Pls Check my £1700 Gaming Spec...

I would consider this psu - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=ca-002-pp&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

imo the best manufacturer of psu's, have a read of their website -http://www.pcpower.com/power-supply/silencer-610-eps12v.html.

The graphics card is always going to be a matter of opinion. But if you're gaming on native 24" and want AA enabled then the GTX seems to be the choice. Yes you can clock the nuts off the new GTS and it will come close to the GTX and sometimes be a few frames ahead, but remember they are not guaranteed to reach those speeds and you can always overclock the GTX.

Do you intend to raid your drives?
 
aaagh, I just cannot make my mind up about the gts / gtx. Will try and make up my mind tonight as I want to order tomorrow morning.

Yes was planning on raid 0.

I really do not know a lot about sound cards / speakers etc, will maybe go for the:
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer 7.1 Sound Card - OEM and
Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers

I don't need too much wattage with the speakers because it would end in divorce!
 
Looks like a sweet setup. Just one thing though; are you planning on using an existing keyboard? Just in case you forgot to add one ;)

I guess I'd question the benefits and practicality of running two 500gb drives in RAID 0 as well. Lot of data to lose if it went wrong.
 
for the GTS/GTX thing, if you want to buy now, get the GTX, if you are willing to wait a bit, get the new GTS (not the ones for sale atm), as tomshardware shows that the new GTS outperforms the GTX on some games, and the GTX outperforms the GTS on some too, so they are about even, but the GTS is cheaper, and should run cooler too.

Also, dont forget to add Windows to your order, unless you plan to use linux that is.
 
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Almost there...

Finally, I think this is it, what do you think:

- I have decided to go for the Antec P182 as it seems like an easier build.
- I have settled back on the GTX after reading loads of reviews and comments.
- I don't mind the data loss risk of raid 0 as I back up critical data to a NAS.
- Have changed thermal paste to MX2.
- Decided to get an X-FI Music sound card.
- Am going to stick with the corsair psu as I prefer a modular one.
- I already have a keyboard.
- Am going to get speakers later.

Have not yet decided which OS, but pbly XP (am going to look into 32/64 Vista)

Any other recommendations before I pull the trigger?
(Thanks to everyone who has given me input so far.)

Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £99.99 (£117.49)
Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP-HC 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £359.99 (£422.99)
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB) £64.99 (£76.36)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £129.99 (£152.74)
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £24.99 (£29.36)
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
2 x Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD501LJ) £107.98 (£126.88)
Pioneer DVR-212DBK 18x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99 (£19.96)
Logitech G9 Gaming-Grade Laser Mouse - Retail £46.99 (£55.21)
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) £74.99 (£88.11)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 Sound Card
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM
 
With the OS, go with XP for the time being, then if you want to go for Vista, i would dual boot it in case of any problems.
 
Looks good to me. Personally I would go for a 8800 GT or the new GTS though because it would save some money. That ram is CAS5, isn't it a better idea to get PC6400 Cas4 or 8500Cas5? :)

Anyway, the setup looks great :)
 
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When I built my last system I splashed out a bit on the audio and have NEVER regretted it.

I bought a Videologic Sirocco Crossfire setup. It has a big sub woofer and four small satellite speakers. It also has a separate amplifier control unit.

Here's the thing though - I have always had trouble with positioning those pesky satellite speakers properly. So I bought two sets (four individual) speaker stands made by Alphason. They are actually designed for small mainstream hi-fi speakers. Each one is basically a heavy floor plate and an aluminium upright (telescopic) with a small attachment plate for the speaker at the top. As satellite spaeakers are small and light several chunks of Blu Tak is more than enough to mount the speaker on the stand. I can now position the four speakers exactly around my chair. I can raise the four speakers to exactly the right height. My sound is really really good.

Far better than having the satellites balanced precariously on various bits of furniture in non optimal positions around me.
 
Done

Ok, have just hit the button. Below is my final setup:
Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD501LJ) £53.99 2 £107.98
Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £99.99 1 £99.99
Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP-HC 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £359.99 1 £359.99
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB) £59.99 1 £59.99
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £129.99 1 £129.99
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black) £74.99 1 £74.99
Samsung SH-S203NBEBN 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99 1 £16.99
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £24.99 1 £24.99
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound £3.99 1 £3.99
Logitech G9 Gaming-Grade Laser Mouse - Retail £46.99 1 £46.99
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) £74.99 1 £74.99
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM £199.99 1 £199.99
Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000 120mm Fan - 3/4 Pin £6.99 2 £13.98
Sub Total: £1214.85
Shipping: £23.18
Total Vat: £216.66
Total inc Vat: £1,454.69

Plus:
Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speakers 505W RMS - THX Certified
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music OEM Soundcard
Windows XP Pro.

Now I just have to explain it all to my wife.
Thanks for everyones help and advice.
 
Nearly identical to my propossed setup. Just can't decide on monitor. OcUk, the Dell or the Hyundai (I would like component input really but the price just makes me think....)

If not the OcUK one I can't decide between Dell and Hyundai.
 
Nearly identical to my propossed setup. Just can't decide on monitor. OcUk, the Dell or the Hyundai (I would like component input really but the price just makes me think....)

If not the OcUK one I can't decide between Dell and Hyundai.

I would say Dell, they are really nice :)

Stelly
 
Everything has arrived - great delivery from ocuk. I can't believe the size of the GTX or the tuniq tower. They are both huge! Hopefully will start the build tonight after my wife goes to bed!
 
Have finally finished building and installing everything. Great case, very easy to build. Fantastic monitor and I love the G9 mouse. I only had two problems with the build:

- The first was whilst removing the lower hard drive caddy (with drives in), one of the SATA cables got caught and broke the connector on one of the hard drives! After an initial panic I super glued it back and is now working fine - will have to wait and see if it holds and maybe I will end up regretting Raid 0!
- Second problem was finding drivers for XP for the OEM X-Fi XtremeMusic. I wasted a lot of time then ended downloading some drivers from creative and then modding using a patch I found on line.

Am about to run up Crysis and will see how that goes!
 
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