Please Help a Newb With Lots of Questions on a i7 860 Build

[schvidah]

I have been reading this forum and learning a lot, but still seem to have millions of questions on my build. Please be patient with me and give lots of advice. Ok, here goes. I do not really have a set budget. My top end is $3000, but I figure the total will be way way below that. I do not need a mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers, or an operating system included in my budget, as I have all this already. My main goal is speed. I want something lightening quick, I am not into waiting for programs to start, and something that can handle anything gaming wise. I play mostly FPS games including crysis, so I need to be sure it will be a good gamer as well. I will not be overclocking anything.

Here is what I am looking at so far and I need some opinions and advice to fill in a lot of the components. I have lots of questions, so please help.
1. CPU- Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail $299.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115214
I am fairly set on this cpu.
2. Motherboard - I will assume that you guys will recommend Asus, but please advise on which one I should go with, or another brand? I will not be overclocking. I was looking at:
ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 Intel Motherboard – Retail $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131405
3. GPU - Geforce GTX 295 - I am planning on getting the BFG Tech version because it is on sale for $469, and the Evga and Asus are both $499 right now.
BFG Tech BFGEGTX2951792BE GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video ... – Retail $469.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143192
Unless for some reason BFG is not as reliable as the others. One thing is that Evga has a superclocked version on sale for $499, is there any reason that I should go for the superclocked one??
4. Case- COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KKN1-GP Black ABS Bezel, SECC Body ATX Mid Tower Computer Case – Retail $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119194
My other choice would be a Antec 902 – My question here is will the GTX 295 fit well into this case, or do I bump up and get the Antec 1200 full tower to better fit the huge card? Which do you like best of the 3?
5. DVD burner- LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Writer - Bulk - LightScribe Support – OEM $30.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106333
6. PSU- I am guessing Corsair brand, please recommend one and the correct wattage for my build. I would like a modular one if that is what you recommend using.
7. Memory- Two options here, I do not know the difference between these two, please make a recommendation. First option is 2 sets of these - CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C8 – Retail $129.99 each for a total of $259.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145263
Second option is - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMD8GX3M4A1600C8 – Retail $259.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145267
The Dominator comes with its own cooling fan, which I don’t know if it will fit with the big GTX 295 card. I can not figure out what the difference is between the Dominator and the XMS3. Any ideas?
8. HDD- Here I have a few options. How much faster is a SSD compared to the Caviar Black? If it is like 1 second, than I probably should forget it, but if it will save real time, I will spring for one.
Here is what I was thinking. Running Windows 7 and most programs off of a Corsair P128 (CMFSSD-128GBG2D) 2.5" 128GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail $345.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...GB%20SATA%20II
And using Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive $79.99 for storage.
Or I could just run everything off a single Caviar and skip the SSD if it is not worth it.
Which option is best, or should I mix a VelociRaptor in there somewhere?
9. Internal card reader - SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader w/ USB 2.0 Port supports SDHC/VISTA - Retail $12.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-UINB%2068-in-
All of these that I looked at on Newegg seemed kind of junky, this seems best of the lot. Any other suggestions?
10. Anything I missed, or other suggestions to improve my build? Thanks so much for any advice that anyone can give.

[Khalil]

No one here can advise you about this processor or the new chipset, it is too new, hopefully it won't be as bad as the i7 so good luck. The video card is awesome and BFG has about the best warranty on the market.

[schvidah]

Thanks Khalil for the info on the BFG, I will go with that one. I know that nobody can give me any actual hands on about the motherboards because they were just released, but I was hoping someone who was knowledgeable could look at the specs and recommend one of the various models based on that. Any recommendations on the hard drive setup or which memory I should go with? Or power supply? Thanks for any help.

[Khalil]

I ordered a few of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131404 only brand I trust. I will have them today and i may have time to build one to test this week however it will take me a few days to give my opinion on the i5 platform.

[schvidah]

Originally Posted by Khalil I ordered a few of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131404 only brand I trust. I will have them today and i may have time to build one to test this week however it will take me a few days to give my opinion on the i5 platform.

What made you choose that model to test out over the PRO linked below?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131405

[schvidah]

Just an update if anyone cares. Here is what I went with:

CPU - Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail $299.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115214

Motherboard - ASUS P7P55D EVO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-407-_-Product

GPU - BFG Tech BFGEGTX2951792BE GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video ... – Retail $469.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143192


Case- COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KKN1-GP Black ABS Bezel, SECC Body ATX Mid Tower Computer Case – Retail $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119194

Memory - 2 Sets of CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C8 – Retail $129.99 each for a total of $259.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145263

HDD - Corsair P128 (CMFSSD-128GBG2D) 2.5" 128GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail $345.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...GB%20SATA%20II

and

Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-283-_-Product

PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-010-_-Product

Internal card reader - SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader w/ USB 2.0 Port supports SDHC/VISTA - Retail $12.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-UINB%2068-in-

Extra Fans - COOLER MASTER R4-L2S-122B-GP 120mm 4 BLUE LED LED Case Fan - Retail $9.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-022-_-Product


Final price of $2053.

I have had it together for about a week. So far everything is running like a dream. It is ultra fast and stable so far.

[glc]

What OS are you running, and are you having any issues with the onboard sound?

[schvidah]

Originally Posted by glc What OS are you running, and are you having any issues with the onboard sound?

I am running Windows 7. After I loaded the programs from the CD that came with the Asus Motherboard, I have had no problems with the sound. I have a 5.1 system hooked up, and all the sounds come from the speakers that they should. I did have to go in and configure it using one of the programs from the CD because I was only getting 2.0 sound at first.