Criticise My New Spec

[Lead_Head]

Lo all,

I'm in the process of building a new PC and all the parts will be bought from SCAN Computers, so if you make any recommendations then please select the component from Scan.

My budget is £500 absolute max and they will slot in to the Intel 955XBK board with an Intel Pentium D 820 2.8GHz processor.

Spec:

1. LN12566 SilverStone "TEMJIN" J04B (BLACK) Aluminum Front/SECC Body Tower Case (w/o PSU) £59.99 £70.49
   LN12604 256Mb GECUBE ATI PCI-E X850PRO DDR3 £127.29 £149.57
   LN8049 1Gb Corsair DDR2 5400-C4 32Mx64, non-ECC, 240 DIMM, unbuffered, 4-4-4-12, Lifetime Warranty £110.15 £129.43
   LN11657 200Gb SATA300 Samsung SpinPoint™ P120S (SP2004C) 7200rpm, 8MB - NCQ £58.67 £68.94
   LN10085 480W Tagan 2Force SLi Ultra Quiet 21db Also support 12v EPS/SATA/XEON 3 Years Warranty ATX/BTX £53.49 £62.85
   
   TOTAL = £481.28

Any thoughts?

[[DW]Cougho]

256Mb ScanFX PCI-E 6800GS SLi Extreme Edition GDDR3 ViVo Tv Out Dual DVI HDTV
£118.83 Ex VAT
£139.63 Inc VAT

Swap the X850pro for that or a 6800gt, much better.

[arthurleung]

The ram appear to be quite expensive? I think it will be better to get more, but slower ram.

2Gb Corsair Twin Pack(2x1Gb)Value Select DDR2,533 MHz,2x128Mx64,non-ECC,2x240 DIMM, unbuffered, CL4, £95.00 £111.63

2GB Corsair (2x1GB) DDR2, 667MHz, 2x128Mx64, non-ECC, 2x240 DIMM, Unbuffered, CL5, Lifetime Warranty £114.99 £135.11

Something like this?

[Lead_Head]

Any idea which is better suited to the mobo the 6800GS or the 6800GT?

That value select ram looks appealing.

It's nice to have a choice, but when theres so much choice it all gets confusing!

[[DW]Cougho]

Read a few reviews both are almost neck and neck.

GT - 16 pipes but doesnt overclock as far as a GS.
GS - 12 pipes but overclocks like a mofo.

Nvidia brought out the GS to fill the GT's spot, as its just as fast but far cheaper to make. I think i would personally go for the GT but maybe thats just cause i remember being wowed with it when it first came out.

[Dark Horse]

Case is your call but I'm not a fan of expensive cases when there are some excellent ~£40-£50 cases around so why spend twice the amount you need to. Cases generally just sit under a desk anyway so whats all the fuss about?

6800GS is more modern than the 6800GT and generally overclocks much better. Scan's own brand 6800GS is a bargain at the price as Scan's own brand cards are ofen rebranded XFX cards.

I'd go for 2gb value ram over 1gb.

Spinpoint p120s are excellent drives, fast and quiet.

Tagans are also excellent psu's although I'd look at some of the Hiper psus if you're looking to cut costs. Hiper psus are pretty good quality and have the same features as Tagan psus but are about £10-£20 less for the equivalent model.

[Lead_Head]

To be honest all I would like is a nice sleek modern aluminium case thats pretty good quality. Got any suggestions?

Thanks for your input

[Dark Horse]

I was going to suggest the igloo in the bargain suggest but its gone now

Although its not in stock, the coolermaster cavalier is quite nice for £52

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=134903

Also coolermaster centurion for £39 although its slightly black:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=156451

[Lead_Head]

I like that one for £39. Very smart.

Does anyone know how quiet the fans are on this?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=134904

[Kaine (AoD)]

The fans on the cases are normally ok for noise but I could personally advise on these babys

120mm Akasa Amber Case Fan, 3 Pin, 2 Ball Bearing , Ultra Quiet and Long life
£8.10 Inc VAT

[Lead_Head]

Right, I've decided to spend a bit more on the GFX due to the special offer on SCAN on the 7800GT....

Reckon all this will work?

• LN10085 480W Tagan 2Force SLi Ultra Quiet 21db Also support 12v EPS/SATA/XEON 3 Years Warranty ATX/BTX
  
  LN8137 Coolermaster Cavalier 3 Silver Chrome Finish w/o PSU
  
  LN12201 2GB Corsair (2x1GB) DDR2, 667MHz, 2x128Mx64, non-ECC, 2x240 DIMM, Unbuffered, CL5, Lifetime Warranty
  
  LN11521 256Mb Gigabyte PCI-E GV-NX78T256V-B 7800GT (256bit) ViVo 2xDVI SLi Ready
  
  LN11657 200Gb SATA300 Samsung SpinPoint™ P120S (SP2004C) 7200rpm, 8MB - NCQ
  
  TOTAL = £519.51

Slightly over budget, but hey... that happens.

My concern is the PSU, will it fit the case?

[project187]

why wouldnt it fit the case??
coolermaster tend to be good with trays and stuff to make instalation as easy as possible i had a centurion now have a wavemaster which looks better and is so easy to put mobo and psu in its a joke plus comes with thumbscrews all round nice and accesable,
so yer the psu will fit for sure as long as its atx and check the wavemaster out also bitpricey but worth it and is cheap in some places

[Lead_Head]

I was reading around and I saw that some people had bought a PSU and it didn't fit the case! I could just see me doing the same thing :/

[project187]

lol this is rare and normally occurs in micro atx systems like this rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish dell im on now lol
but normal cases will accept all psus

[Lead_Head]

Cool, I've ordered that spec now so I'm looking forward to building it!

[nvening]

Get the 2gb of value ram.

Also, you may want to cheack out this p180 case on the for sale forums, if it is still for sale. Its a top case