novice system builder in need of enlightenment!!

[pauldarkside]

Hmm maybe a minimum post count thing.

[Thorsson]

Ok, do not listen to the mumbo about the 8800GTS (above) the GT is just as quiet and is more powerfull for just the same price...

I can only imagine that you are thinking of the old GTS, not the new G92 ones. But the GT is better bang for buck - just.

juan - 32-bit OS (not XP) limitations on memory are ~3.25Gb in total and 2Gb for any single app. Easy enough to upgrade in a few months though.

Freezer 7 pro is an OK HSF, but not the quietest. IMO if you can't afford a better now then stick with stock and save until you can. I've found the Ultima90 with SFlex 1600 is a great combo.

As someone who has been putting together PCs since the 386, Abit have been in a class of their own as far as mobos are concerned, both in terms of quality of product and support. I've only ever had one bad board, and when it was replaced I got the new revision. The fact that you will get excellent support here (and not just from Abit, the vast majority of P35 users here have an Abit board), ought to be worth an extra few pounds.

As far as the HDD is concerned, if I were buying today I'd be looking for one of the new 32Mb cache drives. At the moment that means a Seagate 7200.11 500Gb. That's quite a bit more than a 160Gb drive, but if you're stretching to a 320Gb to get 16Mb cache then the same argument applies...

[juanpablo269]

@Thorsson - yeah i looked at the new 8800gts and they're looking great but just a bit too expensive (£40 - £60) more than the xfx 8800gt.

I will upgrade the memory in a month or so to 4gb for the eventual day that i get vista64bit.

just finished looking at the hexus mega lga775 cooler test from june, what an ace review, can't believe i missed it before! so anyway, i'm liking what it said about the tuniq tower and the zalman 9700.

I still haven't made up my mind about the mobo yet, the gigabyte is a wee bit cheaper and has that backplate heatsink thing, whereas as you say abit has good support and everyone seems to have one (in forums at least!).

as for hdd I'm just gonna stick with the 250gb 16mb cache on i listed earlier, i can't afford another 50 bucks for the 500gb and i do have that external 320gb seagate thing - i'll leave it like that for now, but thanks muchly for your recommendations.