Before I order, could someone check my PC spec?

Nor

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PC won't be used for gaming, mainly work, photoshop and watching HD videos. I'm keen for the PC to be silent, hence the PSU, case and CPU Cooler.


[edit] spec changed. Total price £473

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Have you conisdered the new Athlon II x4? Quad core for £10 less. Would be better for video encoding and photoshop etc.

Is a Phenom II x4 without L3 cache. Nice.
 

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I like the Zalman products, but wasn't sure if this fitted AM3?

Looks like a good build.

Only thing I'd say is maybe push out an extra £20 for the quad core:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-239-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1328

Have you conisdered the new Athlon II x4? Quad core for £10 less. Would be better for video encoding and photoshop etc.

Is a Phenom II x4 without L3 cache. Nice.

Cheers lads. Is it a step up despite the loss of cache? Was reading that it wasn't very fast due to the lack of cache. Will the 500W PSU be okay with quad core? I was thinking about upgrading to a faster video card at some point, PSU cope with a 4870 (say) and quad core?

Cheers.
 
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Should do ......... some would say go higher :)

As for the zalman cooler it should fit as I'm sure the am2am3 boards have the same retention bracket ......... I think :)
 
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The quad core would do you well.
That PSU is pretty pricey, I would expect there to be cheaper quiet PSUs available.
500W should deal with the quad and 4870 without issues.
If your buying aftermarket thermal paste then theres no reason not to go for MX3.
Will do up an alternative spec in a second.

Untitled-8.jpg

That HD is better imo, and those OCZs are quiet PSUs even when theyre running near peak capacity, so it should have no issues when running these components.
 
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Nor

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Cheers BigBC. Will go with that HDD.

Bit confused about the CPU, £20 cheaper and faster than the 3core? Is it worth going for the 810 quad if I'm gonna go quad?

Read the reviews of the PSU and reckon I'll stick with the Zalman. I'm pretty anal about noise.

The ram seems to be faster and cheaper than the Corsair stuff I specced. Is it of poorer quality, or is it pretty good stuff?

Thanks for yer advice.
 
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If your worried about the noise then it is probably worth getting some replacement fans for the case, although its advetised as a silent id be surprised if they are. All fans Ive used that have been advertised as silent (including the Noctuas) have been louder than the PSUs ive been using.
I really dont think its worth the extra dosh for that lower powered PSU.

Im not really certain on the CPUs, cant find any comparative benchmarks as that Athlon is pretty recent i think. I wouldnt say it was worth the extra £37.

That RAM is solid, havent used it myself but know plenty of people who have. And most of the overclocking records are set with G.Skill RAM.
 
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Keep the tri-core and get a TRUE (ThermalRight Ultra Extreme 120)
Mine runs at just over ambient idle, about 30c load with my CPU noctua on about 8v - if you want quiet, it really helps.

A couple of sharkoon 120mm 1000rpms front and rear and the quietest PSU you can.
 

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Thanks for all the help. Updated the spec in the top post. Gone for the G.Skill ram BigBC (though the slightly more expensive one).

Thermalite Cooler was just a bit too expensive, so went for the Zalman. Will try out the case fans, and if they're too noisy will order the Sharkoon ones Audigex.

Only thing I'm concerned about is that the PSU is only 500W. I do want to go with Zalman though as the sound of silience is important. Reckon a 500W will cover an upgrade to a 4870?
 
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I'd get the cheapest BeQuiet one on at the minute (PSU). Case i'd change to something like an NZXT Beta, and put the money towards something else. RAM i'd go for the 'blue' ripjaw or the £60 OCZ one. Cooler would be TX-3 probably and MX-3.
 

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I'd get the cheapest BeQuiet one on at the minute (PSU). Case i'd change to something like an NZXT Beta, and put the money towards something else. RAM i'd go for the 'blue' ripjaw or the £60 OCZ one. Cooler would be TX-3 probably and MX-3.


Just when I'm getting close to a decision :) I will have a wee look at those components. Why would you go for the blue ram out of interest?
 
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Only thing I'm concerned about is that the PSU is only 500W. I do want to go with Zalman though as the sound of silience is important. Reckon a 500W will cover an upgrade to a 4870?

500W will deal with a 4870, and a decent brand 500W will do a 4890 without issues too.
Those Zalman coolers arent quiet unless theyre run on the lowest settings, much louder than an OCZ PSU anyway. So theyre pretty much useless if you want any kind of quiet overclock.
 

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500W will deal with a 4870, and a decent brand 500W will do a 4890 without issues too.
Those Zalman coolers arent quiet unless theyre run on the lowest settings, much louder than an OCZ PSU anyway. So theyre pretty much useless if you want any kind of quiet overclock.

Cheers. Will look at the TX3 Coolermaster, perhaps with the extra fan.
 

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Thanks for everyone's help, just about to order. Going with the BE Quiet PSU super, cheers.

Just one question. The ram I'm getting is 1600. The Asus Motherboard says it does 1600 (OC). Does that mean I have to Oc the motherboard to get it to use the ram?
 
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From my experience motherboards with that listing will not do the advertised speed (1600 in this case) by just upping the RAM multiplier/divider but by upping the FSB which will overlcock the CPU.
 

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Cheers mate. How do I tell what speed it's currently running at?

Anyway. I bought the system, built it, and running Windows 7. Runs bloody great :) Would highly recommend that NZXT Hush case, looks great and silent. Zalman 7000 is silent at low revs and barely makes a noise at max. Chip runs about 32C on max revs, 36 on min revs. Be Quiet PSU is very quiet too. (edit, was my Virgin Media box buzzing :))
 
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