Originally Posted by Veloce

That's all quite useful info, so now i'm gonna be looking at triple channel motherboards, 3GB (or 6) ram all of the same frequency and size, and some power.

I'll get looking when i'm home from work later.

ALSO: I'm going for XP but i think i'll have the 64bit one

As to an OS: wait till Widows 7 comes out in October and get the 64 bit of the best version you can afford.

XP 64 is/was a Server OS. Do not get it unless you want to run old servers.

The RAM issue: whether Dual channel of Triple channel: Use it.

Also use a minimum number of sticks. For example the best 4GB is 2 x 2GB in Dual channel.

The best Triple would be 3 x 2GB.

Again such RAM should be purchased in packages to ensure their exact match.

Thanks guys!

I like windows XP pro that i have at the moment, i just hope windows 7 lives up to expectations and that the 64-bit version is compatible with all the software i have.

As for ram i think i'll go for 2 sticks of 2GB, speeds and type undecided yet, but i'll decide that once ive looked properly into motherboards. The ones on the preious page look promising.

I'm gonna go for the ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 motherboard.

As for ram, i'm still undecided. I havent had much time recently to have a propper good look.

Ideas still appreciated

PARTS LIST:

GeForce 9800 GT GPU
Intel Corei7 Nehalem 920 Processor
ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

PARTS LIST:

GeForce 9800 GT GPU (Purchased Already)
Intel Corei7 Nehalem 920 Processor (~£200 - £250)
ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard (~£200)

DDR3 4GB @ 1066Mhz RAM (Kingston) (~£50)
Corsair TX 750W PSU (~£100)
2x 500GB SATA 3GB/s HDD @ 7200RPM (~£100 - £150)

Still undecided on CD/DVD burner, Cooling for the CPU, and Case.
Also debating sound card.

Still open to suggestions

I've actually had a good look around and think this may be better, although correct me if i'm wrong :P

Intel Core i7-920 Socket 1366 CPU D0 Stepping (SLBEJ)
1x £169.95
Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Intel X58 Socket 1366 Motherboard
1x £180.95
OCZ 4GB DDR3 PC3-12800 Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Edition
1x £54.95
Corsair 750W TX Series PSU
1x £87.95
500GB Barracuda 7200.12 SATA 2 Hard Drive
1x £34.95
Samsung 22x LightScribe DVD-RW SATA oem with Nero
1x £16.54

With VAT at 15% and delivery, it comes to £635.08

Will all this work together? I Don't think theres anything blatantly obvious i'm missing, except cooling (any suggestions?)

Thanks for your help so far guys

When considering whether or not a system is compatible make sure that you match the socket types on the MB with that of the CPU, make sure the meets the requirements for the MB, and that your PSU is powerful enough. What about graphics card? Case?

One thing to consider is that this MB is triple channel which you should take advantage of for performance reasons. You don't have to but I would recommend it. To do that you will need 3 sticks of the same type & preferable of the same model. Therefore you would either need to get 1.5 gb of ram (3x 512 mb sticks), 3 gb (3x 1 gb sticks), or 6 gb (3x 2 gb sticks). If you are running Vista you will want to go with at least 3 and you need to decide if 3 (instead of 4) is acceptable or if you need 6.

If you get 4 gb or more you will need Vista 64 bit because XP/Vista 32-bit doesn't recognize all of that ram and therefore won't use it all. You will want Vista instead of XP because XP 64-bit . Actually its the drivers that . Windows 7 32 bit will recognize 4 gb but I don't think that it will recognize more. Something else to consider.

Here we go, everything i've got on the list to buy:

Corsair 750W TX Series PSU
Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Intel X58 Socket 1366 Motherboard
Samsung 22x LightScribe DVD-RW SATA oem with Nero
Intel Core i7-920 Socket 1366 CPU D0 Stepping (SLBEJ)
500GB Barracuda 7200.12 SATA 2 Hard Drive
SCYTHE SHURIKEN Rev. B 3Heat Pipes CPU Cooler
Arianet 8011 Case with neon lights
OCZ 4GB DDR3 PC3-12800 Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Edition

The motherboard uses DDR3 so the ram is okay i believe, i don't think it is necessary to use triple channel, 4GB dual will be fine for me
The sockets for the CPU, Motherboard and CPU Cooler match.

Is there anythng else i need to consider, or will i be able to put all these together and have it working?

Thanks for the help, i am quite a practical person and logically minded, but with an investment like this i just want to be sure.

Triple channel has to do with how the ram is used and it is a vast improvement as compared to single channel. Again you don't have to get 6 gb; you can achieve the same thing with 3 gb.

I just decided to go with the 4GB (2x 2GB), because i'm using xp professional (32 bit), but i'll consider an update IF i decide to go with Windows 7.

Thats up to you. Just recognize that it will only recognize ~3.5 gb and therefore you won't be able to use the rest.