So Im Going i7 from AMD -- Build help please.

[BrokenWall]

I am upgrading and I am trying to get the best bang for my buck. I was going to go with a Core 2 Quad Q8400, but I have realized that the extra $80-120 is worth the power and longevity of the Core i7.

So I am going with a Core i7 920 (as its the cheapest and still very powerful), which leaves me with my budget for a decent motherboard and memory. I have around $300 budget for 6GBs of Ram and Motherboard.

I still have my 9800GTX because it still has some fight left and my AMD X2 isn't able to let to perform like it wants to, and im only powering a 1600x1200 LCD monitor at the moment.

The motherboards I have been looking at:
$199 -- Foxconn FlamingBlade
$199 -- Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
$199 -- Foxconn Renaissance

And as far as memory goes I have been looking at:
___DDR3-1600___
$95 -- G.Skill F3-12800CL8TU-6GBPI 8-8-8-21
$99 -- OCZ Platinum 6GB 7-7-7-24

___DDR3-1333___
$92 -- GeIL 6GB 7-7-7-24
$95 -- OCZ 6GB 7-7-7-20

It looks like im gonna go with the DDR3-1600 since I can than overclock just the CPU and not worry about the memory as much.

Is there any better choices out there for the motherboard and memory. Also I require around 6 SATA ports since I will be adding more drives later. And I hope my Enermax 500watt power supply should be able to handle the X58 and 920 with no problems. It will be upgraded later along with the purchase of some more drives.

[BrokenWall]

Anyone assist me here. Been out of the loop awhile with these things and I am tempted to go for a Phenom II because its what I know and I know how to overclock AMDs.

[loonym]

I'm scooping up a set of those ocz 1600 platinums, it's a kickass deal with the free 4gb flash stick, but I really like my low latency 1333 kits too. As far as the board, I don't know your budget but don't overlook the dfi lp-dk. If it's down to the three you listed, I'd choose giga simply because I like their support. If you go i7 you won't regret it! :up:

That 500w should be ok but if you run into instability/oc issues I'd immediately suspect it.

[Serpentarius]

shouldnt this thread is placed on AMD section?

[Shadowthor]

not really, considering the OP saying he is building an i7.

[Semicycle]

I'd go with the Gigabyte board or an Asus P6T SE

[loonym]

shouldnt this thread is placed on AMD section?I think he's asking opinions on a potential i7 build?

[Serpentarius]

I think he's asking opinions on a potential i7 build?

whooops ... i've read it wrongly

[BrokenWall]

Yeah I have a X2 6400+ read sig. And I wanna get the best deal for my money. And I mainly do gaming but lately getting into some stuff with virtualization. Which my X2 can't handle multiple machines. So a Quad Core is the way to go. Well the bandwidth of triple DDR3 will help alot. I do alot of gaming and when it comes to my main choice of games there is very little performance difference between the 920, Q8400, X4 955. But like I said I have a 5 month old and when the video encoding comes into play it will be nice to have the extra power. Plus even if I can get 3.2Ghz I will be happen because I know the X4 955 can do 4Ghz but thats about it on air.

And no Im not limited to those three motherboards but I can't afford to stray from the price to far since i'm already gonna spend over my budget to get an alot better build.

[aoch88]

How about Gigabyte UD5 and if you're on tight budget then those Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1600 would also work fine. You might not get tight timings but it still runs at the Mhz you need it to be.

[BrokenWall]

The only UD5 I see is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128362
Which is $288 a bit more than I have to spend. And the memory is another $10 as well.

[jcniest5]

Another way to go is to buy them used (off forum members, which they post regularly). Check out the For Sale section, sometimes members list ridiculous low price just because they want to get rid of their rig.

[denice25]

Good luck BrokenWall....

[Fafeifa]

UD5 and get a set of DDR3 1866mhz which will give you more headroom to oc and they are like $20 more than the 1600 at the current market price, i've got the ocz reaper DDR3 1866 which was $105 for the set of 6gb. The UD5 is a good choice and the 500w psu will be close to the limit if u oc if you don't then you are fine.

[Zucker2k]

Or go UD4