Help with computer spec

[kasavien]

Hi all

I'd appreciate it if I could get some advice on building a uATX PC. I've drawn up the following spec, but I'm not sure at all if I've got the best combination of components. If someone could look over this and give me some advice I'd really appreciate it, if possible I'd like to get the cost down a bit too. The things that I'd like are a quad core CPU, ATI 4850 and 4GiB Ram, I'd really like it to be quiet too.




Many Thanks

Andy

[staffsMike]

Does it have to be that quad core. I think the Q6600 probably makes more sense.

You'll need to suspend the hard drive for it to be quiet in that case.

Ebuyer has the P180 mini for £60 which is bigger (midi tower size but uATX only) is perfect for quiet builds.

If you can find one the 425W enermax modu82+ should only be £50. Seasonic's own modulars are also cheaper than corsairs right now I believe.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/430W-...-modular-cable
do a today only request and they can drop as much as £10 as well.

Since you shouldn't need all that power anyway, the Antec NSK3480 is the same size as the TJ08 but comes with a 380W PSU.. not modualr but it's not a bad case to cable.

Major question really.. does it have to be intel? AMD uATX solutions are far cheaper and in my opinion a lot better. My Asus 780V was £47 from ebuyer and it's a peach. Runs a phenom 9950 perfectly and that can be easily clocked to 3.0GHz.

Also if you just get a cheap stop gap chip you could get one of the new phenom II's once they are released early next year.

This is my recent build
http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...ml#post1584306

Another thought. That LG drive is superbly long and will cause real difficulty with fitting it and your PSU in the TJ08. Check the pics from the link I sent you. That LG drive is in the bottom so you can see how far it clears a standard 5.25" bay.

Theres a new sony blu ray drive for a little less. No idea if it's shorter but it it is cheaper.

[kasavien]

Hmm, I hadn't really considered AMD because I thought that intel had the best performing processors, do the AMD processors compare on price/performance. The Q6600 would be an option, was just looking at the other one because it was newer technology. I'd like the smallest, quietest case possible just becaue I'm fed up with having a large noisy tower.

[staffsMike]

The P180 mini isn't small.. can't lie about that but I stood it next to my old midi tower and it's just a touch shorter. It's also the quietest case I've come across even the P182 next to it and moves a lot more air than the P182 too.

For the same money they are miles apart in quality, noise and ease of building in. I have a TJ08 as well so I can justify what I'm saying lol. As much as like the TJ08 I wouldn't buy one for £60. Mine was £40 and worth every penny of that but I wouldn't pay much more. The NSK3480 makes more sense in saving money and keeping the TJ08 size.

The phenom 9950 is about on par with a Q6600, trades a few blows but probably is a touch slower (in benchmarking). Real world I can't tell the difference and being a black edition you get easy overclocking courtesty of an unlocked multiplier. They do overclock to 3.0GHz with ease.

That said I would get a stop gap chip, 2.9Ghz X2 perhaps which offers a lot of performance for now and then get a phenom II which was sort of my plan for the above but the new owner wanted a Quad now so what can you do lol