Ok, so I got my degree results yesterday and all is well with the world, so I'm upgrading my machine within the next month or so I think. I'm currently on a 939 x2 4800+, 2Gb, X1950Pro.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f141/ajax87/prices.jpg
Criteria are -
Big case, easy to work on - I hate being cramped, and a pet hate of mine is having to remove cards to get drives out. Weight is irrelevant, I can shift a Chieftec BX02, I can shift anything
. For the case I was thinking the Lian Li A70B, due to sideways drive bays, and lots of cooling options.
Cool - I'm not a cooling obsessive, but the cooler the better. Noise is crucial, I don't mind having something ramp up whilst gaming, but at idle I want this to be a quiet machine. The Yate Loons SLOW are out of stock, and no sign of new stock, so I'd like recommendations on other 120mm case fans for silent running vs cost. Same for whatever graphics card is recommended, I'd like it to come with a nice silent cooler fitted already ideally, since I'm not keeping on meddling with warranties when fitting custom ones. CPU cooler will obviously be a big thing, BUT, and this really makes me uneasy, I don't want half a kilo of metal bolted to my board when I'm often going to be moving it around, so, suggestions on a good quiet cooler that doesn't weigh a daft amount?
RAM - I just stuck 4Gb in there of reasonable stuff to make full use of dual channel, I'm not a hardcore overclocker.
DVDRW - The Sony's are in as placeholders really since all prices are about the same, I need to do some legwork and find out what are best at the moment.
Soundcard - Audigy. Should I consider anything else for gaming?
PSU - I keep seeing the Corsair HX supplies recommended for quality and silence, and 620W struck me as a bit low for this potential system (+ about 5 hard drives). Any feelings?
Motherboard - I'm out of touch on chipsets, but Asus has fierce brand loyality from me (although not blind brand loyality), and I currently have the A8N-SLI Premium board which has been faultless, and silent, so any reason not to go for the latest premium?
CPU - Q6600, this board seems pretty unanimous on that in nearly all threads?
Graphics card - Asus 4850 1Gb. It'll be running at 1680x1050, and also running a second screen at 1280x1024. Can't see anything that comes close to it at that sort of price?
Cheers guys!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f141/ajax87/prices.jpg
Criteria are -
Big case, easy to work on - I hate being cramped, and a pet hate of mine is having to remove cards to get drives out. Weight is irrelevant, I can shift a Chieftec BX02, I can shift anything
. For the case I was thinking the Lian Li A70B, due to sideways drive bays, and lots of cooling options.Cool - I'm not a cooling obsessive, but the cooler the better. Noise is crucial, I don't mind having something ramp up whilst gaming, but at idle I want this to be a quiet machine. The Yate Loons SLOW are out of stock, and no sign of new stock, so I'd like recommendations on other 120mm case fans for silent running vs cost. Same for whatever graphics card is recommended, I'd like it to come with a nice silent cooler fitted already ideally, since I'm not keeping on meddling with warranties when fitting custom ones. CPU cooler will obviously be a big thing, BUT, and this really makes me uneasy, I don't want half a kilo of metal bolted to my board when I'm often going to be moving it around, so, suggestions on a good quiet cooler that doesn't weigh a daft amount?
RAM - I just stuck 4Gb in there of reasonable stuff to make full use of dual channel, I'm not a hardcore overclocker.
DVDRW - The Sony's are in as placeholders really since all prices are about the same, I need to do some legwork and find out what are best at the moment.
Soundcard - Audigy. Should I consider anything else for gaming?
PSU - I keep seeing the Corsair HX supplies recommended for quality and silence, and 620W struck me as a bit low for this potential system (+ about 5 hard drives). Any feelings?
Motherboard - I'm out of touch on chipsets, but Asus has fierce brand loyality from me (although not blind brand loyality), and I currently have the A8N-SLI Premium board which has been faultless, and silent, so any reason not to go for the latest premium?
CPU - Q6600, this board seems pretty unanimous on that in nearly all threads?
Graphics card - Asus 4850 1Gb. It'll be running at 1680x1050, and also running a second screen at 1280x1024. Can't see anything that comes close to it at that sort of price?
Cheers guys!