It's been an age and a half since I last posted here, but now I have come to ask the forum I remember being well versed in PC building for aid. I am semi-knowledgeable on the hardware aspects of building. My primary issue however, is figuring out compatibility between said parts. I also have the age old issue of carelessness when it comes to finding the best part for the best cost. I have compiled a list of pieces located in my initial search, any criticism is appreciated, as it is likely I have overlooked something important.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188066

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130549

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225 (Edit: Made Compatible)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116762

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136178

Wrong RAM. You want a triple-channel kit with an i7.

Alright, thanks. I did a quick scan around newegg and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225 appears to meet the criteria.

Your power supply is ridiculously overpowered. I mean, 650W would do you just fine. And the AX series is expensive as hell. HX is plenty fine for modular. It wont hurt anything to buy a 1200W AX, but... well, it's your money.

As for the CPU, the last gen i7s are outclassed for less by the new intel CPUs. The fixed socket 1155 mobos should be back in stock very soon. A 2500k would be $70 less than the i7 950, perform better, and you'd have a mobo with a socket that's not dead.

Both the 470 and 480 have pretty much been replaced as far as their price range goes by other Nvidia cards, or by AMD cards. The 560 TI would perform better and has way more overclocking room. The Gigabyte superclocked 560 would be a great choice if it ever goes back in stock. Or the 2GB 6950, since the extra shaders can be unlocked, making it essentially a 6970 for $100 less.

That's pretty much it. If you dont want to wait for the current gen i5/i7s, your build looks fine. If you do, you'd need a different mobo, and back to dual channel RAM.

yea, saving money is always a plus, so any advice in that area is more than welcome. Though about the 1155 motherboards how soon is soon? I'm in no rush but I like to have a sort of plan for how I'm going about this. I did a quick search on google for some but they appear to be out of stock on other sites as well. Many thanks for the help given everyone.

Also would http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130610&Tpk=superclocked%20560 be the superclocked 560 you spoke of iGuess?

I would add that if you plan to use Adobe CS5 apps on this machine definitely go with one of the top tier NVIDIA cards.

The AMD cards cannot use GPU acceleration for CS5's Mercury Playback Engine, but most of the top NVIDIA cards can do this.

They have been recalled. It depends on how long it takes for Intel to fix the problem and resupply everyone.

ahh ok I guess I can start gathering the other parts as I wait for the recall to be over. on a side note, what would be a good way to find out about things such as compatibility and the finer points of PC building, my knowledge extends primarily to where to put the parts in the case at the moment and I would like to be able to learn these things on my own without accidentally wasting money on incompatible parts or over some careless mistake.

Everything you need to know to see if things fit together are all available on Newegg. Every motherboard's details page lists things like compatible CPU socket, memory type, expansion slots, and even multiple pics for closer examination. Then just take that information and filter the search for the other parts accordingly.

I would also recommend the Tom's hardware forums as a good place to ask questions about compatibility.

Very soon. Within a few weeks from the looks of news developments:

Asus: http://www.legitreviews.com/news/10124/#
Gigabyte: http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=991
MSI: http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2011/02/25/msi-ships-fixed-sandy-bridge-motherboards/1


With your budget, the Sandybridge platform is the only one you should be looking at. It destroys almost everything right now. In games, the 2500K and 2600K processors can match the previous generation high-end $1K chip (Core i7 980X and more recently the Core i7 990X)...and yet they cost significantly less. Plus they are VERY overclock-friendly...many doing 5GHz on air. I have a 2500K myself at 4.5GHz at the moment...I can push more, but I have no need for it at all.

As for the video card, that is indeed the GTX 560 Ti. However, the 2GB Radeon 6950 is a much better buy in comparison since the card has a great chance to be unlocked to perform as well as the Radeon 6970 by doing a simple card BIOS flash. If you're planing on folding though, then go with a Nvidia card....preferably the GTX 570 if possible.


BTW, are you planning on going SLI or something? The 1200W Corsair is absolute overkill. The Corsair AX850 would give you enough for two GTX 570's in SLI or even two Radeon 6950's in Crossfire....and an OCed system. Don't spend money needlessly unless you're planning on Tri-SLI or Tri-Crossfire or something.

SandyBridge is a dual-channel platform, so make sure to a dual channel kit of RAM...2x2GB or 2x4GB. G Skill DDR3 Ripjaws 1600 are pretty darn good and cheap.

The Samsung F3 1TB drive is only $10 more:
http://www.superbiiz.com/query.php?categry=0&s=samsung+1tb&x=0&y=0

And Asus makes better DVD drives:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204&cm_re=asus_sata_dvd-_-27-135-204-_-Product





Intel has already fixed the problem and revised the CougarPoint chipset for the motherboards. It's on the vendors right now to get the boards back onto the market.