Build first PC

[MSIC]

I personal think I have my motherboard sorted. I going to chose the Asus P5Q-E.

Good for you, nice board, it'll last you.

what Case and PSU should I get to house and power a ATX motherboard, one Nvidia GTX260 (probably, I may change this), that will also look good (well it doesn't, but it would be nice) , and be near silent if possible??

You know, that's not a "P.S." kind of a statement. That's almost as important as the motherboard!
Anyway, let's kick off.
You want to overclock but have serious quiet.
You want an Antec P182 (although i'm not convinced about Scan's skins! LOL). Review 1 2 3. The only real downside is that it's not small, but i have the precursor (P180) and dont regret it for a second.

There are alot of good, and bad PSU's. You dont want to go too far over the top or you will ruin the efficiency, so i'm going to take a stab in the dark and say you want something 450W to 600W, probably the upper end of that. Be wary of anyone who says "gets a 900W or 1000W PSU just to be safe ...".
Bit-tech's reviews.
There are lots of good ones, but get this Corsair 550W and be happy

[floppybootstomp]

My comments, briefly.

That budget will buy you a fine gaming system.

sli not worth the gain for the money spent, bit of a damp squib, really.

Corsair 520W is ample for suggested systems.

Asus and DFI boards both rock.

Video cards atm are comparitively cheap, an 8800GTX shouldn't have any trouble playing all current games at a decent res, with the possible exception of the two Crysis games at full res.

I favour Intel systems over AMD atm and that's speaking as somebody whose second machine runs an AMD Black Edition dual core 3.2Ghz with a Noctua cooler.

To balance your budget, I'd go dual core if you're not going to be multi tasking or running graphically intense programs such as CAD software.

In my view the motherboard and power supply are equally the most important components.

My own view is that within computers, there is no future proofing, the goalposts seem to change monthly.

If you're still saving up, by the time you come to make your purchase the whole scenario will have changed and this thread may possibly look very dated.

When you do build - good luck and enjoy

[razor92]

Wow, the Antec P182 is an amazing bit of kit. Well thought threw, good looking and its apparently easy to use. I would love to get it. The only thing that I don't like is the price tag. £76-£92 (I don't want to get one with a skin if I can avoid it, yes i would spend and extra £20 just have my pc look decent) is alot of money, are there any cases that are cheaper, but perform just as well.

I also like the Corsair 550W. I read the article that MSIC linked to, and it would appear that the Corsair 550W (Corsair seem to be the only PSU manufactures that people have suggested) would be a good option, however as with every thing, a second and third opinon would be nice.

[TAKTAK]

good PSU manufacturers = Corsair, Enermax, Seasonic (seasonic make most of the corsair units)
out of all of those enermax is probably the best as they have a uk rma procedure.. so i would reccomend a enermax modu82+ (or pro82+) or a corsair unit if you buy from scan, as it is returnable to scan (quibble free) for the full duration of the warranty (5 years)

but i am happier to reccomend corsair as i have experience of their units...

[floppybootstomp]

The Antec 900 Gamer's case is a goodie.

Put a Noctua 120mm fan in the side and it'll keep your grafix cool too. It's a nice quiet fan, the Noctua.

The 520W Corsair is modular, which means you only use the cables you need and don't have to bundle up the unused cables and tuck them somewhere, which is worth thinking about. The Corsair 550W is not modular.

[staffsMike]

Thats because we love corsair

Corsairs are made by Seasonic who are really quite awesome. 5 year warranty straight to scan (if you buy it from them), amongst the most efficent and quietest PSU's, and pretty well priced.. perfect to me I have two myself, a 520W HX and a 450W VX. If you are going to get an antec P182.. get the HX as it's modular and so much easier to deal with when using the P182 (which I also have )

[razor92]

Here is something interesting. The Antec 900 Gamers Case vs the Antec P182.

The gamers case is cheaper at £70, however it does not provide the modular set out, or and area to tuck away cables or route them through (which is kinda important as the PSU is at the bottom), also it does not have the same noise cancelling abilitys of the Antec P182. However the Antec 900 does have the ability to mount a fan next to the graphics cards, and has two fans at the front (also the power button is in a nicer location).

The P182 on the other hand cost £90 (not including the crap ones with the skins), but it does have a modular layout which is good a isolating heat, noise canceling abilities, two fans near the top (one on the top of the case, one just under at the back) and an area behind the motherboard to store cables and to route them to the top of the case. There is also the two ports on the back for liquid cooling. However the P182 does not have the fan at the side of the case for the graphics card, and the front is not as impressive (that last point is a matter of choice).

So is it worth paying an extra £20 for the P182 (of which £10 can be saved as a modular PSU is not needed because of the area for storing and routing cables)??

EDIT: I would like to point out I was writing this as StaffsMike was writing his post, so i did not see his post until completing mine.

[staffsMike]

Coolermaster CM-690 is what you want. £65 and it's got the cabling like the P182, fan arrangement like the 900 which is the best of both worlds. Quiet too I'd probably get one instead on my P182 now .

[PeterStoba]

Coolermaster CM-690 is what you want. £65 and it's got the cabling like the P182, fan arrangement like the 900 which is the best of both worlds. Quiet too I'd probably get one instead on my P182 now .

So would I, after rebuilding my pc today and re wiring, I realised it's not very good, still excellent for £75, gone up to £90 now!

[razor92]

So would I, after rebuilding my pc today and re wiring, I realised it's not very good, still excellent for £75, gone up to £90 now!

If you are talking about the P182 you can still get on for £75, but it will have the uglyst decal on it

[PeterStoba]

Show me the ugly decal

[razor92]

If you done find this ugly then I don't want to talk to you . http://scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=716009

[TAKTAK]

but are the decals removable...?

if they are then it's a great saving...

and i would have thought they would be...

[staffsMike]

oooooooooooooo... Sold!!

[MSIC]

You could get a P180 for £60.
The Antec Solo's, although not quite so intelligently designed, are also well regarded and good for noise. £55

[razor92]

I supect that you probaly can remove the decal, but it won't be easy. A little bit of googling didn't provide any useful results, so your stuck there.