New Build - Please Review my Spec and Recommend

Paul N

Paul N

Paul N

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26 Jul 2004
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131
New build on ~£500 budget.

Below is what I've got so far but need advice and recommendations for the following:

1. Graphics Card: ~£70 (no gaming, monitor supports DVI or VGA, maybe outputting to TV once in a while).
2. 2GB 800Mhz DDR2 RAM: ~£40
3. DVD-RW SATA: ~£20 (needs to be a quiet model and black/silver)
4. Have included the artic cooling freezer CPU fan and corsair TX 650W PSU but am open to recommendations on these. Again needs to be as quiet as possible.

Thanks

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Would I be better off with any of the following:

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 @ £70
Corsair VX 450W ATX @ £47

What's the difference with ATX and ATX2.2? Just £6 difference between 520W and 650W but if it will save power I'll go with the 520W.
 
Thanks for the recommendations. So is there any difference between Oc's own brand and the more popular brands for graphics and RAM?
 
If you’re not gaming I would grab a new gen ATI card, something like the HIS ATI Radeon HD 3450 Silence has a TV-Out,DVI and HDMI, silence meaning its passively cooled :) Its not a card for gaming, but has built in 5.1 surround audio, Unified Video Decoding designed to decode and playback Blu-ray and HD DVD formats using dedicated hardware within the GPU. basically perfect for home theatre use. no need to spend 70quid if your not going to game.

You cant go wrong with a set of GeIL 2GB PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 ram.

Cant go wrong with a samsung dvd-r drive, Ive never come across a quiet 5-1/4 inch dvd drive though.

Any Corsair TX PSU will be way way overkill for your needs!!! dont waste your money go for a Corsair VX 450W, nice powerful silent little psu.

If your not overclocking the E2200 will be fine.

Again if your not overclocking the artic cooling freezer pro will be fine, shouldnt have to run the fan to fast under load at stock vcore/speed.
 
Thanks for your input.

The GeIL Ram it is then.

So the Corsair 450W not being an ATX2.2 isn't a problem? Is it fine for my motherboard and what about future proofing?

Looking into that graphics card now.
 
That PSU will be fine and wont be any problems with the mobo. Youre never gonna future proof really but the mobo will be fine if you ever wanna upgrade the CPU to a wolfdale or DDR3
 
The mobo supports 1333 FSB, quad core and DDR3 so was thinking about a semi upgrade of CPU and RAM a couple of years down the line. If the PSU will support that, then I'll go for the 450W and save some cash.

Unfortunately that graphics card is pre-order. Looking to order today really.
 
Paul N said:
The mobo supports 1333 FSB, quad core and DDR3 so was thinking about a semi upgrade of CPU and RAM a couple of years down the line. If the PSU will support that, then I'll go for the 450W and save some cash.

Unfortunately that graphics card is pre-order. Looking to order today really.
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The new Yorkfield quad cores are nearly as efficient as the e2200 so the Corsair VX450W won’t even get near to breaking a sweat!!!

Never a fan of Future proofing but that does seem like a sound plan tbh.

oh crap!! sorry buddy, how stupid of me recommending a card that isn’t even available here yet!!

the Asus ATI Radeon HD3650 has everything the HD3450 does but is more powerful and not passively cooled.
 
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Okay so I've updated the basket above. There were a couple of samsung dvd-rw drives so I went for the one with more letters in, must be better.

Anything I'm missing or any other recommendations?

Also OcUK seem to stock only one DVI cable. Am I better going elsewhere for one of these? I'm also going to need 3 SATA cables. Will these come with the drives or motherboard? Or will I need to buy them separately?
 
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My P5K premium came with a point 6 sata cables!

Asus are never one for leaving you short when it comes to sata cables. No lie I could start any ebay shop solely trading in red Asus sata cables from past and present boards!
 
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