need cpu, ram , case, soundcard

[-Freebird]

Hey guys..

First of all id like to say this looks like a really good forum and im glad to have joined..

Right..

Well recently i ordered my computer from a UK computer site..
Im an expat living in belgium from england so i expected some trouble it getting here but nothing like what happened..

I ordered this
Goods Ordered (prices in GBP)
£169.95 x 1 - AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail
(ADA4000BNBOX) (CP-120-AM)
£74.95 x 1 - DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
(MB-014-DF)
£129.95 x 1 - Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS)
£239.95 x 1 - Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI
(PCI-Express) - Retail (3056) (GX-047-CO)
£72.95 x 1 - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music + HS600 £29.99 Gaming
Headset Bundle - Retail (SC-042-CL)
£66.95 x 1 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache -
OEM (HD-078-SE)
£21.95 x 1 - NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Beige) - OEM
(CD-029-NE)
£54.95 x 1 - Hiper HPU-4K580-MK Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Black UV
(CA-005-HP)
£67.95 x 1 - Thermaltake VA3000SWA Tsunami Dream SuperMidi Aluminium Tower -
Silver (CA-011-TT)

this all added up including tax and shipping to 1080 pound..

But only half or so of it arrived..

I got my mobo , graphics card, hardisc , dvd rw, and my psu ..

According to my calculations it means i have around 450- 550 pounds left ..
Which is arround 750 euro ...
I know surprise surprise want to buy the rest of my stuff locally..

So i can spend from 750-850 euro . ( 450-550 pound)

Can any of you guys recommend what to get for that sort of prise. . Thanks

Keep in mind thats abit a bit more expensive over here in belgium

cheers,
Free

EDIT ; i would especially appreciate any recomendations on a case

[amjedm]

I can only advise on case - is the Akasa Eclipse available in Belgium? Highly recommended unless you would like a Antec P180 but I think you may have issues with the psu you have and the P180.

CPU - with the prices due to fall on Monday, I would look then. I suppose you could estimate prices for the other bits and then whats left over spend on the cpu? I am looking to upgrade myself but low end Athlon 64 (3000) after price drop.

Reason why I can't advise on the rest of the bits (ram and soundcard) is because my rig is pretty low end (Soundblaster Live and 512mb Samsung RAM) so I haven't a clue.

[MantisCSS]

yeht he akasa eclipse or mirrage are very nice. processor wise, depends if u want to overclock. for 110 quid i have a opteron 146 runing at 2.8 on stock volts.

[Hidden Hippo]

As for a case, I would suggest either the Thermaltake Armour (Jr, if you want) or the Lian Li PC7 Plus. The PC7 is very plain, but you can get a nice window for the side and then add in any extras if you want. The Armour is completely different, it's a pretty much no holds barred styling. I would say go with the one that you think you will be happy with for the next couple of years. It's no use buying an expensive case and then regretting it everytime you fire up your PC.

[nvening]

Sound card: Creative Xfi (the cheap one, if you dont want a breakout box or some "xram" which has no use)

Case: AKASA Eclipse-62 / AKASA Mirage (same cause but different fronts - Mirage has a door)

RAM: Get some branded value 2gb (2x1gb dimms) - you can always overclock on a divider.

CPU: Right now in the UK prices of AMD CPUs have dramatically fallen so i would say something like a dual core 4400+ or 4600+ but i dont know what prices are like where you are.

[MantisCSS]

agree with nvening on ram, get some nice 2GB or corsair maybe. or maybe crucial or geil or mushkin.

[-Freebird]

thanks guys..

Im into cooling lots and i want to have 3 fans + runing in my pc all the time..
Reason .. my gfx card gets very warm and i need to direct the heat somewhere else..
So i spose its the AKASKA eclispse for me ..good..

For the cpu i'm probably gunna go for the 4000 or a opteron .. thinking everyone says the 165 is good.. but i need some recomendations aswell from you guys. and a thermalltake big typhoon . for reaching speeds of up to 2800 mhrtz
Do you guys know how much space there is inthe case.. I mean this is a BIG fan ..

Soundcard.. x-fi extreme music .. decided on that.. But if i dont have enough ill cut that down to an audigy 2 zs ...

Still thinking on the ram .. Neeed some reasonably priced ddr but i dont want value ram ..
I need decent timings.. like 2336 ..or 3437 with higher clocked ram .
Thanks for all the comments .. But i still especially need help on the ram and some questions about the case..
Thanks alot
Cheers,
Free

[owen1978]

For £170 you can get the E6400 conroe - seeing as you are building the system from scratch

as for ram get Xtreem ram it the best around for price/performance

[amjedm]

Thanks for all the comments .. But i still especially need help on the ram and some questions about the case..
Free

What questions do you have about the case?

The Akasa has one intake and one exhaust fan (both are 120mm). I believe there is a side panel available with 120mm fan which directs air to the graphics card.

[nvening]

For £170 you can get the E6400 conroe - seeing as you are building the system from scratch

as for ram get Xtreem ram it the best around for price/performance

He already has a 939 motherboard if u actually read the thread

You may as well get a Dual core cpu over single core tbh.

[rainbow]

would deffo get the akasa my brother is now using the eclipse case and its a joke, so well made and cooling is very good too

[MantisCSS]

the corsair twinX ram is very good ram. the stuff in my sig. and quite reasonably priced at bout £130 timing of 3338 i think

[-Freebird]

Ok im getting the eclipse..

Im thinking about the cpu now..
Is the opteron 146 a good choice..
I have a dfi lanparty ultra d .. which i hear is good for overclocking..
If so what cooler should i get.
I would like to take it up to 2.8-3.0 depending..

[MantisCSS]

well on my ASUS i saw tht u saw my thread ig e tto 2.8 on stock volts and it is stable. the temps are a lil high but are ok. im sure u can sort them if u like cooling. and good choice of case. its very nice.

[-Freebird]

Nice..
So im sort of new to overclocking the CPU.. my friend showed me once but kinda forgotten ..


When you say increasing the volts. Is that increasing the voltage going towards the cpu so you can get more power to it to increase the clockspeeds..

Sorry im bit of a n00b at this overclocking stuff. well at cpu's i am ..

Asus has this overclocking utilitie thing.. So its fairly easy to overclock right?...

I have a dfi lanparty mobo so if anyone who has a mobo from dfi can give me a quick guide on how then i would greatly appreciate it //

Thanks for this help guys :d

[MantisCSS]

some motherboards come with prgrames which can do it for u but do it in bios. yeh thats what increasing the voltage does. im not massively good on overclocking either butt here are alot of ppl on here who know what they are doing. i managed to get mine to 2.8 on stock and stable and im a bit of an overclcoking n00b.