PC build virgin wants your opinions on first build spec (2K budget)…

Hi there.

My current PC needs upgrading so a few months ago I decided I would build myself a new one. In that time I’ve reading all over the web, but mostly on here as +95% of the parts will be ordered from OC. I’ve finally come up with the following spec and I’d be eternally grateful for any comments you guys have.

My budget is £2,000. I will use the PC for a range of things including games, editing audio/video/photos, watching movies and surfing. As I’ve never built a PC before I haven’t done any overclocking but I dare say within a few months I’ll give it a go (but nothing “too close to the edge”). I’d like the PC to be capable of being future-proof with minor upgrades for the next 5 years and I don’t mind spending a bit extra to achieve this. Importantly, it should be a very quiet/silent rig which looks good too. If any suggestions for the missing parts take this slightly over budget then so be it.


CPU
CP-128-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN) £204.99

CPU COOLER
HS-003-SY Scythe Ninja Plus Heatpipe CPU Cooler (Socket 478, 754, 939, 940, LGA755) (HS-003-SY) £31.95

COMPOUND
AC-000-AC Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) (AC-000-AC) £5.50

MOBO
MB-062-GI Gigabyte GA_965P_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-062-GI) £104.95

RAM
MY-058-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) (MY-058-GL) £124.95

GRAPHICS CARD
To be honest I’m especially open to suggestions about alternatives to this card. I doubt I will ever be interested in Crossfire as my interest in games will not be a big as to call me a “hardcore gamer”.
GX-047-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (3056) (GX-047-CO) £169.95

GRAPHICS CARD COOLER
Not sure what to do here … will a Zalman VF 900-CU be good enough to keep the above card cool and quiet. If suggesting an alternative card please suggest an alternative cooler if needed.

SOUND CARD
SC-034-CL Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music - Retail (SC-034-CL) £63.95

SPEAKERS
SP-021-LG Logitech Z-5500 THX® Certified 5.1 505 Watts Speakers - Retail (SP-021-LG) £176.95

POWER SUPPLY
CA-002-SS Seasonic S12 600W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-002-SS) £83.95

HDD’s
2 x HD-083-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 400GB ST3400620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-083-SE) @ £107.95ea = £215.90

MONITOR
MO-009-NE NEC MultiSync® LCD20WGX2 20.1" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-009-NE) £314.99

KEYBOARD
Maybe I’ll get silver depending on the case.
KB-000-EN Enermax Aurora Brushed Aluminium Keyboard - Black (KB-000-EN) £49.95

CASE
OK, I’m really struggling here. It will need to hold the above 2 HDD’s + 2 IDE drives which I already have. Although I’m not always struck on the looks I’m prepared to accept the wealth of experienced opinion on here and go with Lian-li. But I’m not sure which … Yewen if you’re reading this would appreciate your views. Eagerly awaiting the full review on s80 too

CASE FANS
Was going to go with Sharkoon Silent Eagles as I read a good review in Custom PC magazine. Sadly I can’t get these from OC though.

OPTICAL DRIVES
I already have some good ones which I can reuse.

Subtotal £1,547.98
VAT £270.90
Total £1,818.88


So please feel free to give any advice you can whether it be that I’ve missed something out (I already have the OS), a better spec suggestion or compatibility issues.

Cheers!

Buy the HIS version of the X1900 XT and then you won't need an additional cooler or have to worry about the warranty

Tetras said:

Buy the HIS version of the X1900 XT and then you won't need an additional cooler or have to worry about the warranty

Click to expand...

HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-HT) Total £229.12

^--- replaces original spec'd card + cooler. Thanks mate

Tetras said:

Buy the HIS version of the X1900 XT and then you won't need an additional cooler or have to worry about the warranty

Click to expand...

HIS coolers are good but the VF-900 is better

The X1900 series are the best cards out - barring the super over-expensive gimmicky crap known as the 7950GX2.

Any case by Lian-Li will be exceptional quality so you wont go wrong there. Akasa, Antec, CoolerMaster and Silverstone all do some very good quality cases that look great.

SiriusB

If you're not sure which case fans to buy then I would like to suggest the Akasa Ambers. They're stupidly popular right now.

Just add a nice mouse (Logitech mice are built for mine), and remove the VGA cooler and you will be set. I have a personal like to HIS but haven't had the pleasure of using one yet so maybe consider them?

Any case will hold that lot so really go for one that you like. Lian Li are well built if you like *** look of them.

I said a lot of goods there in my head. Excellent spec.

Additional fans are not needed unless you really want silent ones.

Thanks for the comments so far guys. Defo like HIS and the fact that I won't have to prat around with the card is a bonus (I knackered my current ATi card putting a zalman on it) but then again, if I hadn't done that I wouldn't have had the motivation to build myself a new rig!

I'm quite interested in silence so I'm prepared to buy/fit 3rd party case fans. Would really like to get the Ambers ... but they did not fair too well in the Custom PC review which was quite a good test imo. What about Dustproofs? What sizes would I need for say a Lian-Li s80 or V1100+? Would 2 x 92mm's work?

And thanks for the confidence, it seems all this reading has paid off

I would change the DS4 for the Asus 'P5B' Deluxe or 'P5W' Deluxe, better boards imo

st@rsky said:

I would change the DS4 for the Asus 'P5B' Deluxe or 'P5W' Deluxe, better boards imo

Click to expand...

The DS4s are very good boards but they have some issues regarding certain RAM. If you decide to go for an Asus board, get the P5B since it is cheaper and better than the P5W! Crazy but true.

SiriusB

Antec P180 fair bit of dosh (£90 inc) but has a seperate sections for HDD and the main PC to make it more efficent, gunna be my net case me thinks and looks nice too. but its fairly big (54cm high)!

the Akasa Eclipse 62 case is also good... loads of room and removable mobo tray make it very easy to build in, just the thing for a first timer



also one of the best air cooling cases around

StarShock said:

also one of the best air cooling cases around

Click to expand...

Considered by some to be the best.

SiriusB

I’d like the PC to be capable of being future-proof with minor upgrades for the next 5 years

Click to expand...

Not possible with DX10 coming into the equation next year....even late 2007 you would have to start changing your system dramatically...then what with quad core cpus etc...

First of as its your first build I would not suggest you spend 2 grand, building pcs and overclocking them is fun but dont bite off more then you can chew to begin with...as you may end up hating pcs altogether...

Instead for around £800 you can get yourself a great system and it would be a great learning curve..once thats up n running and has been overclocked you can then introduce watercooling if you liked etc etc..

Point being start off and build up your knowledge gradually..

Its fun but also can be frustating sometimes

The choice is yours however I would really advice you not to go PC mad and spend so much when you know so little...I dont wanna put you off but just give you the bigger picture..

Goodluck whatever you decide

Akasa Eclipse is definatly the case to go for

CP-128-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN)
£204.99 £204.99
MB-020-DF DFI Infinity 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-020-DF)
£124.99 £124.99
MY-013-GS G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-013-GS)
£169.99 £169.99
CA-009-TG Tagan TG580-U15 580W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-009-TG)
£71.99 £71.99
CA-038-LL Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Silver Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-038-LL)
£47.95 £47.95
CD-020-AS Asus DRW-1608P3S 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - Retail (CD-020-AS)
£24.50 £24.50
HD-069-WD Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-069-WD)
£145.95 £145.95
GX-051-CO ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X ***Crossfire Edition*** SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-051-CO)
£279.95 £559.90
WC-043-VP Asetek Waterchill Xternal Cooling Base Unit - Silver (WC-043-VP)
£227.95 £227.95
Subtotal £1,610.16
VAT £281.78
Total £1,850.94

mate you have got the 2 latest x1950xt 512mb gddr4 in crossfire mode complete w/c setup. so you will be overclock that cpu to the skys. this rig would be absolutely amazing

MB-020-DF DFI Infinity 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-020-DF)
£124.99 £124.99

Click to expand...

As much as I love DFI boards and always go with DFI I believe on this conroe chips everybody who has them says ASUS PB5 or PB whatever deluxe version is the board to go for because it helps even more with the overclocking..

HD-069-WD Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-069-WD)
£145.95 £145.95

Click to expand...

Great drives....but are noisey...There are ways of quietening them down tho...

WC-043-VP Asetek Waterchill Xternal Cooling Base Unit - Silver (WC-043-VP)
£227.95 £227.95

Click to expand...

Its the blokes first build give him a chance....

at this rate he wont wanna build another pc again lol

For the fans if silence is paramount and you are prepared to pay the money then the
AcoustiFan DustProof Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin (FG-005-AF) £15.95 (£18.74 Inc. VAT)
are what you shoud go for. The Ambers are the best for their price, but if you want to go all out as quiet as posibble try the Acoustifans. For more info on them post up in case central about it as Yewen will inform you a lot better than I can.

InvG

Just got back from a BBQ and just checked up on latest posts. Having had a drink or three probably best that I don't make any snap decisions but I can say:

- love the look of the P180, price is fine, but recall seeing reviews on the net leading me to believe that this might be a bit difficult for a first time builder like me to get to grips with

- eclipse ... also like the look but I am leaning more towards cases with a door - they seem to be neater imo ... but I know this case is great from the mere amount of people suggesting it 'round the net.

- going to stay away from water cooling for the time being ... as xirokx hints ... this would push it a bit on my first build.

Going to canvass some views in the case forum as I think this is the only area of uncertainty now. Will give this all a sanity check tomorrow (as xirokx hints I may be blowing my dosh here ... but I still think I may plump for the spec as outlined).

Prolly will go with dustproofs or ambers ... will decide when not feeling so drunk ... lol

Cool that you guys are so willing to help n00bs like me. Going to order tomorrow so hope you're all around next weekend when i'm trying to build this beast

DCat said:

eclipse ... also like the look but I am leaning more towards cases with a door - they seem to be neater imo ... but I know this case is great from the mere amount of people suggesting it 'round the net.

Click to expand...

There is a version of the eclipse with a door, called the Akasa Mirage 62, exactly the same inside just has a different front

I wouldnt choose the P180 for a first build myself - I love mine but it was awkward to say the least.

X1900 I cant recommend highly enough especially an HIS with silent cooler.

I would also consider an E6300 as you will be able to clock it to 3GHz + and personally dont think you will miss the extra cache, the extra £££ could be put towards a bigger screen if you wanted

Jonno - he may require a monitor with that lol and wouldnt advise putting two xfire master cards in the same rig (apart from you are paying more money for no added performance, not even sure if they would work)