Obsidian 800D "Value" Build -- Poverty Strategy -- Opinions Welcome

[D001]

Hello folks.

For some time, and from an aesthetic and "quality" perspective, I've wanted a nice Corsair Obsidian 800D case, in which to build (and re-build) a system in over time.

I only really do basic computing, barring watching a few videos/films (and running external storage drives to do that). Most important to me is a design that is:

* high quality and aesthetically pleasing (for me that means a "serious" looking design with clean lines and little in the way or ornate features).
* highly functional.
* offers easy building and rebuilding

The big problem is: I'm skint.



On that basis, here is my solution:

(1) For initial outlay...:

(a), Big spend on case + case panel + PSU + Card Reader + Card Reader Bay.
(b), Lowest possible (within reasonable parameters) spend on everything else.

(2) For later-on...:

1-2 years down the line, buy/install a:

* MoBo + CPU + RAM + [Heatsink+Fan] bundle/package deal from Scan.co.uk or EBuyer.com.
* Mediate-level graphics card from Scan.co.uk or EBuyer.com.

After that, just continue to upgrade components over time, usually buying quite "low down" the value curve.

So, here it is:



Main Build:

Case, PSU, Case Panel:

* 1 x -- Corsair Obsidian 800D -- (+ Keep all (3x) stock fans intact.) -- CC800DW -- EBuyer.com -- £209.90 (Inc. Del.)

* 1 x -- Corsair Obsidian 800D/700D non-windowed case panel replacement -- CC800D-SIDE1 -- Shop.Corsair.com -- £40.26 (Inc. Del.)

* 1 x -- Corsair Professional 400W Non-Modular -- CMPSU-400CXUK -- EBuyer.com -- £34.55 (Inc. Del.)

Mobo, CPU, CPU Heatsink+Fan, RAM:

* 1 x -- Asus P5KPL-AM EPU -- (mATX, iG31, Socket 775, 4 x USB ports on back-plate, Onboard VGA, 6 Channel Audio.) -- P5KPL-AM EPU -- EBuyer.com -- £34.75 (Inc. Del.)

* 1 x -- Intel Celeron 430 -- (1.80GHz, Socket 775, FSB800, 512KB Cache, Retail, Boxed) -- BX80557430 -- EBuyer.com -- £29.34 (Inc. Del.) (No doubt considered as unforgivably slow by some on here!)

* 1 x -- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, Rev. 2.1 -- (Heatsink+Fan combo unit. Supports Socket 775.) -- AC-FRZ-7PR2 -- EBuyer.com -- £15.97 (Inc. Del.)

* 1 x -- EBuyer-sourced Generic/“Extra Value” 2x1GB (only) DDR2 RAM Kit -- DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400; unknown latency -- Also: unknown whether non-ECC, unknown whether unbuffered, unknown voltage -- EVR1024DDRII800 -- EBuyer.com -- £30.79 (Inc. Del.)

Hard Disk, Optical Drive, Card Reader/Writer, Driver Bay Converter for Card Reader/Writer:

* 1 x -- Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 -- 500GB -- (SATAII, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache) -- ST3500418AS -- Scan.co.uk -- £34.91 (Inc. Del.)

* 1 x -- Sony AD-7241S-0B -- 24x DVD±R, 12xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6, 12xRAM SATA, Lightscribe, Black, OEM -- EBuyer.com -- £15.79 (Inc. Del.)

* 1 x -- Lian Li CR-36B 3.5” Card Reader/Writer -- 3.5” Bay, 5 x Card slots, 1 x USB 2.0 port, solid/full-enclosure design -- CR-36B -- EBay.co.uk (New product) -- £19.00 (Del. Charge Below) (Selected on aesthetic basis -- i.e., to avoid a plastic fascia clashing with the case.)

* 1 x -- Lian Li MF-515 5.25" to 3.5" Drive Bay “Conversion Kit” -- Black Metal Chassis and Fascia (Aluminium Finish) -- [Allows 3.5” Card Reader/Writer to be fitted to 5.25” Bay.] -- MF-515X -- Overclockers.co.uk -- £6.99 (Del. Charge Below) (Selected on aesthetic basis -- i.e., to avoid a plastic fascia clashing with the case.)

Other Extra Cards:

* 1 x -- Belkin Hi-Speed USB2.0 Port Card -- old PCI type, 4 External Ports, 1 Internal Port. -- F5U220VEA1 -- EBay.co.uk (New product) -- £7.90 (Inc. Del.) (I have a lot of external USB devices.)

Other/Misc:

* 1 x -- EBuyer-sourced Generic/“Extra Value” Silver Grease Thermal Compound Injection Tube -- PST700-IT10 -- EBuyer.com -- £1.49 (Inc. Del.) (Would get future use out of this item also.)

* 1 x -- Arctic Silver ArctiClean (i), Thermal Material Remover and (ii), Thermal Surface Purifier
-- 2 x 30ml bottles -- ARCTICLEAN 60ML -- EBuyer.com -- £4.69 (Inc. Del.) (Would get future use out of this item also.)

Not required at this time:

* OS (installing currently held OS: Win XP Pro SP3).
* Monitor.
* KB/mouse.
* Graphics card.
* Shound card.
* RAID card.

Delivery Costs (Inc. VAT):

* EBuyer = £0.00!
* Overclockers (Lian Li MF-515X) = £5.85
* EBay Seller (Lian Li Drive Bay Conversion Kit) = £3.49
--> Total Del. Cost = £9.34

“Consumer Priced” Parts Total (inc. Del.) = £495.67


Pretty darned "cheap" (relatively speaking) for an 800D build in the UK I'd say. Granted, it's a Socket 775 build using very old technology, and it lacks a graphics card, but I am comfortable with that.

I am looking forwards to proceeding with this and rebuilding it over time.

Any opinions welcome.

David

[matty-hodgson]

You could definitely shave around £50 off that PSU and still get a very good PSU.

That system at most would use about 150 - 200W.

I'd suggest this - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/450W-...-year-Warranty

Stick around for a little longer and you'll save yourself £8.21 off the Scan delivery costs.

Also, is there any need for that MSI HD4350? If you used the onboard VGA of the motherboard along with all the other proposed savings I've put down here I've saved you: £89.62 or £51.40 if you need the HD4350.

[D001]

^^ Nice suggestions there Matt -- thanks very much.

I have added your suggestions into the build in the starting post.

If anyone else has any ideas, I'd be pleased to hear them!

David

[circuitmonkey]

I like the idea of this build, but am still wondering why you'd want to house these components in that particular case?
for roughly a quarter of the price of the 800D you could get a NZXT M59 (and for the keen eyed among us you may note I'm running that case) and still get the same basic cooling methodology
If you really are just dead-set on this case, then I wish you well, but maybe you want to shop around first?

[D001]

^^ Yes, you could describe the case as "more than enough for the job" at this point!

Over time, I want to stick with it and build it up into something special. A "special project" if you like.

The things that really attracted me to the 800D were things like:

* fantastic ease in which to build and re-build.
* design from both an aesthetic + functional standpoint (it is truly excellent on that front I think).
* awesome cable management capabilities.
* all-black internals from the factory.
* side panels that "pop-off" very easily.
* 4 x SATA drive hot-swap capable drive bays, accessible from the front.

Opinions on cases are probably subjective, but for what it is worth, I also considered:

* Antec 300 (Very aesthetically pleasing external look, but weak cable management features and no black internals.)
* Antec P183 (No black internals, and limited space behind the back-plate) (If the next version comes with black internals, and greater space behind the back-plate, I would look at it.)
* Fractal Design R2 (Very attractive looking case, externally and internally, but only 2 x front/external 5.25" bays.)
* Lian Li PC-X2000F (Stunning, but out of my range.)
* Lian Li PC-X2000 (Stunning, but out of my range.)
* Lian Li PC-X1000 (Stunning, but out of my range; no black internals.)
* Lian Li PC-B70 (No black internals; just over spend limit.)
* Lian Li PC-B71 (No black internals; just over spend limit.)
* Lian Li PC-A70F (No black internals; cable management not quite as impressive as 800D.)
* Lian Li PC-A70F (No black internals; cable management not quite as impressive as 800D.)
* Lian Li PC-A77F (No black internals; cable management not quite as impressive as 800D.)
* Lian Li PC-B10 (No black internals; only 2 x front/external 5.25" bays.)

I wasn't too mad on the upper-end CoolerMaster or Silverstone cases on an aesthetics basis, so ruled these out.

All things considered, I just preferred the Corsair Obsidian 800D.