Need Advice

[Valvo]

Hi everyone, im Tom and i need some opinions on the products i am willing to buy to build my new computer. The parts I have chosen are listed below:

Motherboard:

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

Graphics Card:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-A...es-2x-DVI-HDTV

SATA Hard Drive Mix:

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

Optical Drive:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/LiteO...M-inc-Software

Processor:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159071

Ram Memory:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/88280

PSU:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124927

Thanks for reading... if i have left anything out please let me know and also please tell me if all of the parts are compatible. Thankyou for helping me out

Kind Regards Tom

[mrt9888]

The RAM you chose is ECC RAM which is not compatible with the type of motherboards you need.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I am in a bit of a hurry so I won't post many links.

Basically get this:

X3 720 ~ £90

4gb PC2-8500 RAM ~ £40 to £50

Gigabyte MA770-UD3 REVISION 2:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...D3-Motherboard

Do not get the first revision of the motherboard!!

If you need a smaller motherboard get the following instead:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-M4A785D-M-PRO

For the hard drive either get a Samsung F1 320gb or a Samsung F1 1tb hard drive as they are relatively cheap and have good performance IMHO. Do not get the EcoGreen versions as they are slower.

Regarding the PSU get this one:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152009

or the Corsair HX450W:

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

The PSU you chose is very poorly built and designed. Corsair and OCZ have some of the best power supplies in the market.

This graphics card is better and trades blows with the GTX260 192 shader version :

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=pr...imit=10&page=1

It will be much faster than a GTS250.

[Pob255]

I'll run a break down of CAT's post

I am in a bit of a hurry so I won't post many links.

Basically get this:

X3 720 ~ £90

This you got right, its a good cpu

4gb PC2-8500 RAM ~ £40 to £50

The memory you chose was EEC with is for servers and is incompatible with most motherboard&cpu combinations
It was also very slow
You could probably lower the spec and cost slightly and go for pc2-6400, it does depend on how much overclocking you plan to try.
However the AMD cpu's get a larger benefit from using faster memory than intel core2duo cpu's do, so even if running that X3 720 at stock speeds the pc2-8500 will give you a boost.

Gigabyte MA770-UD3 REVISION 2:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...D3-Motherboard

Do not get the first revision of the motherboard!!

That's a far better chipset on both the north and south bridge than the now rather aged nf630

If you need a smaller motherboard get the following instead:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-M4A785D-M-PRO

as you originally listed an ATX motherboard I doubt you need this smaller board, but it's good to list it as an mATX alternative
*see below

For the hard drive either get a Samsung F1 320gb or a Samsung F1 1tb hard drive as they are relatively cheap and have good performance IMHO. Do not get the EcoGreen versions as they are slower.

Solid advice, I'd also look at Western Digital Caviar Blue or black again not green.
Good WD models are ones that end in AAKS or 2ABYS (although the 2ABYS are pricey)

Regarding the PSU get this one:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152009

or the Corsair HX450W:

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

The PSU you chose is very poorly built and designed. Corsair and OCZ have some of the best power supplies in the market.

Arctic Power is nothing to do with the company Arctic Cooling,
If you thought it was then you'll not be the first to fall for it, nore the last I expect.

Both the PSU's CAT sugested are good and modular
If you don't care about your PSU looks so much and a plane looking unit is ok then check out Scan's "today only" offers for the FSP700-80GLN for £40
This is a rather plane looking OEM version of a very good PSU, it's got more than enough power to cope, infact it could happly take a 2nd video card, if you ever consider putting one in.

This graphics card is better and trades blows with the GTX260 192 shader version :

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=pr...imit=10&page=1

It will be much faster than a GTS250.

At the moement the ATi 4850 and 4870 are spanking the nvidia cards in terms of performance and price around the £100 mark.
Don't fall for 1gb of memory unless you've got a big high res monitor (24" plus) and you are gameing.
If you're not gameing then it's pritty much unneeded, in fact any higher end graphics card is unneeded execpt for games and a couple of other very specific reasons.

Depending on your monitor size and res a 4850 or 4870 will be fine
xfx 4850 XXX (their overclocked version) £80
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/155496
Sapphire Vapor-X 4850 £90 (this has a very good cooler on it)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161309
xfx 4870 £90
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169206


*Case size
you've not mentioned case so I expect you're planning to reuse and existing one or forgot it.
Make sure you know if your case is ATX or mATX
Easy way is look at the back, ATX will have 7 slots for expansion cards, mATX will only have 4
The other thing to watch out for is graphic card length and space inside the case
The 4870 is 24cm long and the power connectors go in at the back meaning you need about 27-28cm of clearence in total.