Volvo

okay, as above.
i'm going to list out my planned setup below, guys give me your opinions.

CPU: intel core-i7 950
Mobo: Asus Rampage II Gene (mATX)
GPU: 2 x radeon HD4670/HD4830 in xfire. note that i chose these card as i want to retain my mATX casing, and i will need BOTH the pcie x1 as well as pci slots on my mobo, so i can only take in two single slot cards.

RAM: recommend me something.
psu: recommend me something small please. something like those 145mm length matx power supplies. preferably above 600w. it must be able to fit into an matx casing and not bump the optical drives out.
optical drives: ignore that, i have them covered.
cooling: i have this covered too.
hdd: i'll think about it some other time.

kevingreenbmx

There is no point in getting a I7 950. i made the same mistake when i first built my rig and got a 940. because of the way the architecture is setup in the I7 you will run into the same overclock barriers with both chips. i ended up selling my 940 for a 920 and loosing a bit of money. but I was able to OC the 920 to better speeds than the 940. :-)

as for the PSU you will need something bigger to power that rig. I7's are 130w alone then you have 3 or 4 expansion cards to power as well...

also, are you sure you have the cooling covered? I7's run way hotter than most chips. it takes some pretty beastly heat sinks to cool them.

hope this helps some, goodluck. :-)

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SZayat

If I was in your shoes, I would've get Intel Core i7-870 ("performs at least as well as the Core i7 950 overall, and it does so on a cheaper, more power-efficient"), ASUS Maximus III GENE, SeaSonic X650 (600W still is an overkill IMO) and G.SKILL Ripjaws Series (2 x 2GB) Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL

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Volvo

cooling's covered. haha
a real fat ass heatsink as well as 82CFM fan. works very well.
cools a very hot pentium D down to around 40, 30+ at times even. haha
thanks for the advice

Volvo

ah thanks
i was looking for a PSU with more amperage since i'm gonna run about 10,000 fans.. ahahaha

Volvo

okay i've just decided to give HDD's a thought. i currently have a 250gb hard drive, and since i dont play many games, etc, is it better that i clone my xp over to a new drive, say a 320gb and then use this one as extra storage space?
thanks!

-iceblade^

why buy a 950 when a 920 is cheaper and does the same thing?

why buy an i7 at all and put in 4830's?

frankly i'd bite the bullet and get a bigger case, you'll be hamstringing those cards by running a pair of 4830's.

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Afrodisiac

Go Phenom II + good graphics. 4830s won't cut it. Get some 5770 CF action, or a 5850, or 4890 CF. If you can afford it, of course get Core i7 + better graphics, but if it's either one or the other, for gaming, GPUs are more important.

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kz26

He did say that he won't be playing many games, so in that case Xfired 4830s will be more than sufficient. Heck, I've yet to be disappointed by my single 4830.

As for the proc, either the i7-870 or i7-920 will be fine. Choose the former if you want the latest and greatest. Keep in mind that these are dual-channel and tri-channel DDR3, respectively.

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tipsycoma

Yes, but nowadays who says they're going to get crossfired 4830's? They're great cards but he's better off buying a single 4890 for the price. 4890's are so cheap now and can be found for less than two 4830's. Plus he always has the option of CFing in the future.