Need help choosing a motherboard for new gaming system

Hi guys,
i'm currently sourcing components for a gaming rig that im building.
I've got the names of all the parts :

CPU

INTEL CORE I7 920 SKT 1366 RetailAIL D0 STEPPING

RAM

OCZ 12gb Ddr3-1600 Plat Triple Channel 6x2gb

MotherBoard

EVGA X58 SLI Micro Socket 1366 Motherboard - 121-BL-E756-TR
or
ASUS SKT-1366 RAMPAGE II GENE S/L 6400MT/s

Graphics Card

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
or
ASUS 1GB GeF GTX 465 PCI-E 2.0

Hard Drive

Samsung HD203WI 2TB Spinpoint F3 EcoGreen 3.5" SATA II Hard Drive

Optical Drive

Samsung TS-H653G DVD-RW SATA Optical Drive

Monitor

DGM 2266WD 22" True HD Widescreen LCD Monitor

Power Supply/Case

Corona Black Matx Computer Tower Case 650w Psu

advice on any of these would be extremely helpful, but i would really appreciate advice on the motherboard and graphics card
 
I'd have to agree, get rid of that 12GB of RAM. If you have the cash go for an SSD for you games and avoid any "green" or power saving drives. Expensive motherboards are a waste (IMO), get one with whatever features you must have and avoid all the crazy frills of the $$$ ones.

Video card should to be a 58xx or GTX 460/465
 
cheers guys for the help,

btw, if i was to keep the 12gb (6x2gb) ram, which mobo would have all the sockets and stuff i would need without the extra frills.

And also if i was to buy the 6gb ram that hellokitty recommended me, which mobo would support that without all the frills? And which graphics card would you recommend me getting with the saved money.

Also do you reckon the 2.66ghz is enough or should i overclock to 3.0ghz...or should i go AMD and which one.???

cheers for the help and other suggestions would be appreciated greatly.
 
In answer to your questions (in the order you posed them)...

The 12Gb RAM kit is applicable to X58 boards, If you plan on using a P55 based system it has two fewer RAM slots...so 4Gb or 8Gb (2Gb modules). Virtually any X58 board will accept 6x2Gb- the exceptions are boards that feature a triple channel + 1 setup (i.e.Intel DX58SO) or three slots only (i.e. Foxconn X58 Bloodrage/Flaming Blade)

All X58 boards are triple channel so 3x2Gb is applicable to all

Foe 1920x1080 gaming the HD 5850 you picked out will provide you with an excellent gameplay experience. I wouldn't bother with the GTX 465. Stepping up in graphics power (HD 5870 for example) would largely be wasted at your gaming resolution.
Personally I would buy the best 5850 within your budget (Sapphire Vapor-X for example) that will provide good gaming, not be intrusive in the sound department and offer good resale value if you decide to upgrade the card when the next new series launches in a few months.

The Core i7 920 is an excellent CPU (make sure you get the D0 stepping) that provides instant overclock (turbo mode) should you need it. The CPU will also overclock as well as any of it's higher clocked (and higher priced) relatives (950, 960). Bear in mind that the 920's successor, the 930 (2.8GHz) is now often cheaper than the 920.

Should you go AMD ? If you want the system primarily for gaming then an AMD Phenom X6 is an option. The gap in gaming performance is not huge, but still favours the Intel setup. If you plan on using the system for multimedia and workstation type duties then personally I'd stick with the X58. Overall productivity is a little better
 
You could also may be able to save quite a bit of cash by going with an i5 processor and an 1156 motherboard.

This is what I was considering for my next gaming PC:

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768-P3-1360-TR Video Card

Intel Core i5-650 3.2GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 ATX Intel Motherboard

WD Raptor HD
 
cash boost XD

Hey guys i just got a massive cash boost and now have about £2600 - £2700 to work with instead of £1000, so if you could recommend me what to do with extra cash to upgrade my current spec, that would be great.

cheers 4 the help guys
 
Basically the same thing,
i7 920/930
GSkill ripjaws 6(3X2)gb DDR3
And at least a 5850.
I would consider an SSD and possibly a monitor.
 
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