A few questions :)

[IntaCepta]

Building a budget machine for under £300 or thereabouts.

Here's the spec so far:

Intel c2d e4300 2 800 - £63.17
Corsair 1GB DDR2 667 MHz ValueSelect - £23.62
Corsair 1GB DDR2 667 MHz ValueSelect - £23.62
Gigabyte GA 965P-DS3 iP965 - £70.02
320Gb Samsung Spinpoint T S300 - £50.76
Seasonic S-12 380watts - £38.6
Arctic Silver 5 - £4.45
Sharkoon Golf Ball 1000 120mm fan - £7.26
Sharkoon Golf Ball 1000 120mm fan - £7.26

£288 so far without case & graphics card.

Now I don't know much about cases.
She wants one with a lock (But i'm sure I can just use locking screws on a normal midi case).
Can you guys suggest any cases, cheap as possible but It would need/have 2x 120mm fans. I do plan to buy sharkoon golfballs 1000 120mm to replace the stock case fans to help with noise. (Are these noisey @12v?)

Also another seperate issue, since it's a budget PC and she's not into gaming (But she sounds interested in Sims2) should I still get a graphics card or shall I just find a c2d motherboard with onboard VGA? Is it worth shelling out another £30 on a PCI-e graphics card? Also how cheap do they come?

Do you think I can do with a cheaper motherboard? Or shall I stick with the DS3?

I do plan to overclock to 2.7Ghz on the intel stock cooler with the corsair value select ram (667Mhz rated).

Many thanks

Exciting!!

[Splash]

I'd recommend the Antec Sonata 2 case - it comes with a reasonable PSU, so you may be able to save yourself a little cash there to put towards an OS (if going Windows). Onboard graphics are fine, but if she's wanting to play Sims 2 then you'll prolly find that you need a seperate card.

[Colossous]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=564799

The 690 chipset for AM2 is worth a look for a budget system (allthough most on here - myself included - will tell you they prefer core 2) as the on board graphics are really quite good (i've seen Half life at 30 fps at standard res which is'nt shoddy) and you could save a bit of cash ?

[Biscuit]

as for case, if ur keeping on a budget and need space for fans then

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=446040

Good roomy case to work with + the two fans that come with are pretty quiet so u cud cut out the golf balls and save a bit there.

[vinnyT]

Enermax Security Screw Set (Two sets in black and Gold) with Tool £5.82 Inc VAT - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=126590

As for cases, the jeantech Phong 2, details here - http://www.jeantech.com/phong1.htm - is normally available at pcworld for around £40 - £50 is excellent .

[IntaCepta]

With the case I've decided to go real cheap. I think i'm gonna go with what they call the i-cute lol. Well since i'm dealing with a girl this is the 'best looking' case I can find at a reasonable budget with a lock latch.

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/121072
http://icute.com.tw/english/ArticleS...?ArticleID=287

I do expect this case to come with silent fans anyways.

I've also decided to go with a seperate video card

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/127596
MSI NX7100GS-TD128E 512MB DDR2 DVI VGA HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card

Should cost around £35 for both items using google checkout!

[Ferral]

I would grab a board that has something like a GeForce 6200 on it and also a Pcie x16 slot. This will keep options open at a later date for upgrading the graphics card.

Sims 2 doesn't require that much power to run it. Friend of mine is running an Athlon 64 (Socket 939) 3200+ with 1 Gb 333 Mhz memory and a 128 Mb 6200 card and it is running most games just fine including Battle for Middle Earth 2 and Sims 2.