thanks for the feedback. doesn't the i7 920 require a mobo with a 1366 socket? I also think I will start with a 60 gb ssd drive for now. it will be enough to run the majority of my processes. the 500 gb isnt huge I agree. but it will also suffice for now. I also have an external 1 tb I plan to plug in to store pics and movies. Plus I can always add another hdd later for cheap.
As for the 750, it only saves me less than 200 bucks. Maybe if I consider the 750 I should target an AMD or other cheaper cpu.

But I now am seeing the 930 for 15 dollars more than the 920. I am leaning towards that now. And I wanted to have a somewhat higher end system.

1100 wasn't my limit. it is just where it ended up.