building new i7 high end PC and need some advice

[sergeex]

Hello, this is my first post here. I have been reading this forum for a while and I appreciate all the help that you guys provide. To summarize what I?m looking for: I am building a new PC and I got most of the parts now except for RAM. What I need help with is finding an optimum RAM for my new PC.



This is what I have purchased so far:

Power Supply:
Thermaltake Toughpower W0132RU 1000W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire

Video Card:
EVGA 295

Hard Drives:
2 orders of Western Digital Caviar GP WD10000LSRTL 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136337

2 orders of Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136296

Motherboard:
EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED "Overclocker's Pick" 3-Way SLI + PhysX 1366 Intel X58 EATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813188048

CPU:
Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115211

What I still need to figure out is what RAM to buy for this PC
There are few options that I?m looking at:
=====================================================================================================
CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory Model
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145254

OCZ Flex EX 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory Model
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227416

GeIL Gaming Series 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820144348

OCZ Gold 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV12GS - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227422
======================================================================================================

This is a gaming rig that I?m working on and I do plan to OverClock it at least a little. No water cooling, just air

I really need help choosing RAM that would be optimum for i7 and X58 mobo, that I can overclock to get the best out of this PC.


At this point i'm leaning towards
OCZ Flex EX 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory Model
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227416

OCZ Gold 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV12GS - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227422

But since i'm not going to be using water cooling the OCZ Flex might not be the best choice, so going with OCZ Gold 12GB looks appealing

If you have any suggestions/recomendations on the RAM please post here. If there are other memory modules that I did not list but could potential be better please post it.

Thank you very much

 

[sergeex]

After reading some reviews i'm now leaning towards getting 2

mushkin 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 998691
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820226050

for the total of 12 GB RAM

Could anyone confirm if it's a good choice for my build?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

instead of getting 2 WD raptors, why not get an intel or agility SSD?

 

[sergeex]

Raptor HDs are already purchased and with my current budget the only thing i can get is RAM. I will be looking into SSD eventually. For now i just need to make sure i pick up the right memory

 

[sergeex]

Hum i am looking at this SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820167005


would this be a significant performance boost over 2 raptors in raid 0?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: sergeex
Hum i am looking at this SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820167005


would this be a significant performance boost over 2 raptors in raid 0?

absolutely, but make sure you estimate how much in game data you will be using, my 300g scsi is already at 79G, so an 80g intel SSD drive is out of the question

another thing, get the G2 version which is the latest

and that is good ram just stick with 6g instead... basically low timings raise your minimum fps, but overclocking will make the difference between 1333 cl6 or 1200 @ cl5 and 1600 cl6 less than 5% difference which is around 1-2 fps... i'll find the anandtech article and link it in just a sec

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Here you go

 

[sergeex]

Thank you very much for replying

Ok i will try http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820167023
for the SSD.

Any reason why i should keep 6GB or RAM instead of 12 GB?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Just start off with 6. Then if you need to go with another 6.

 

[sergeex]

The reason i want to get 12 GB now is because if i don't get it now, i'd end up spending that money on junk food or some other crap. So i'd rather invets it now while i still have the cash.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You will get the best out of it with 6g but its up to you.

 

[DontMindMe]

Originally posted by: sergeex
Thank you very much for replying

Ok i will try http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820167023
for the SSD.

Any reason why i should keep 6GB or RAM instead of 12 GB?

try mwave or datavision for the SSD

 

[GLeeM]

It looks like all of your other parts are aimed at overclocking. I don't see an upgrade HSF? Are you going to use the stock CPU cooler?

 

[sergeex]

I'm planning to get
Prolimatech Megahalems for CPU cooling
http://www.svc.com/megahalems....yr7Dl50CFcZM5Qod9zPN7Q

and 2 120mm fans for it

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

You need to get RAM that supports XMP, which the gold series doesn't.