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For an SSD I'd recommend Crucial or Intel, in that order. A lot of the specs state the speed for large file reads and writes which isn't that important for a boot drive. These two manufacturers have the fastest drives for small (less than 8 kb) file read/writes.

You can get away with an 80GB boot drive, 120 is more than enough and 160 (what I have) is overkill.

Only other comments I have are:

- Unless you're using the additional features the motherboard may be overkill. Check out the P6X58D-E instead (unless for some reason it doesn't work with the 950).
- Certainly an expensive case. Would the Antek Three Hundred work for you?
- Before loading Norton or McAfee on your new system try out Microsoft Security Essentials (free). I like it MUCH more than these two "pay for" anti-virus/anti-spam subscriptions.

Also, I'll be interested in how the ASUS wireless card works. I have a D-Link DWA-552, which is a piece of junk IMO. All of the cards using the Atheros chip seem pretty unreliable so maybe double check to see what it's using.

In2Photos wrote in post #11386637
Why would the wireless PCI card be a problem? Video cards are x16, the wireless looks like an x1. There should be plenty of room on the mobo. Am I missing something?

Recently i've been networking my home theatre unit to my PC, I found wireless unreliable, to the point I paid a guy to install wiring under my house, at a reasonable cost and level of difficulty. With a bridged wireless connection I couldn't stream 720p, and half the time it wouldn't even connect. With a wired connection I can stream 1080p, and I can upgrade my routers to support gigabit later if I need to.

In practice as a client wireless is probably fine, but if there are problems then upgrade to a wired connection.

solara wrote in post #11386796
I have Win7 Home Premium with 12gb RAM, and an OCZ Vertex 2 60gb drive. My OS with programs like Photoshop CS5 with (Nik, Topaz and other filters), Lightroom 3, MS Office 2007, PerfectDisk 11, Nero, Symantec Antivirus, Quicken, ZoneAlarm, Directory Opus, Firefox, Canon DPP, CCleaner, jvPowerTools, and a host of other programs - all that take 18.5 gb.

Great info there. I think SSDs are still young, so buy just what you need now, and upgrade later. It sounds like 40 or 60GB will be fine for an OS disk most people. A bit bigger would be good for cache/catalog, but as I mentioned earlier I like to keep just OS and programs on one disk so it's easy to make a small image to recover from in the case of a problem.

solara wrote in post #11386796
Since it has 6 slots, I'd get 3x4gb DDR3 (12gb) for now, then you can increase to 24gb total later if you find you're maxing out your RAM. I would not fill all 6 slots with 6x2gb because when you upgrade to 24gb later, you'd just have to throw away/sell the 2gb ones.

I have Win7 Home Premium with 12gb RAM, and an OCZ Vertex 2 60gb drive. My OS with programs like Photoshop CS5 with (Nik, Topaz and other filters), Lightroom 3, MS Office 2007, PerfectDisk 11, Nero, Symantec Antivirus, Quicken, ZoneAlarm, Directory Opus, Firefox, Canon DPP, CCleaner, jvPowerTools, and a host of other programs - all that take 18.5 gb. No pagefile or hibernation file on the SSD. But the general rule with SSD is buy the largest you can afford. The larger the SSD, and the less data you put on it, the longer the SSD will last.

If you don't plan on playing games, a graphics card in the 100-150 range would be more than enough power. Even one between 50-100 would be fine too. Get one with 1gb video RAM.

And yes, read up on using RamDisk. I will be installing the free Dataram Ramdisk (allows Ramdisk up to 4gb in size - it's only 10 bucks to get one that has no limit on the ramdisk size). I have experimented with it on my Win7 HDD system and it works well. No real testing on speed increase, but I plan to place the Temp folder there for Windows to use, along with other cache data I don't care to keep permanently.

Thanks solara, you post some really useful info. Your programs take up about 18.5 GB and that is in addition to the Win 7 OS which I was told is about 20-25GB. So you are doing fine with the 60GB size plus have at least a recommended 20% free space.
The numbers you gave for the graphics card - dollars, right - not some measure of performance of which I'm not familiar? Thanks for further info on Dataram Ramdisk.

Bob_A wrote in post #11386880
You can get away with an 80GB boot drive, 120 is more than enough and 160 (what I have) is overkill.

- Before loading Norton or McAfee on your new system try out Microsoft Security Essentials (free). I like it MUCH more than these two "pay for" anti-virus/anti-spam subscriptions.

Also, I'll be interested in how the ASUS wireless card works. I have a D-Link DWA-552, which is a piece of junk IMO. All of the cards using the Atheros chip seem pretty unreliable so maybe double check to see what it's using.

Bob, great feedback with good details. I will consider MS Security Essentials. You're the first person to give me any feedback on it. I always thought Norton or McAfree were king so maybe they are only prince!
As for the Asus wireless card, since I have moved to a somewhat preconfigured system with Puget, only the wireless USB adaptor is available (Asus USB-N13 Wireless 802.11g/g/n USB Adaptor).

tim wrote in post #11387238
In practice as a client wireless is probably fine, but if there are problems then upgrade to a wired connection.

Great info there. I think SSDs are still young, so buy just what you need now, and upgrade later. It sounds like 40 or 60GB will be fine for an OS disk most people. A bit bigger would be good for cache/catalog, but as I mentioned earlier I like to keep just OS and programs on one disk so it's easy to make a small image to recover from in the case of a problem.

Tim, so sorry you had issues with the wireless. Still, a wired connection may be an easy enough option for me that I can look in to.
My options on SSD size start at 80 and jump to 120GB. I think I am now favoring the 80 since I've gotten feedback from you and others. Learning how to make an image will be new for me. I will need to investigate how one goes about imaging the OS and programs from the SSD, but also backs up data from the second internal drive - can everything from both drives go on one backup drive? I've never run any kind of backup program before - only copied over files in a slow time-consuming manner.

Thanks everyone. Nancy

A few thoughts from UK:-
I have an Asus P55 running 4 GB of Ram and I have yet to need more when rendering a few RAW in PSE7.
The i7 860 is a lovely CPU which decides how much processing power you need and can cut back from 110W to as little as 7W. It is so smooth but so will any fast CPU.
May I suggest a different approach to video card? I had a 1GB Nvidia card and was disappointed with the results- the card was designed for games not image processing. I bought a Quadro FX580 and noticed a significant improvement on my 24 inch monitors.

Hope this helps
Alan

flanny wrote in post #11386363
Fabulous feedback Turbo_11. Useful ideas on the RAM again but you are definitely among the group who says I'm in RAM overkill mode.

Graphics card: choosing this has been difficult and I'm still fuzzy on all of the choices. NVIDIA GeForce GT 210 512MB QUIET (MSI), NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 1GB QUIET (Zotac) and

[GIFS ARE NOT RENDERED IN QUOTES]

ATI Radeon HD 5670 512MB (XFX) were the lesser three stock choices below the one I chose. There were about 7 greater/higher end choices above the one I chose. I went for what I thought was middle of the road but what do you think about those three? Maybe they would be fine and if you think so, please explain why or even why not.

Regarding networking, I didn't know there could be a PCI-e conflict with mobo. How about Asus USB-N13 Wireless 802.11b/g/n USB Adapter?

I'm noting all of your other information and will be considering your input. I have no plans for RAID at this point.

Your details are really useful - thanks.

You are welcome. As for the RAID that is fine, I just threw the idea out there.

As for the video card, just keep the one that you choose, GTX 450.

Why not opt for PCI wireless adapter? USB isn't great either, but PCI is the best between USB and PCI ( but the wired connection is even better)

tim wrote in post #11386409
Wired networking is faster and more reliable, if you can manage that. Not really sure how big a W7 install is.

That is true, I would go with wired networking too if possible.

In2Photos wrote in post #11386637
Why would the wireless PCI card be a problem? Video cards are x16, the wireless looks like an x1. There should be plenty of room on the mobo. Am I missing something?

She said PCI-E not PCI which are two different slots. One is either x16 or x8 and you use both to run SLI mode with your video cards, not for wireless adapter and video card. Maybe the OP mistyped and meant PCI instead of PCI-E

flanny wrote in post #11389074
Thanks solara, you post some really useful info. Your programs take up about 18.5 GB and that is in addition to the Win 7 OS which I was told is about 20-25GB. So you are doing fine with the 60GB size plus have at least a recommended 20% free space.
The numbers you gave for the graphics card - dollars, right - not some measure of performance of which I'm not familiar? Thanks for further info on Dataram Ramdisk.



Bob, great feedback with good details. I will consider MS Security Essentials. You're the first person to give me any feedback on it. I always thought Norton or McAfree were king so maybe they are only prince!
As for the Asus wireless card, since I have moved to a somewhat preconfigured system with Puget, only the wireless USB adaptor is available (Asus USB-N13 Wireless 802.11g/g/n USB Adaptor).



Tim, so sorry you had issues with the wireless. Still, a wired connection may be an easy enough option for me that I can look in to.
My options on SSD size start at 80 and jump to 120GB. I think I am now favoring the 80 since I've gotten feedback from you and others. Learning how to make an image will be new for me. I will need to investigate how one goes about imaging the OS and programs from the SSD, but also backs up data from the second internal drive - can everything from both drives go on one backup drive? I've never run any kind of backup program before - only copied over files in a slow time-consuming manner.

Thanks everyone. Nancy

I have OCZ Vertex 2 120GB in my computer, the total available space is 111GB. Once I installed Win 7 64-bit, Photoshop, Premiere, AVG, Microsoft Office, Nero and some other small programs and codecs, I was down to around 70GB left which is enough for me because primary work will be for capturing video on OCZ drive, working with it, editing and burning on DVD and then transferring finished file to 1TB drive.

Basically 90GB is a nice choice, but 60 or 64GB won't be enough for you, trust me. Windows and programs do take a lot of space. I would also reserve some space on SSD so I could upload pics/videos, work on them (since the drive is very fast and won't slow me down) and once finished, transfer files to your second HDD.

As for the Antivirus company, I've worked for several College Campuses as a tech guy and they have tried every program out there. McAfee gives way to many notifications, Norton slows down computer A LOT after you update it. After several years of using around 15 different Anti-Virus companies, AVG was found to be the best in protection and reliability. That was tested on students laptops that were given out for a year for their use and you know what people do and where they go... lol

As for SSD, 80GB will be in tight, 90GB is good and 120GB you won't look back. What if you would want to install some other software or your personal stuff and you won't have enough space?

flanny wrote in post #11389074
Thanks solara, you post some really useful info. Your programs take up about 18.5 GB and that is in addition to the Win 7 OS which I was told is about 20-25GB. So you are doing fine with the 60GB size plus have at least a recommended 20% free space.

Solara said OS and programs take up 18.5GB, not 18.5GB plus OS. You could probably get away with a 20GB SSD, but 40GB would be much more sensible.

I use DriveImageXML for my OS image backups, it's free and works well. I use "the ultimate boot CD" to recover these images, it has DriveImageXML on it.

flanny wrote in post #11389074
Your programs take up about 18.5 GB and that is in addition to the Win 7 OS which I was told is about 20-25GB. So you are doing fine with the 60GB size plus have at least a recommended 20% free space.
The numbers you gave for the graphics card - dollars, right - not some measure of performance of which I'm not familiar? Thanks for further info on Dataram Ramdisk.

No, my entire SSD with the Win 7 Home Premium and all those programs take up a total of 18.5 gb. Again, no hibernation or pagefile on the SSD, and I also did not keep the MSOCache folder (MS Office installation source files). To keep things lean, I didn't keep it since it's not essential for me. I make regular backups so if a program were to misbehave and become corrupted, I can easily restore from my backups.

I'm almost tempted to remove about 800mb worth of installation (.msi) files from my system too (or I could move the entire folder to my HDD, and create a link to it)....still deciding on that.

Hey Nancy,

About PCI-E wireless card, if it is x1 then it is fine it will work fine. For some reason I thought you were talking about x4 or x8. Sorry for confusion.

Just to make sure, PCI and PCI-E x1 both will work fine. Hope that helps.

I finally made a decision when I found out the builder, Puget Systems, was having a Christmas sale for all qualifying systems. It applies to their pre-configured systems and not custom systems. However, even their pre-configured systems allow you several choices, like CPU, amount of RAM, Video card, drives, OS, Security, but there are limited selections within the choices too. When I decided to go pre-fig, the MoBo choice was fixed with no selections. Intel Core i7 was fixed but you can select speed. RAM manufacturer was fixed but you select amount. Lots of video card selections.

When I compared the custom config that I was working on, in my initial post, to their "Cad, Audio, Photoshop" pre-configured system, I found that only the power supply, CPU cooling, and wireless choice were going to be different. So I opted to accept the higher power supply, different cooling system, and wireless USB adaptor. The savings allowed me to add an UPS, which then is also included in the discount. I had wanted to get everything at once with the builder so they would apply their warranty to the bundle. All in all I think the choices are decent. If I want to go beyond 16GB RAM, I'll have to upgrade to Win 7 Pro to enable it.

MotherboardAsus P6X58D Premium
CPUIntel Core i7 QUAD CORE 950 3.06GHz 8MB 130W (Socket 1366 45nm)
Ram Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333 (3x4GB)
Video CardEVGA GeForce GTS 450 1GB

Networking Asus USB-N13 Wireless 802.11b/g/n USB Adapter

EMBED PREVENTED, GIFS ARE NOT RENDERED INLINE
when post is by a member with less than 30 posts)
https://www.pugetsyste​ms.com/gfx/1pix.gif

Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar Black 1.0TB SATA 6 Gb/s

(DUPLICATE IMAGE)

Comments: Secondary drive.
Intel X25-M 34nm Gen 2 120GB SATA II 2.5inch SSD

(DUPLICATE IMAGE)

CD / DVD Asus 24x DVD-RW Lightscribe SATA (black)

(DUPLICATE IMAGE)

CaseAntec P183 (Gunmetal Finish)

Power SupplyAntec CP-850 850W Power Supply

CPU CoolingPuget Hydro CL2 Liquid Cooling System 1366

(DUPLICATE IMAGE)

OSWindows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM

SecurityMicrosoft Security Essentials

(DUPLICATE IMAGE)

Ext. DriveWestern Digital External USB2/SATA 2.0TB Drive

Tripp-Lite OmniVS - 1500VA, 940 Watts

Warranty: Lifetime Labor, 1 Year Parts

alanwilkes wrote in post #11389440
Asus P55 running 4 GB of Ram and I have yet to need more when rendering a few RAW in PSE7.
The i7 860
May I suggest a different approach to video card? I had a 1GB Nvidia card and was disappointed with the results- the card was designed for games not image processing. I bought a Quadro FX580 and noticed a significant improvement on my 24 inch monitors.

Hope this helps
Alan

Alan, I have gotten a less than narrow set of opinions from folks from this and other forums regarding just how much of each thing, and the system as a whole, is enough for image processing now and into the future. A good statement is "that it depends". It's been tough decision making for me, but I have opted for a little more up front with room to grow. I'm so glad you've found your choices working well though, especially with the Quadro FX580 addition.

turbo_911 wrote in post #11389989
As for the video card, just keep the one that you choose, GTX 450.

She said PCI-E not PCI which are two different slots. One is either x16 or x8 and you use both to run SLI mode with your video cards, not for wireless adapter and video card. Maybe the OP mistyped and meant PCI instead of PCI-E.
I have OCZ Vertex 2 120GB in my computer, the total available space is 111GB. Once I installed Win 7 64-bit, Photoshop, Premiere, AVG, Microsoft Office, Nero and some other small programs and codecs, I was down to around 70GB left which is enough for me because primary work will be for capturing video on OCZ drive, working with it, editing and burning on DVD and then transferring finished file to 1TB drive.

As for SSD, 80GB will be in tight, 90GB is good and 120GB you won't look back. What if you would want to install some other software or your personal stuff and you won't have enough space?

As you can see, I kept the video card, and went for 120GB SSD, so I won't be looking back! I actually ordered the system with 80GB and then the what ifs started nagging at me, so I upgraded. My husband has some ideas about video on this system now. Hmmm.
The previous wireless choice was the Asus PCE-N13 Wireless 802.11b/g/n PCI-E Adapter but it wasn't on offer when I went to a qualifying config.

tim wrote in post #11390074
Solara said OS and programs take up 18.5GB, not 18.5GB plus OS. You could probably get away with a 20GB SSD, but 40GB would be much more sensible.

I use DriveImageXML for my OS image backups, it's free and works well. I use "the ultimate boot CD" to recover these images, it has DriveImageXML on it.

I'll look in to DriveImageXML. I see more research ahead on backup programs...

Whoa! My bad for sure on the total GB on solara's SSD. I just never dreamed you could be so low with programs AND OS. Impressive.

solara wrote in post #11390466
No, my entire SSD with the Win 7 Home Premium and all those programs take up a total of 18.5 gb. Again, no hibernation or pagefile on the SSD, and I also did not keep the MSOCache folder (MS Office installation source files). To keep things lean, I didn't keep it since it's not essential for me. I make regular backups so if a program were to misbehave and become corrupted, I can easily restore from my backups.

I'm almost tempted to remove about 800mb worth of installation (.msi) files from my system too (or I could move the entire folder to my HDD, and create a link to it)....still deciding on that.

Definitely lean and mean!

You people are awesome! Nancy

That's nice. Hope you enjoy your new system

However, I have a question, how come there are no prices? I went to their website and didn't see any?

Edit: Never mind, found prices

And that's quite expensive lol

You are planning a system not too unlike the one I am finishing building, primarily for photo work. Several good comments have been posted so I will try to stick to things I found in selecting my build.

My system:
-- i7-950 processor - powerful and capable for the task
-- Sabertooth motherboard - robust and capable, fair price with full features
-- 12 GB RAM (Gskill) as processor operates in triple channel
-- Kingston 120 GB SSD - large enough for both Win 7 64 bit Pro and the virtual XP install, plus swap file and a few programs that I will want on the highest speed drive in the system.
-- 1 TB WD 6 Gb/s HDD for most programs, and general downloads, and whatever is needed to run the system
-- 2 TB Seagate 6 Gb/s HDD for all photos, whether digital or from scans
-- Two Asus DVD burners with Lightscribe support
-- Asus 460GTX TOP graphic card
-- 750 watt PC Power & Cooling cpu
-- full tower size Enermax case with two 120 mm and one 250 mm fans
... also temporarily holds another 1 TB Seagate with stuff being moveed from another computer, and will be replaced with a 2 TB Seagate about January

---------------

Okay, my comments now...

You will be quite satisfied with the i7-950. Mine runs about 42 to 50 degrees centigrade. Initially I used a very large and highly rated Scythe/Mugen cooler (yes, the BIG one), but I had little space in the large case and it blocked airflow more than I would believe. I currently am running the smaller size Intel OEM heatsink and fan, and temperature dropped about 10 degrees to those reported above. All cooling improvement due most likely to better airflow in the case after the apparent air dam was removed.

RAM can be hard to find that is compatible with these Asus boards when you attempt to maximize capacity. Per the computer forums, many are having trouble with getting 12 GB to be fully recognized, let alone 24 Gb. Since this CPU operates in triple channel mode, buy RAM in 6 GB increments, say a 6 GB, a 12 GB, or 24 GB kit so it is paired by the vender to be close matches in performance. In my experience, GSkill and Corsair are more compatible with Asus than other brands -- not trying to start a war on this subject of course. Try to verify that the brand and quantity you buy is compatible per QVL lists. I went with 12 GB because I often max out memory on the 8 GB computer in the office.

Windows OS - Consider going for the 64 bit Pro version. The Pro choice allows you to install the Virtual XP (Microsoft download) on your system such that you can run some legacy programs that do not operate under Win 7. This should be much more workable than trying for a dual-boot OS install. Cheaper too, as the download is free.

SSD - Current pricing is lower each month, but still very expensive. I chose 120 GB as best option. This size allows the install of Win 7 and the download of virtual XP. And room enough to put the swap file and some programs also. I plan to lin=mit this to programs that would really benefit for the SSD performance, not most programs I use. Make sure whatever brand you buy works with the Intel Trim function. At this time, I am NOT convinced that putting SSD into RAID formation is advisable - not a proven action yet. And it would definitely complicate backup actions, especially if the motherboard is the component that fails. The Kingston SSD came with mounting rails for a 3.5" slot.

The Asus ENGTX460 TOP graphics comes factory overclocked and runs surprisingly cool. At the moment mine is running 41 degrees centigrade and I have five programs running currently, not counting the text program I am using to type this message.

HDD -- Using the 6 Gb/s connectors for the 1 TB WD and 2 TB SG as that is the drives' speed rating. The SSD and two DVD burners are on the 3 Gb/s connectors. Overall I am impressed with the response the system delivers. The 1 TB drive gets most all programs and general stuff I need. My large phot files are all on the 2 TB drive.

RAID -- just general comment. Being in the computer field, I had a lot a RAID here and at clients. At my home office I am gradually removing RAID as see more trouble than it is worth in terms of maintenance and doing backups. Using single drives I can backup selected drives as I work and not have to do a backup at the end of the day, or end of week. By the way, WD no longer supports RAID on the Black series..you must buy the more expensive industrial grade HDDs to get RAID support.

Network interface -- Wireless is slower and more like to drop data on large file transfer, such as large RAW photos movements, or videos, so go hard wired if/when you can. The on-board nics seem to function well.

Good luck in your selections.

David C wrote in post #11392231
My system:
-- i7-950 processor - powerful and capable for the task
-- Sabertooth motherboard - robust and capable, fair price with full features
-- 12 GB RAM (Gskill) as processor operates in triple channel
-- Kingston 120 GB SSD - large enough for both Win 7 64 bit Pro and the virtual XP install, plus swap file and a few programs that I will want on the highest speed drive in the system.
-- 1 TB WD 6 Gb/s HDD for most programs, and general downloads, and whatever is needed to run the system
-- 2 TB Seagate 6 Gb/s HDD for all photos, whether digital or from scans
-- Two Asus DVD burners with Lightscribe support
-- Asus 460GTX TOP graphic card
-- 750 watt PC Power & Cooling cpu
-- full tower size Enermax case with two 120 mm and one 250 mm fans
... also temporarily holds another 1 TB Seagate with stuff being moveed from another computer, and will be replaced with a 2 TB Seagate about January
---------------
Okay, my comments now...

RAM can be hard to find that is compatible with these Asus boards when you attempt to maximize capacity. Per the computer forums, many are having trouble with getting 12 GB to be fully recognized, let alone 24 Gb. Since this CPU operates in triple channel mode, buy RAM in 6 GB increments, say a 6 GB, a 12 GB, or 24 GB kit so it is paired by the vender to be close matches in performance. In my experience, GSkill and Corsair are more compatible with Asus than other brands -- not trying to start a war on this subject of course. Try to verify that the brand and quantity you buy is compatible per QVL lists. I went with 12 GB because I often max out memory on the 8 GB computer in the office.

SSD - Current pricing is lower each month, but still very expensive. I chose 120 GB as best option. This size allows the install of Win 7 and the download of virtual XP. And room enough to put the swap file and some programs also. I plan to lin=mit this to programs that would really benefit for the SSD performance, not most programs I use. Make sure whatever brand you buy works with the Intel Trim function.

HDD -- Using the 6 Gb/s connectors for the 1 TB WD and 2 TB SG as that is the drives' speed rating. The SSD and two DVD burners are on the 3 Gb/s connectors. Overall I am impressed with the response the system delivers. The 1 TB drive gets most all programs and general stuff I need. My large phot files are all on the 2 TB drive.

Network interface -- Wireless is slower and more like to drop data on large file transfer, such as large RAW photos movements, or videos, so go hard wired if/when you can. The on-board nics seem to function well.

Good luck in your selections.

Thanks very much for sharing your system and providing input and advice.

That is some bummer news about the RAM. Why so many problems - just compatibility issues? Thanks for the advice on how best to buy RAM and the input on more compatible brands for Asus. I had been wondering how to buy RAM as far as increments. I don't know what are QVL lists so any further info you can provide on this would be helpful.

Yes, I am getting the 120 GB. I've seen the term Trim but don't know what this means either. I'm still learning so if you can explain, that would be great.

Wow, tons of storage in your system!

On-board nics??

***** Yes, I am getting the 120 GB. I've seen the term Trim but don't know what this means either. I'm still learning so if you can explain, that would be great. *****

TRIM is an function that essentially de-fragments storage on SSD drives in the background when the computer is not not very busy. Programs intended to defrag harddrives are not for SSDs. Some SSD brands work with TRIM, but others do not. That is probably given in the vender's specs.

*****Wow, tons of storage in your system!*****

Actually will soon be 4 TB more (two more 2 TB HDD).. and that is only one of three computers in the office. Unit beside it has 7 TB now, nearly full. These capacities do not reflect backup storage.

***** On-board nics?? *****

Network Interface Card.. Actually on-board describes a circuit built onto the motherboard. About all current mobos have at least one, many have two.

***** QVL list ****

Qualified Vender Lists of other components that have been tested to be compatible. These list are usually on the web of motherboard site (or other), specifying things like cpu, memory brand and configurations.... Many products may not be on list because vender has not (yet?) made the tests.
---------------
I trust you will really enjoy this new build.

That ram works best in sets of three so 12gb makes sense?

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=968588

See this