AEon needs a new PC :)

[obsidian]

I'm not a big fan of ASRock motherboards. They don't quite seem reliable from what I can gather.

If you want to save a bit, skip the CPU cooler, the stock Intel one should do fine for most things.

On the RAM, I believe all the i7 and motherboards are triple channel DDR3 (double check with motherboard) so it's a good idea to get 3x 2GB modules.

[Foo]

Same here, ASRock aren't suitable for any kind of gaming setup IMO.

Also for the CPU... that's a retail boxes processor, so you don't need the extra cooler and paste - it all comes with the CPU and is plenty adequate.

[Foo]

On the RAM, I believe all the i7 and motherboards are triple channel DDR3 (double check with motherboard) so it's a good idea to get 3x 2GB modules.

Nup not all of them. I'm on a P7P55D mobo which is dual channel.

[AEon]

On my PC the standard cooler for the i7 920 is enough. Max temperature playing games at maximum settings was 53°C or so... you may want to rethink spending the extra money on the i7-930, a 920 should be a lot cheaper, and not much slower, plus IIRC can be OC'ed pretty well.

I'd go with a Corsair power supply with modular cables though. You can save on a lot, but the power supply should be very good to avoid any future issues.

Strictly from experience... mainboard should be ASUS. Always have used ASUS, never had any problems with them.

[KingManULTRA]

Same here, ASRock aren't suitable for any kind of gaming setup IMO.

Also for the CPU... that's a retail boxes processor, so you don't need the extra cooler and paste - it all comes with the CPU and is plenty adequate.

I'm thinking I want to overclock the processor though to get max speed of 60 fps in PCSX2 PS2 emulation. Is the standard cooler still fine? Also, is there a particular mobo you like that's idiot proof for overclocking/adjusting voltage?

On my PC the standard cooler for the i7 920 is enough. Max temperature playing games at maximum settings was 53°C or so... you may want to rethink spending the extra money on the i7-930, a 920 should be a lot cheaper, and not much slower, plus IIRC can be OC'ed pretty well.

At Newegg the 930 is only $10 higher than the 920 unless I'm missing a factor.

[Grenader]

I believe ASRock are actually owned by Asus, dealing with their cheap market end. Personally I wouldn't wish an ASRock upon anybody.

[obsidian]

Strictly from experience... mainboard should be ASUS. Always have used ASUS, never had any problems with them.

I like Asus too, but my previous board was RMA'ed twice and my current board (same as your's) was dead on arrival.

[AmIdYfReAk]

from what I've read/heard etc, asrock is separated asus employees, nothing more.

and two of my Last asus mobo's got rma'd twice each, and the one is still fucked up...

My P5Q is awesome however.

[^Ghost]

if u live in the US and have a microcenter near u the 920 is only 200$

at least it was when i purchased it now its 170$ http://www.microcenter.com/single_produ ... id=0302727

[AEon]

/me quietly weeps when hearing about such pricing. Here in Germany even the "cheapest" sales are still way above in pricing (I payed: 228,00€ for the Intel Core i7 920 2.67GHz 4800MT/s S1366 8MB 130W BOX). And the Euro is worth quite a bit more than the Dollar, making things even worse.

Wonder why hardware - for once - is actually cheaper in the US. CDs e.g. are not cheaper there.

[obsidian]

Taxes and tariffs. I'm pretty sure the EU charges tariffs on imported electronics while in the U.S. RIAA charges for blank discs.