Yet Another Beginner Build - Please be Kind !

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would go with the 650w personally as it should handle most upgrades for the next few years without any problem. You could save around £10 going for a 450w to 500w non-modular PSU but it is not worth the hastle!!

The case only has one 120mm fan. It maybe advisable to get another one!

[PaulBrum]

I'm going to stick with 650W as I want to add another H/D and optical drive as well as run 2 Gpus in the future.

Case - now there's a thing, I've not spent anytime researching that really (just went for a brand name cheapy!) - any recommendations - can't be over 500mm high or it wont fit on its shelf !!

[PaulBrum]

The 790GX ASUS M3A78 PRO is meant to be a fantastic motherboard for overclocking:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-...A-RAID-ATX-VGA



Just seen this on today only on Scan with the Phenom II for £243 - surely gotta be the way to go ?

Paul

[ConTRo13R]

AMD are still lagging behind Intel, hopfully the tables will be turned soon I'd like to see AMD back on top

But at the moment Intel looks the way to go, get a nice core 2 duo, say like a E8400 and OC the hell out of it! great performing CPU with 6mb of L2 cache! just cant go wrong

For case and cheapy, id go for an Antec, great price great build quality

Personnaly id go for a Lian li, the case is the show display for your components, you dont want to scrimp on that surely?

[PaulBrum]

AMD are still lagging behind Intel, hopfully the tables will be turned soon I'd like to see AMD back on top

But at the moment Intel looks the way to go, get a nice core 2 duo, say like a E8400 and OC the hell out of it! great performing CPU with 6mb of L2 cache! just cant go wrong

Not what I wanted to hear !!!!!

[ConTRo13R]

Not what I wanted to hear !!!!!

You an AMD fanboy?

I never was just moved where ever the performance was at lol

And atm (i know its hard to hear) but its at (winces) I.. IN... IN... no i cant.... Intel

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Not what I wanted to hear !!!!!

I would go with the Asus motherboard as it has good reviews. Secondly the Phenom II is still fast enough for most things!!

Here are some reviews to ease your mind:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ph...review-test/21

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16147

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...d-920-review/7

Remember that Farcry 2 can make good advantage of quad cores!!

Going from a dual to a quad core for me really helped for multitasking!!

[PaulBrum]

What about this case ?

http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=23181

seems good value - with 2 fans

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What about this case ?

http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=23181

seems good value - with 2 fans

Used one for a build for a friend at work. Everyone kept saying how nice it was!!

There are these cases too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Coole...Scan-Exclusive

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Coole...r-Case-w-o-PSU

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Coole...r-Case-w-o-PSU

They can all take two 120mm fans but only come supplied with one!!

Scan have a couple of 120mm fans on Today Only for £4 to £5 too!

[PaulBrum]

Mmmm last minute Wobble

Same Price

Core 2 Quad Q8300

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...e-Ratio-Retail

Core 2 Duo E8500

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...tiplier-Retail

............Wibble Wibble

[Ciber]

Of the two I would choose the E8500 for games, Q8300 for 'multimedia' and all that. The Q8300 is only about as good as my 3 year old CPU in games. So, seeing as you say you want to play games go for the E8500.

[PaulBrum]

Another query, do I need a SATA or IDE DVD drive ?

Still pondering the CPU

Answered my own Question - SATA

Still would like guidance on the CPU quandry - looking for divine wisdom from CAT / Staffs & the like

[staffsMike]

SATA would be preferable.

I would get the Quad. You rarely need raw speed and more and more apps are making use of multiple cores.

[PaulBrum]

AMD or Intel Staffs?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Phenom II 920 is faster than a Q8300!! The Phenom II 920 and 940 are comparable to the Q9*** series. The Q8*** series are inferior to the Q9*** as they have less cache and are hence slower per mhz.

The slowest the Phenom II 920 will ever be in games will be around the same as a Q9300 which costs £192 from Scan!

Look at the benchmarks I have posted before for goodness sakes!!

Here they are again:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ph...review-test/21

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16147/4

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...d-920-review/7

[staffsMike]

Absolutely I'd be going AMD without question but of the intel's I'd take the quad.