another "another check my spec"

[ekundo]

student loan in T -5days

E6300
Gigabyte GA 965P-S3 i965
1Gb (2X512Mb) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC6400
160 Gb Samsung HD160JJ SpinPoint P80
LiteOn 16X DVD+/-RW
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
430w Seasonic S12-430 aPFC PSU Silent ATX2.0
Gigabyte Triton GZ-XX1CA Black Midi Tower Case
256MB Palit 7600GT Sonic
MSI PC54G3 54Mbps PCI Wireless Adaptor

£583.58 in total

It's mainly for gaming. I will be overclocking a bit, but just for the sake of it really. I'll add another gig of ram eventually but i can't afford it at the same time as the initial build.

My only problem with this as far as i can see (done lots of forum checking for the bits) is the power supply, which i'd rather not pay £50 for and it puts me £33 over my intended cost. Are there any decent, fairly quiet cheaper ones out there?

I could possibly cut down some cash on the case aswell but there don't seem to be many decent looking cheap cases. Is this any good? It looks a little tacky in the picture, but for the price i'd expect that a little.

[Dark Horse]

The Akasa Zen is pretty reasonable for the money.

You could go for a 400w Silverstone or FSP and save £10 on the psu but I wouldn't try to skimp much more than that.

The motherboard seems a bit pricey if you're trying to cut costs, the Asrock conroe boards are worth a look at £50.

[MSIC]

I bought one of these for a mate's build 6 months back, and was shocked by how good it was. Stylish (sort of) and quiet!
He only had an Athlon 64 3200 with onboard graphics, so the standard PSU seemed reasonable for him. I'd get a decent brand for an overclocked Core 2 Duo if you dont want problems though.
Other than that, I concur with Dark Horse.

[ekundo]

Looking at it i can tone back the motherboard a bit and plonk myself in budget. The ASUS P5LD2-SE/C i945P looks decent for the price.

If i get this motherboard would it be worth dropping back to PC5300 ram rather than the PC6400 stuff since overclocking isnt my biggest priority? (It'd be nice to do though, free performance is always good) The gigabyte board has 800Mhz fsb support but the asus doesnt.

With the case and motherboard price drops i can get that powersupply in budget, so all is good there.

[Clunk]

if you want to be overclocking, forget the asrock boards. 299fsb x your 7 multiplier will give you a grand total of just under 2100mhz.

scan have a bundle on today only that has the p5b deluxe, the retail e6300 and the same ram as you have above. the p5b is a better board than the ds3, it also has wifi built in, so works out at a similar price as you dont need the extra wireless adapter. with this setup, you are looking nearer 3100mhz

edit: gaming and overclocking, dont scrimp on the psu.

[amjedm]

I bought one of these for a mate's build 6 months back, and was shocked by how good it was. Stylish (sort of) and quiet!
He only had an Athlon 64 3200 with onboard graphics, so the standard PSU seemed reasonable for him. I'd get a decent brand for an overclocked Core 2 Duo if you dont want problems though.
Other than that, I concur with Dark Horse.

What's the cooling like in that case - the answer is intended for the OP as I think it uses 80mm fans?

The Gigabyte case is pricey IMO but does look nice. As already recommended you could swap for the Akasa Zen.

Stick with the Seasonic though.

[MSIC]

The cooling is probably fairly rubbish, but for my friend it met his needs and was appropriate. It will all depend on how much heat you would be asking the case to disperse.
That said, ekundo's components are all very low power - a 300W PSU would actually be sufficient if he didnt plan on getting more powerful stuff in the future.

[Chunkers]

If i get this motherboard would it be worth dropping back to PC5300 ram rather than the PC6400 stuff since overclocking isnt my biggest priority? (It'd be nice to do though, free performance is always good) The gigabyte board has 800Mhz fsb support but the asus doesnt.

I would stick with the DS3, drop to PC5300 most of which overclocks pretty well up to 800 Mhz anyway and try and squeeze 2Gb RAM into your budget.

Depending on which games (BF2 etc) you play, 1Gb RAM is not going to hack it

CHnks

[ekundo]

I can't find anyway to get 2 gigs of ram within my budget sadly. I'll have to add some at a later date. It looks like the final spec will be as originally posted but with the Zen case.

Would there be any differance between getting cheapo PC5300 and getting (what looks) decent PC6400?

or would something inbetween seem better? (This is still PC5300 but faster timings)

no matter how much i read about ram, the stuff still confuses me

[cotswoldcs]

Ekundo - have you bought yet or have you yet to make your final decision? I'm only asking as I'm looking at building a PC myself in the very near future and was interested in the Gigabyte or Akasa case. I'd be interested in your opinions especially if you have now made a decision.

[ekundo]

i havn't yet. should be ordering next week. from the reviews i'v read the akasa case seems amazing for the price. i'll let you know when i get it

[patata]

Specs look good for gaming