I am finally ready to build my first system but I need a little help in choosing components. I am not a serious gamer but do use my system as a DAW from time to time which requires a lot of memory and is pretty processor intensive (also is programmed to use multiple cores). The most graphically intense game I currently play is Civ 4 and it runs fine on an old Radeon X300SE so I am not interested in SLI or Crossfire. I am also not interested in overclocking (unless I am able to do so safely with very little effort). I don't think I'll be doing much upgrading in the near future so the processor that I choose will likely be the only one I use until my next complete build. I would like to build a system for around $1000. I'm willing to stretch that to about $1250.00 if I need to or $1500.00 if there is a really good reason to. Also, I already own a copy of Win 7 so that does not need to be included in the cost. Here are a few specific questions/statements I have:
(1) I'm not sure if I should go with the Core i7-860 or i7-920.
(2) What would be the performance benefits between a dual channel and triple channel configuration?
(3) I'm looking for a decent motherboard that has support for SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0
(4) What would be a decent PSU?
I'm looking to purchase the components sometime over the next day or two. Any help is much appreciated.
(1) I'm not sure if I should go with the Core i7-860 or i7-920.
(2) What would be the performance benefits between a dual channel and triple channel configuration?
(3) I'm looking for a decent motherboard that has support for SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0
(4) What would be a decent PSU?
I'm looking to purchase the components sometime over the next day or two. Any help is much appreciated.