First ever build...well sort of!

Sysmic Wave

Sysmic Wave

Sysmic Wave

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Joined
7 Jan 2009
Posts
18
Hey folks, looking for a bit of advice.

Putting together my first machine and here is what i've decided on so far:

Antec 300 case
Q6600
Asus P5Q-E
OCZ 4GB Reaper 8500 (2 x 2GB)
Be Quiet Dark Power PRO (650w)
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1

I have a few questions:

1. Does that system look ok?

2. I'm still looking for a graphics card. It will not be used for games but I do a lot of video watching, editing and encoding. Can anyone reccommend and card between £50 and £100?

Thanks for your time
 
This card would do you, the build looks OK, only thing I'd change though is the PSU, you cant scrimp on this, its the most important thing in your system, go for a decent make like Corsair, its worth it in the long run
 
Be quiet are one of the best makes, very efficient, and as the name suggests, quiet :p You could probably save a bit of money on this though, zalman are a great make, very quiet and modular, plus a lot cheaper.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...man ZM600-HP Heatpipe Cooled 600W Modular PSU

You would get away with a 500W PSU aswell, the spec you've shown won't exactly be power hungry.

As for a graphics card, if it's not for gaming, something from the ATi 4600 series will do you well. They all have HD video support.
 
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I'd heard good things about the Be Quiet PSU that's why I went for it. What kind of wattage do you reccommend?

Also i've had a look at the Radeon 4xxx range and there are so many of them branded differently. I've seen the ASUS 4850, TekWorks 4850, HIS etc. Why are they like that? Why am I not just buying an ATi Radeon 4850?

Apologies for my ignorance
 
Theyre just different brands thats all, the basic chipset/architecture is the same, unless you see one with higher clocks, indicating it has been factory OC'd, the only real difference tends to be price/warranty
Are bequiet a subsidiary of a bigger company anyone know?
Also I see the reason for the price premium, its modular, entirely unnecessary in an antec300 case, imo
 
Sysmic Wave said:
I'd heard good things about the Be Quiet PSU that's why I went for it. What kind of wattage do you reccommend?

Also i've had a look at the Radeon 4xxx range and there are so many of them branded differently. I've seen the ASUS 4850, TekWorks 4850, HIS etc. Why are they like that? Why am I not just buying an ATi Radeon 4850?

Apologies for my ignorance
Click to expand...

They are all the same card, just with a different sticker. ATi send out a standard card to all the manufacturers, some may choose to put a different cooler, but generally are all the same.

A 500W power supply will be more than enough for you.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...man ZM500-HP Heatpipe Cooled 500W Modular PSU
 
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Will 500w be enough if I ever overclock it? That PSU looks good but i've managed to source the Be Quiet for £87. Should I spend the extra £20 on it?

Can you reccommend a better case than the 300. I had a look at the 900 and 1200 but hate those blue lights!
 
Sysmic Wave said:
Will 500w be enough if I ever overclock it? That PSU looks good but i've managed to source the Be Quiet for £87. Should I spend the extra £20 on it?

Can you reccommend a better case than the 300. I had a look at the 900 and 1200 but hate those blue lights!
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Yeah, 500W is more than enough, I've got one in my PC, running an overclocked E8400 and a 4850, several optical drives and hard drives.

What's putting you off the 300? I've got both the 300 and 900, out of the both I'd pick the 300. Great cooling for the price, and no blue lights :p Add a couple of noctua fans to the 300 and it's even better.
 
The 300 is a solid case, the 900 and 1200 do have better cooling but if you dont like the look of them then forget it, you'll be looking at it a lot. Your other option, staying with antec, would be to go for a P182, I used to have a P180, and its a great case, doesnt have as good as airflow so you wont be able to do as much OC'ing, but its a very nice subtle look and its got good sound proofing so keeps system quite, go well with that bequiet PSU ;)
 
Nothing's putting me off really. I think it looks awesome, just a bit small.

With a PSU mounted on the floor will all the power leads reach to the optical drives or will I have to get extensions.

On another topic i'm guessing Arctic Silver 5 is the only way to go compound wise?

I'm also a bit wary of ATi, the last one I had was hopeless and i've stuck with Nvidia ever since. Are the 4600/4850s reliable?
 
Sysmic Wave said:
Nothing's putting me off really. I think it looks awesome, just a bit small.

With a PSU mounted on the floor will all the power leads reach to the optical drives or will I have to get extensions.

On another topic i'm guessing Arctic Silver 5 is the only way to go compound wise?

I'm also a bit wary of ATi, the last one I had was hopeless and i've stuck with Nvidia ever since. Are the 4600/4850s reliable?
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The 300 has a decent amount of space in it, only slightly smaller than the 900. The 1200 is a monster, only really needed for big graphics cards and a silly amount of hard drives :p

I managed fine without any extensions on the PSU for either the 300 or 900, but depends on how strict you are with cable management.

The heatsink that comes with the Q6600 will already have a thermal compound applied. But if you want to use another brand then artic silver is the one to go with.

I've got an ati 4850 and has been one of the best buys I've made, im guessing the rest of the range will be just as good. I like using the software and there are new drivers out all the time.
 
Cheers ro55o

I think you've made my mind up. Ill go for the 4850.

Can i ask about the noctua fans you were talking about. How are they controlled? 3 pin on the motherboard or molex into the psu?

By the way, where are you in Fife? I'm in Falkirk! :D
 
Sysmic Wave said:
Cheers ro55o

I think you've made my mind up. Ill go for the 4850.

Can i ask about the noctua fans you were talking about. How are they controlled? 3 pin on the motherboard or molex into the psu?

By the way, where are you in Fife? I'm in Falkirk! :D
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The 4850 is an excellent choice, I've had mine for about 6 months now and can't fault it. Although selling it now and upgrading to a gtx260, but this is because I've decided to go for a 24" monitor and I'm a big gamer :p Buying computer parts doesnt seem to end with me. The 4850 is perfect for anything under this resolution, but I want more power for my gaming needs :D

The noctua fans seem to be the best around, expensive though. I'm not sure about the connections, I've got the antec 900 for personal use and comes with enough fans, they use a molex connector to the PSU and have a switch to change the speed. The 300 I've got doesn't have any extra fans, I just left it as how it came, maybe someone else on here that has them will be able to shed some light on it.

I'm from Kirkcaldy :cool: so not too far from you.
 
Cheers for that

Haha, i'm surprised you replied after I told you where I was from :p

I think i'll have to get 2 120mm fans with 3pin connectors as i'm pretty sure the P5Q-E has only 3 spaces for fans and if i'm right the 2 fans supplied with the 300 are molex, again the PSU only has a couple of spaces.

Does the dust filter on the 300 work?

Cheers for everyones help
 
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