So, I thought I'd spend an hour or two speccing parts from Newegg based on some of their really good deals today and realized just how far behind I am and the whole CPU and motherboard architecture thing. Seriously, wtf? Just looking at i7s I can't tell exactly what mobo would work with each one.

For example Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor has an integrated memory controller speed of Dual Channel DDR3-1066/1333; does this limit my mobo choices? Fuck if I know!

Is an ASRock Z68 Extreme7 only worth it if you run more than one graphics card? I know it supports i7 but not if I can only use Gulftown cores (for example, I have no idea if this is a restriction on any of them). Do we not say "SLI" and "Crossfire" anymore? Do all the high end ones support both? Because the mobo specs don't seem to include this tidbit anymore.

I actually no longer think saving 100 bucks is probably worth it. I might just buy the 80GB Intel SSD for 80 bucks and say fuck it.

And the moral of the story is that orcishgamer should have read X before even attempting this?

Feel free to fill in X or alternately substitute your own moral of the story.

I spent an hour trying to put together things for a computer. I know how to assemble one, but I know nothing of parts, so I was getting numbers ranging from $500 to $1200 and I had no clue what I was doing, so I whimpered a few times and went back to check Dell's sales again.

basicly Intel release a new pincount with each new generation atm so aslong as the pin count is the same on board and chip it should work.
Intel has deals with both NV and AMD so all 1155+ (and many older) boards with multiple (physical) 16x slots will accept either SLI or crossfire
the 2500k is seen as the best price/performance chip as it can overclock in most cases to match the 2600k
I recommend hitting up the Toms GPU listing and their CPU listing if they still do it.

If your highest use is going to be gaming, the Core i5's are better value than the Core i7's. If you have higher uses than gaming (like video postproduction), the Core i7's thrash the Core i5's.

The variety of Core i7 parts coming out of Intel's CPU group is pretty daunting. They take four different, totally incompatible socket/motherboard designs. This is just the desktop list (not mobiles):

9xx (including Extreme) [Gulftown, Bloomfield]: LGA 1366
8xx and 8xxS [Lynnfield]: LGA 1156
26xx and 27xx (including S and K, but not M) [Sandy Bridge]: LGA 1155
3xxx [Sandy Bridge E]: LGA 2011

Most people will be wanting the 2600K. This requires a motherboard with the LGA 1155 socket. Good Northbridges for LGA 1155 motherboards are the Z68 and P67. Your ASRock Z68 Extreme7 is among them, but Z68's are common even in mid-priced motherboards. I've been coveting an MSI Z68MA-ED55 for my next build (I do a lot of MicroATX builds).

Nehalems have been sort of run out of the market by the much faster Sandy Bridge CPUs. If you do get a good deal on a Nehalem, remember 9's want LGA 1366, and 8's want LGA 1156. These motherboards are still widely available, as are the three-stick RAM kits that LGA 1366 wants.

LGA 1155 and 1156 sound like they should be compatible or almost so, but they are totally incompatible.

Isn't Intel alphabet soup tasty?

AAAAAARGH.

This is the new quad channel memory chip, right? I think they're still 600 USD and up.

No, Intel alphabet soup makes me rage;) No, but I write software (the kind that can bring a normal computer to its knees when you need to compile it or do other stuff developers do but normal people do not), and even though this will be primarily a gaming rig, I never quite get around to getting a development only machine to sit beside it. I spent some time reading this article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68a-gd80-p8z68-deluxe-z68xp-ud5,3025.html
and this article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68a-gd80-p8z68-deluxe-z68xp-ud5,3025.html
about mobos and that's when I got frustrated and realized I didn't know half the shit I needed to know.

Yeah, Sandy Bridge E and the LGA 2011 socket are the quad-channel architecture. I wouldn't go for it unless it did something for me I had to get done right now. I'd wait for Ivy Bridge instead before going beyond Core i7 26xx/LGA 1155/Z68.

So this:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Extreme7%20Gen3
and this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
are compatible then. I guess...

It sounds like I need to go with an Intel mobo, though, to get Crossfire compat (since I'm done with nVidia for awhile)? Intel DZ68DB (I just totally pulled that from a Tom's Hardware review, it could suck ass for all I know)?

It doesn't have to be Intel made. Any P67 or Z68 motherboard should do both Crossfire and SLI. (Lesser Northbridges are going to be performance bottlenecks.) Your ASRock specifically supports up to 3-way Crossfire and 3-way SLI.

Intel makes solid motherboards that are largely intended for corporate customers: long support cycles, extra security features, no overclocking. Except for expensive curiosities like Skulltrail, they're only rarely of interest to comsumers.

Yes, ASRock specifically states that that motherboard supports a Core i7 2600K (D2 stepping), and according to Intel, that CPU (Intel stock number BX80623I72600K) is of the D2 stepping: [url=http://ark.intel.com/products/52214/Intel-Core-i7-2600K-Processor-(8M-Cache-3_40-GHz]http://ark.intel.com/products/52214/Intel-Core-i7-2600K-Processor-(8M-Cache-3_40-GHz[/url])

If you weren't a software writer I'd suggest just going with an AMD cpu and mobo. Not sure what your preference is, but I got a prebuilt Cyberpower with a quadcore 965 (?) phenom clocked at 3.4 ghz per core and this thing screams and multitasks like nobody's business.

Obviously I don't write code, and I am well aware that Intel is superior to AMD for more brutal cpu-intensive tasks. I just use my pc for gaming and work, which uses a VMWare solution for a remote desktop and isn't too steep on system req's.

For example if you were thinking longterm and wanted Bulldozer this insanely good deal is going on right now http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285

I wouldn't recommend it though unless you're future proofing for Windows 8, as 7 and below does not make full use of hex cores from my understanding.

EDIT: Or for example http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229277 which is remarkably similar to the system I bought in July with very similar specs and almost the same price.

Okay, it kind seems hard to justify 1200 bucks in comp parts when I look at that...

My current comp is a AMD AM2 5600 on a ASUS Crossfire mobo, 2GB of RAM (so it can run at 800 MHz clockspeed) and a BFGTech GTX 260 (or maybe 265, I forget now).

I just kind of want something I have an excuse to upgrade to Win 7 for and do some more tasks. My work PC kicks my home desktop's ass about 3 times over for software development (it's a pretty massive quad core with 8GB of RAM).

EDIT: Oh I guess I would need to buy a copy of Win 7 if I build my own... urk, there goes another 100-ish.

I was a bit skeptical about CyberPower because of some of the reviews, but honestly my system *knock on wood* has had zero issues, and the 6670 performs admirably in most situations and can play most stuff on High settings with no AA.

I'd have to give up my Lian Li brushed aluminum case, though;)

Or... you know... buy the pc and manually move the parts from the Azza case to your Lian Li case ;) You'd be looking at saving yourself about 700 bucks. 650 if you buy the 8 gigs of RAM (if the quadcore is like the one I bought it comes with ddr3 but only 4gigs)

Did you get a Win 7 install disc or just one of those lame restore discs?