Building a gaming PC

[MSIC]

Barseman, I strongly agree with the Antec P150. You are correct that the other case is indeed acceptable. But the P150 is brilliant.
Read about it on this trust-worthy site:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article272-page1.html
Make up your own mind.
Also remember that these are just suggestions and opinions, and you can't actually go wrong with much of this whichever you choose, these are just some of our collective experiences.

[philipbain]

To be honest I put in the Xclio case because I was doing the spec to a cost, but if your not purchasing the monitor and other peripherals then there is scope to improve certain aspects, case included within the budget that you gave. With this in mind here is a revised spec with RAM with tighter timings and a new case:

All parts from Scan.co.uk unless stated

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 S775, 2.40Ghz, 1066Mhz FSB, Conroe Core, 4M Cache Retail £252.57
Zalman CNPS9500-AT Intel LGA775 Aero Flower Cooler £30.42
Gigabyte GA 965P-DS3, Intel P965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, ATX £98.34
2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC6400 (800), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, EPP £194.63
1Gb XFX 7950GX2 OEM, PCI-E (x16), 1200 MHz GPU 500 MHz, 48 Pipes, S-Video/TV Out 2 x Dual Link DVI-I £292.58
2 X 250 Gb Samsung Spinpoint P SP2504C, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ (2X £49.69) = £99.38
Pioneer DVR-111 Black 16x16 x5 RAM DVD±RW Dual Layer DVD Writer (Reduced Length) OEM £25.06
Antec P180 EU PC Case Performance One Series £87.26 (www.dabs.com)
580W HiperPower HPU-4M580 Black SLi Ready Modular 20 + 24Pins P8 Ready ATX2.2/BTX £52.82

Total: £1133.06

[MantisCSS]

thats viewsonic monitor is nice. also have a look at the 20" del and also belina.

[nvening]

If you dont want to go really hi end with your case/osu then the p150 is the best choice. Its a good, quiet, cool case with a good quality solid PSU.

[PanzerKnight]

To be honest I put in the Xclio case because I was doing the spec to a cost, but if your not purchasing the monitor and other peripherals then there is scope to improve certain aspects, case included within the budget that you gave. With this in mind here is a revised spec with RAM with tighter timings and a new case:

All parts from Scan.co.uk unless stated

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 S775, 2.40Ghz, 1066Mhz FSB, Conroe Core, 4M Cache Retail £252.57
Zalman CNPS9500-AT Intel LGA775 Aero Flower Cooler £30.42
Gigabyte GA 965P-DS3, Intel P965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, ATX £98.34
2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC6400 (800), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, EPP £194.63
1Gb XFX 7950GX2 OEM, PCI-E (x16), 1200 MHz GPU 500 MHz, 48 Pipes, S-Video/TV Out 2 x Dual Link DVI-I £292.58
2 X 250 Gb Samsung Spinpoint P SP2504C, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ (2X £49.69) = £99.38
Pioneer DVR-111 Black 16x16 x5 RAM DVD±RW Dual Layer DVD Writer (Reduced Length) OEM £25.06
Antec P180 EU PC Case Performance One Series £87.26 (www.dabs.com)
580W HiperPower HPU-4M580 Black SLi Ready Modular 20 + 24Pins P8 Ready ATX2.2/BTX £52.82

Total: £1133.06

How come that 7950GX2 is so cheap? Most I've seen are just under the 400 mark

[Barseman]

That Antec P180 looks good. Can you use pretty much any case that supports ATX motherboards? Are there other thing to watch out for?

[mallett]

the P180 is a very nice case, and possibly the one im gonna be getting, but the P150 is aslo very good, and far cheeper as it comes with the psu for around £80 depending where you look
however one issue with the P180 is the cable length with the psu you use due to the unusual position of it, but a cable extendor is easy to get tbh

[Barseman]

What about the black version of the Antec P180 i've seen http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=605187

Any advantages to it or is it much the same as the white version?

[mallett]

there some basic changes to the black from the original which are highlighted here...

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article255-page13.html

[Barseman]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=396318

Please Note - This chassis is not compatible with the Tagan, hiper and Tagan Easycon series.

Is that referring to the PSU? If so is the hiperpower psu in phils spec not compatible?

[philipbain]

It looks that way, it must be something to do with the layout of the PSU, or the connectors for the various leads. One option would be to get the P150 which comes with a PSU anyway so that would actually save some money or alternatively select a different case, and when it comes down to it cases are a matter of personal tastes and whether the case suits your requirements such as noise, cooling etc.

[MSIC]

The P180 has the PSU chamber at the bottom of the case. Most motherboards have the power plug at the top of the board. You therefore need a PSU with long(ish) leads to stretch the whole length of the case. Mine fits well, which is a Tagan.
Overall however, whilst the P180 is no-doubt brilliant thermally and acoustically, it is certainly a pain in the backside to set up. A P150 is nearly as good, alot cheaper (comes with PSU, the P180 doesnt) and alot less hassle.

[MSIC]

Sorry, double post

[Barseman]

Think ill go with the P180 case. Though am still a little hesitant about the psu cable length.

[Barseman]

Just checked hiper website http://www.hipergroup.com/English/news.html

Says that Hiper Typer R 580W series does not support Intel Pentium 4 dual core CPU as it requires EPS12V (i.e. an 8 pin ATX +12V connector)

and

Known incompatible tower: Antec P180.

O dear

[MSIC]

Give this PSU a try:
Tagan Easycon 530W for £65.