Advice on new comp

So i've had the current rig (you can see it in My System) for like 4 years so now i finally have some money i want to basically build a new comp. I know some of the things i want but i havent got a clue what is compatible with what, so id like some help please :)

The things i currently have and hope to keep (as i don't have limitless money) are:

floppy drive
2 x Ultra ATA/100 hard drives (hope thats right)
DVD writer
PCI Sound card
speakers
mouse
keyboard
monitor

So i guess i need

mobo
cpu
psu
graphics card
ram
case
whatever else i cant think of/dont know.

These are the things i definitely want to have, so i basically just need to know what you recommend/what is compatible.

conroe E6600
XFX 7900GTX
2gb RAM (faster/lower latency the better)
quiet as possible, so a quiet psu etc. Don't really know about fans and stuff.

So what mobo, psu, ram, case, fans do you recommend for this? Cheers for any help :)
(oh and i have around 2k to spend if need be but id prefer to keep it below £1500 if possible, and where possible everything will be from scan :) )

Gigabyte DS3 (i965) for mid range offerings, or all the way up to Intel's own built i975X..

Get the X1900XT instead, as 975X and some 965 supports Crossfire.. (also, X1900XT IMO is cheaper and a better card as a whole).

Case: no contest, Akasa Eclipse 62 or Mirage 62

PSU: Tagan, Seasonic offerings above 580W (if you're planning to crossfire)

fans: Akasa Ambers... all of them..

Wow that's quite a big budget. you could easily get a complete kick arse system without keeping anything from your current build (can you feel the jelousy? :) )


Case:
I'm looking at getting a case at the moment and my choice is :
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=250635

Personal preference as for my needs the Akasa Eclipse 62 is a little small and maybe a little cramped for you if you end up getting that massive slab of a graphics in the form of the 79 gtx.

I've done a bit of research into case fans and coolers and found www.quietpc.com a useful resource. they give you a run down on the best silent products out there so maybe take a looksie at the recommended cases on there and see what takes your fancy.

Also saw a post on here earlier today who gave a link to http://"http://www.custompc.co.uk/cu...roducts.html">
which did a comparision of fans.

mobo
The one thing I highly stress is take your time with choice of motherboard. its the base of your system so the more solid that is the better perfomance you'll get out of your components. Go for one of the big boys Asus, Abit, DFI or the like and you wont go wrong.

RAM
I went for OCZ which are desgined with gamers in mind and the reviews when I purchased were good.

FX
I've got the 7800gtx and it is awsome the 7900 can only be better

HD
I know you said you wanted to keep your existing drives but with your budget you should be able to get at least 1 sata II drive 3MB/s transfer rate is miles better than ATA. I would go for a deskstar 250

CPU
I stayed with AMD myself (4200 X2) as it was the best in my budget at the time you may have room in your budget to go bigger and better.

PSU
I went for the hiper r 580 which works flawlessly and is near silent. in another thread they were slammed and recommended a Seasonic. I'd recommend the hiper but have a look at the thread and decide for yourself.

I would look further than just scan if I were you. Scan are great but past few things I've got I've found cheaper elsewhere (sorry scan)

everything here is a personal choice and may not be the best for you - it all depends on what you want it for - if its for gaming go high on mobo/FX/RAM if other use than you could go easier on the RAM and FX.

Thanks for that informative post barry :) I'll take a look at those links. I won't be gaming as much, it will be used for high end 3d animation packages, but having asked on animation message boards they suggested getting the best of everything i ca afford. So thats why the 7900GTX. RAM, im not sure about since you said its designed with gamers in mind, ill read some reviews about that ram or wait for someone else to comment.

Was gonna go with scan cos of the free delivery, if im buying lots of things from different places id likely end up paying more in postage than what im saving, but i will have a look around if you think it may be cheaper, cant hurt to check can it :)

Sawyen, i chose the 7900 over the 1800 because i read/heard that the 7900 with the XFX fan/heatsink is quieter than the 1800. But thanks.

So looking at the seasonics, what will be the difference between a 500w S12 and a 500w M12? I dont know anything about psu's but would it be just as well getting the S12?

Cheers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by htid

So i guess i need

mobo
cpu
psu
graphics card
ram
case
whatever else i cant think of/dont know.

quiet as possible, so a quiet psu etc. Don't really know about fans and stuff.

So what mobo, psu, ram, case, fans do you recommend for this? Cheers for any help :)
(oh and i have around 2k to spend if need be but id prefer to keep it below £1500 if possible, and where possible everything will be from scan :) )

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That is a big budget, not limitless but big IMO.

I can only advise on the following

PSU - Seasonic (as I think you've already made your mind up) :)
Case - Akasa Eclipse or Mirage, P180
Fans - I would recommend the Sharkoon Silent Eagles over the Akasa Amber (I flogged it on ebay). You may want to use the 2000rpm with a fan controller. I'm using the 1000rpm (120mm and 80mm) ones without a fan controller.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by htid

So looking at the seasonics, what will be the difference between a 500w S12 and a 500w M12? I dont know anything about psu's but would it be just as well getting the S12?

Cheers.

---

The M12 I believe is modular. Also has a small 6cm intake fan on the same side of the cables.

I would swap that 7900GTX for either a X1900XTX, X1950XTX or a 7950GX2 with that budget!

It's just the noise im worried about...wont those 3 generate more heat and therefore make more noise? I havent really looked at the coolers on them to know what they are like, anyone have any input?

Plus amjedn, i dont know the difference between a modular and...well, whatever isnt modular :p So therefore i dont know the advantage lol

i also would suggest you dump the 7900gtx and get an x1900xt. you can add an aftermarket cooler and still have plenty of change left over.

quiet fans, get on fleabay and grab some yate loons off silencio_777, great seller and pretty cheap.

mobo, loads of crap around at the moment, best of the bad bunch (that ive tried anyway) is the asus p5b deluxe.

ram, ive ended up with corsair, cant really go wrong there. if you intend on overclocking, get 6400 and upwards..if not, youll be fine with value select 5400 stuff.

if you are going for quiet, you might want to dump the stock intel cooler, mine was really noisy and inefficient, im not too well up on current air coolers, so someone else will be able to steer you on that :)

Yep x19000 XT FtW.. Its better for graphics overal due to some other pipelines or some rubbish like that .. and equal if not higher in FPS to a 7900 gtx..

Floats my boat

Wow thats a lot of people saying go for a 1900xt. I was convinced i was gonna go nvidia, but now im questioning my decision :p

If anything would i not be better off choosing an xtx rather than just the xt? How about this, it's around the same price i was gonna pay for the 7900GTX and it has watercooling *has no idea about water cooling whatsoever* so i assume that would make it silent?

I guess i should read some reviews about that card tbh, but i'm kinda on a time limit here so... ;) Go back to uni end of September and need the pc by then, and i havent a clue how to build a PC so after i bought everything i gotta find someone/somewhere to build it for me anyway so i dont really have time to do a lot of reading.

Cheers anyway.

well im guessing by the FAN on the card its not silent as it needs something to cool the rad block, imo i have a nvidia card so does my brother they are good, im sure the ati ones are tgood too, but i prefer nvidia stuff, plus the sli is a bit more reliable than crossfire i would have said,and also the coolers on the high end nvidia cards are great.

case i have the akasa eclipse great case wel made doesnt look anything greqat but oh well its good for everything else and more thumbscrews than u can sake a stick at lol.

So far im looking at

Conroe E6600
7950GX2 or X1900xtx
500W seasonic S21 (or M12 once i know the difference)
Akasa Mirage 62
Crucial Ballistix

and thats it so far, no mobo decided on yet, havent really looked tbh yet, will do that later.

Cheers for your help everyone :) *htid loves hexus*

So, now i'm stuck. It seems no card is perfect!

7950GX2 is out as it doesnt work with duel monitor support (which i need as i am a computer animator and use duel screen a lot)

So its between X1900XTX (which id prefer not to get because everywhere i have read suggests it sounds like a jet when starting up and i want a quiet a system as possible) and the 7900GTX.

I have read that the 7900GTX cant handle AAx16 with 16x AF too, but is that just at higher resolutions? Say like 1600x1200 and above?

I only have an 18" TFT and can run at 1280x1024 so if i run say FEAR at that res will i be able to have AAx16 and 16x AF at the same time?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by htid

So far im looking at

Conroe E6600
7950GX2 or X1900xtx
500W seasonic S21 (or M12 once i know the difference)
Akasa Mirage 62
Crucial Ballistix

and thats it so far, no mobo decided on yet, havent really looked tbh yet, will do that later.

Cheers for your help everyone :) *htid loves hexus*

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Either way, whichever graphics card i decide to get (7900GTX or X1900XTX), assuming i wont be SLi or crossfiring, this mobo together with those things in the quote and one of those 2 graphics cards will work together......am i right there? I just need to know so i can start to buy at least SOME stuff

Cheers :)

*bump*

come on please? Just wanna know if the things in the final post are all compatible, otherwise i'm stuck here as i dont really know and dont wanna shell out that much for it now to work

pleeeeeeeeeease :D

Chris.