Pre built from dell etc.. or custom?

[Timmy!!!]

Go for DIY deffo, satisfaction at the end + all the research on what you want which is half the fun!

[nvening]

Ok, so we have now decided (correctly) for a custom PC. Now lets start with the spec, sounds like we wants a fx55 and I would go with the AKASA Eclipse 62 case. Do you want to spend £2000 exactly. And what do you want to do with it. How about SLI if you are into gaming?

[RDL]

If I were you I'd be getting something like this:

AMD ATHLON FX 55
Asus A8N SLi Deluxe
2 x 6800GTs (Ultra's aren't really worth it)
Tagan 480W Silent PSU (or maybe even an OCZ 600W)
Akasa 62 Case
1 gig PC4400 Overclockers RAM (2x512mb)
2 x 74gig Raptors (RAID 0) (or even 3 in RAID 5, depending on your needs)
2 x 200gig Seagate Barracuda 7200.7s
Plextor 716A Black 16 x16±,x4+ Dual Layer DVD
Asus DVD ROM
Nice 20" TFT (or even the 24" Dell Widescreen)

Then get an XP120 and a nice fan to cool your CPU (the fan will depend on how silent you want your pc to be)

Then just get some bits and bobs to personalise it. This is just a rough guide, and I haven't priced it. Knowing me, and also knowing how much my new system cost, this will certainly be over 2 grand; but as I said it's just my idea.

[owen1978]

Are'nt the new AMD 'Venice' CPU's out in a few days/weeks, would be better to hold out for them, and see what they are like.

[oralpain]

I find it hard to recommend raptors to anybody.

People with lots of money that want the fastest available would be better off with high end SCSI drives, and almost everyone else would be better off with a SATA-II 7,200 rpm drive (for the extra features like NCQ, not the extra transfer rate). Recent 7,200 rpm drives are barely slower than raptors for most things, and they have about tripple the space per dollar, or pound.

The only time I would really recommend raptors is if you will be dealing with massive numbers of small files and really want to avoid SCSI.

I havent owned the 74GB raptors, but I have had RAID 0 36GB raptors, and I was extremely unimpressed. The 74GB ones are faster, but not that much faster.

[Firelord]

Raptors are great if you can afford them, I think though that that 2 36GB is RAID 0 for OS and progs is extremely quick.

I can't recommend the Asus SLi board after the number of reports on the web and in magazines of the serious amount of issues surrounding the board. The MSI and DFI boards have smashed the A8N into the ground and then some.