My first confession...

[Caudovittatus]

Thanks for those Will404 - The PC-7F looks pretty good, the other is a bit too much over (it looks very bright for a Lian Li also )

Another couple that looking interesting though more pricey:

Antec P183 - Not so keen on doors, but quite like the look and it seems that have reasonable reviews
Hiper Osiris
Zalman GS1000 - £119 at ebuyer - I do like the look of this one, but I've seen some negatives in reviews (build quality issues).

I should be narrowing down the field, not increasing it... I guess there's a few good cases to consider now, just got to choose (may have to resort to a blindfold and a dartboard!)

[DanceswithUnix]

Hmm, still considering those two

Now cases - that seems to be the most difficult thing to find!

I hear that the HAF 932 and Antec 900s get full of dust pretty quick - I'd rather not be dusting the PC every 5 mins. Looking at the cases around what do you think of these:

- Coolermaster 690
- Antec 300 - I think that looks better than the 900 (more understated)
- NZXT Hush
- Lian Li - there's lots... quite like the look of them but it seems that the look will be spoiled as soon as you fit an optical and floppy drive

Most of those are cheaper cases but would they offer adequate cooling? I've read a bunch of reviews but there are tradeoffs for all - are there more expensive ones that would do better?

I really like the look of the ATCS 840 but that's rather expensive

Well I went for the Antec 300, nice case at a decent price.

[Caudovittatus]

Thanks all for the help - I'm still thinking on it (btw how do I thank in a post? I notice some of you have 'Thanks' in your signatures?). I'm definitely veering toward the Core i7 for the desktop, and I'll gradually stop dithering on exactly which components to go for On the laptop I'm less certain... I think it may be worth holding off a little longer as I have a feeling that there's a bigger change coming on the laptop front (we must be due for more GPUs and possibly a Core i[57] mobile? Well I know there's always the new GPUs but there seem to be precious few laptops sporting the new GPUs announced at the beginning of this year).

[peterb]

You need 25 posts, then a thanks button appears under all posts - click it and thanks is awarded!

[Caudovittatus]

Quick question - do you have to have a certain number of posts before you can add an attachment? I was going to post up an image (exported from excel) with components/prices for what I had in mind for the build, but I can't find the manage attachments button mentioned in the FAQ

[Grymdawg]

The Lian Li stuff is usually top quality in my experience.

The Hiper Osiris is a nice case, i had a look at a review the other day and it was really nice, the inside of the chasis is nicely finished too .

There are quite a few good cases around at the moment, i have been pricing a few myself to use in my next build. For me its either between Lian Li A7110, Silverstone TJ07, or the CM 840 because i want a large case.

You get what you pay for i guess!

[Caudovittatus]

Hi All, I'm getting closer to my spec I think

i7 920 (with Far Cry 2 - is this standard £229.99 (overclockers)
Thermalright Ultra 120 £ 50.01 (Scan - with fan)
Gigabyte EX58 UD5 £197.57 (Lambda-Tek)
6GB (pc3 12,800c8) (OCZ gold) x 2 £141.98 (Overclockers)
700W OCZ ModXstream pro £ 70.99 (Overclockers)
1Tb (Samsung Spinpoint F1) x 2 £ 120.00 (Ebuyer)
Zalman GS1000 £ 119.98 (Ebuyer)
Radeon 4890 (XFX + BattleForge and HAWX) x2 £ 329.98 (OverClockers)
LG GGC-H20L £ 78.69 (Ebuyer)
X-Fi Titanium £ 58.94 (Lambda-Tek)

So a few more questions

1) Is the Gigabyte board a good choice - I notice that a lot of builds seem to go for Asus P6T derivatives. I've homed in on it mainly for the layout, but are there better choices?
2) Is the PSU up to handling this spec - are there better choices (either up to the task for less money or just up to the task)
3) Is the cooler sufficient (too much/too little?)
4) Any other comments on the above?

Some of the others I was looking at are:
prolimatech megahalems cooler (~£75) (TheCoolingShop) - Looks interesting if pricey - no fan included)
Kingwin 800w modular PSU (£78.29) (eBuyer)
Antec 300/CM 690 for a cheaper option on the case.
Antec p183 (£108.16) (LambdaTek)
Radeon 4870X2 (240.99 ish) (Scan)

Thanks again!

[amjad12]

that was a serious confession, welcome to the forum