Looking to build a new system

[Sacred]

corsair HX520/HX620
enermax modu82+

would be fine for that build, and are all nice and quiet.

and on the motherboard side of things i would be looking at a DFi board (now that ABit have vacated the market)

also i would get PC2 6400 RAM (8500 isn't an official speed) as it is cheaper and 8500 doesn't really offer that much more, 6400 will give you plenty of an overclock on default...
and i would get a WD 640GB AAKs instead of the velociraptor (it's just too expensive for my taste, when you won't really notice that much difference on the 2x320GB platter WD)
and i would get the EVGA GTX260 (or wait for the new GTX260s [more shaders]) as it is slightly cheaper, or the new ones will give better performance
mebbe have a look at the 45nm wolfdales aswell

Sorry to be a pain, but with the budget above (1k) and the need for a 22" monitor what would you advise as a total setup, including everything one would need to build the computer as well as the standard components.


Thanks,
Sacred

(I'm not trying to be awkward or anything but no matter how many times I read over the components names and figures they never seem to become less complicated to me)

[Emirzan]

Well considering the above suggestions, how about:

Graphics - 896MB EVGA GTX260 (216 shaders version) ~£260
Motherboard - Asus P5Q-Pro - ~£88
Processor - Intel E7200 - ~£82
RAM - 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2 DDR2 800MHz - ~£52
HDD - Western Digital 640GB AAKS - ~£52
Optical Drive - Pioneer DVR-216BK - ~£17
Case - Coolermaster CM-690 - ~£65
PSU - Corsair HX 620W - ~£85
Monitor - 22" Neovo H-W22 - ~£140
Mouse - Razer Diamondback - ~£27
Keyboard - Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 64Bit Home Premium OEM - ~£72

Total: ~£940

To keep things simple (it is 4am after all) I've stuck with one website (scan) and only products that are currently in stock. If you shop around a bit I guess some of these can be had for a little less. Also I've not included any of the time limited today only offers which if used well can save a good few quid.

Big savings to be had elsewhere too, that graphics card is over priced imo, not sure what effect the extra shaders will have and if it is worth the money.

Oh, and like staffsMike I picked CPU, motherboard and RAM on the basis that it might be sold relatively soon for an i7 upgrade. Still, all 3 are good components

EDIT: Having realised I recommended an OEM operating system for a system with a possible planned change of motherboard, cpu and ram I looked at the non OEM prices.

Vista Home Premium - ~£209

At that price you'd be better off just buying another OEM copy when/if you need to after the upgrade to an i7 system.

[Sacred]

Thanks for that, I don't think I'm going to bother with upgrading to the i7 when its released. Mainly because I won't be able to afford it, perhaps I would upgrade to this in 2-4 years time which I assume by then any resale value would be limited. So I would be working at getting the best quality components now for my money instead of worrying too much about a future upgrade (specially since I'm probably only going to be spending £1000 which isn't that much)

What tools will I need in order to be able to put everything together?

** EDIT **

Also the MOBO says its for ATI Crossfire, does this mean it wouldn't support having two nVidia cards running in SLi?

[AdamAnubis]

Tools wise you will need a good selection of common sense, and a screwdriver (non-magnetic obviously).

Yeah, it won't be able to run SLI. The general consensus here is SLI isn't really worth it, and that 1 big card > 2 lesser cards. The driver support isn't there, and it creates more problems than just giving you a double performance boost. Same goes for crossfire tbh, but most (if not all) motherboards have that option there.

[staffsMike]

Magnetic screwdrivers are a must imo. They aren't strong enough to do any damage and are invaluable for grabbing the screws you will invariably drop

At 22" I would find the cheapest GTX260 you can get, you simply don't need all the power it's giving. At £260 you might as well get a GTX280.

[Powderhound]

Magnetic screwdrivers are a must imo. They aren't strong enough to do any damage and are invaluable for grabbing the screws you will invariably drop

At 22" I would find the cheapest GTX260 you can get, you simply don't need all the power it's giving. At £260 you might as well get a GTX280.

I agree; I spent a lot of time tilting my PC case back and forth trying to get a screw out from behind the motherboard...

[AdamAnubis]

I have this very handy, cheaply made, but very handy screw retreiver. It's like a needle, when you press down 4 arms open out of it to make like a claw shape which can then get the screw.

[TAKTAK]

Well considering the above suggestions, how about:

Graphics - 896MB EVGA GTX260 (216 shaders version) ~£260
Motherboard - Asus P5Q-Pro - ~£88
Processor - Intel E7200 - ~£82
RAM - 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2 DDR2 800MHz - ~£52
HDD - Western Digital 640GB AAKS - ~£52
Optical Drive - Pioneer DVR-216BK - ~£17
Case - Coolermaster CM-690 - ~£65
PSU - Corsair HX 620W - ~£85
Monitor - 22" Neovo H-W22 - ~£140
Mouse - Razer Diamondback - ~£27
Keyboard - Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 64Bit Home Premium OEM - ~£72

Total: ~£940

i would plump for the EVGA GTX260 [the less shaders one] on scans today only (£260 for a GTX260 is basically in GTX280 land...)

[PeterStoba]

Everybody will probably jump on me now but, Overclockers.co.uk have a GTX260 for £165

EDIT: not much of a saving tbf

[TAKTAK]

Everybody will probably jump on me now but, Overclockers.co.uk have a GTX260 for £165

not as cheap but:

on TO for £177.41

896MB EVGA GTX 260 PCI-E 2.0 (x16), Mem 1998MHz, GPU 576MHz, 192 Cores, 2x DL DVI/HDTV

[Sacred]

Thanks again for all of the replies, just got back to my house in Leeds so have just read through them all.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=831078

Would that graphics card be suitable with the above system?


Will I need anything like wires, thermal compounds, heatsinks, fans or anything in addition to what is above in order to build the system?

Thanks,
Sacred

** EDIT **

I've just been reading through a guide on building a PC, so basically everything is just "plug and play"? I was under the impression you would have to install the BIOS and things? *confused* Because if its as "simple" as plugging everything into the right place then I should be able to manage that quite easily.

[baius]

Sacred, did you build your computer in the end? Be interested to know what you built... or did uni "get in the way"? ;-)