my time. I cant upgrade my pc every month :)
 
The plats just has a little better timings than the gold. Cas7 vs cas8. For normal use you would not notice the difference. For serious benching the plats would be a little bit better. In your situation the golds should be very nice.

I would look at this gpu:
Newegg.com - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Case is a personal preference. I like the Lian Li of your choices. The other two are too flashy for my taste.

Besides that I like your build.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm gonna place my order today. I cant wait to see it in action.
 
Thanks guys, I finally bought my rig today, hopefully it'll be here Wednesday. Now i'm trying to decide what to do about the OS. My original plan was to run the Win 7 RC till next year but looking at the prices now, I might be better off to do the Vista Home 64bit with free Win 7 upgrade.

The only thing I'm not sure about is I don't understand what it means when it says "for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM ".
I'm confused b/c on newegg, this windows vista Home 64bit (NEWEGG's) is $109.99 and the price according to microsoft for windows vista home 64bit is $239.95.

Now I notice there is another win vista home 64 on Newegg for $99

I'm thoroughly confused now. Does the system builder w/tech guarantee mean that I won't have access to tech support? And does this effect how many computer I can install this OS on if I decide to upgrade my MOBO later?
 
Thanks for the welcome and quick response. Yeah, I've downloaded the RC already, I have both the 32 bit and 64 bit. I was trying to make a Bootable USB flash drive today with the 64 bit, but for some reason when I extract the 64 bit ISO, the only file in there is a txt doc that says "This disc contains a "UDF" file system and requires an operating system
that supports the ISO-13346 "UDF" file system specification."

I have sucessfully made a bootable flash drive with the 32 bit. Maybe its because I'm trying to mount the 64 bit version using my Win XP 32 bit laptop. I'm about to try to make the drive with my wife's vista machine and see if that works. We'll see.
 
I think I got it. I just had to mount the iso temporarily to my D drive then copy the contents of the d drive to the bootable flash drive. I think it'll work now.

The only reason I was thinking about going ahead and buying an OS now is b/c I can get the vista w/ free win 7 upgrade right now for $109 and I'm afraid that when the RC expires and its time to buy the real thing I wont be able to get Win 7 for that cheap.
 
Just a heads up, don't double post, use the edit button on the bottom of the post. Pretty sure will be able to get an OEM copy of Windows 7 for a similar price to that once it comes out.
 
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