Spec for new PC

[sbanks]

Hello again!

I've now come up with a spec for my new PC, and I thought I'd see what you all thought.

Before I list the spec I'll list some of the more specific questions I have about it:

1) Will it work?! E.g. have I done anything silly, like get any components that aren't compatible?

2) Are there any improvements that I could make? E.g. would I be better off with a different graphics card, motherboard, etc?

3) Have I missed any bits off? Particularly, any small bit like cables or connectors? I'll be buying the bits all at once and it won't be easy to get back to the shop so I don't want to find something small's missing.


Ok - here's the spec:



CASE
Akasa Zen Silent-Cool - Black ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=25262 )

PSU
Akasa 500W PaxPower ATX2.2 PSU ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=24664 )

Motherboard
Asus P5B Deluxe P965 Socket 775 WiFi EDITION ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=23805 )

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=23827 )

MEMORY
4 x 1GB PC6400 Elixir DDR2 800 SDRAM ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=24474 )

GRAPHICS CARD
XFX GeForce 7600GT 256MB PCI-E DDR3 Dual DVI HDTV OUT ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=24290 )

MONITORS
Probably two 24\" widescreen TFTs - not decided which yet & will buy later

HARD DISKS
Two hard drives: 2 x 200GB Maxtor DMax+10 SATA2 7200 8MB
( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=21329 )

CD/DVD
ASUS 1608P3S 16x DVDRW/RAM Black ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=24179 )


MODEM
56K Internal PCI Modem (Ambient) ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=855 )

KEYBOARD/MOUSE
Logitech Desktop 1500 Laser Cordless Keyboard and Mouse ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=24625 )

Card Reader/Floppy disk
Mitsumi Floppy + Card Reader Black ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=15855&custom=1 )

SOFTWARE
Microsoft XP Pro OEM + FREE Vista Upgrade Voucher ( http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=25141 )

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[sbanks]

Thanks!

Yes, I'd not put a huge amount of thought into which make of hard drive, so thanks for pointing that out! I'll swap to one of the other makes you suggest.

I had originally thought of getting a Raptor drive, but they are a lot more money and I've heard that they can be noisy. Having thought about it I thought that I'd probably not really notice the speed that much, other than defragging or something. I'll have 4Gig RAM so shouldn't have a lot of swapping to/from the hard drive.

As for the modem, there is logic behind the madness! I work for myself from home developing and running various websites. So I absolutely NEED to be able to access the Internet.

Occasionally it's possible broadband can go down. If it's for a few hours then I can probably wait most of the time, but I want to make sure that I'm not in the position of not being able to connect to the Internet for a few days if there was a big problem.

E.g. I've just moved house and it took a week or two to get broadband setup, so luckily I had a modem in my laptop.

So it's something that I hope I'll never need/use, but it's a backup and it's not expensive.

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[djdaface]

I need a modem in my machine too, some times have to dial in to random work domains.

Just love that dial up tone when i do ;)

[Firerat]

[quote:0419ee6541=\"djdaface\"]
Just love that dial up tone when i do ;)[/quote:0419ee6541]

Yeah, I used to love the tones

Might have to dial up for the hell of it :)

[Sean]

[quote:54c0798317=\"PrivatePyle@Work\"](1) Please do not buy Maxtor HDDs. There are already quite a few threads here discussing them and pretty much all are in agreement that they should be avoided at all costs - very unreliable. They have now been bought out buy Seagate but I am yet to see/hear of improved reliability. Personally I would buy Seagate or Western Digital. These are the 2 brand is have experience of and will come very highly recommended by most.[/quote:54c0798317]

Too much of a generalisation for my likings :wink:
Every person has good and bad experiences with every product, Maxtor no more so than any other.
They have their \"bad\" products - for example I wouldn't touch a 250GB HDD off any manufacturer with the longest bargepole I could possibly ever get.

The only reason i'd choose Seagate over Maxtor is the 5-year warranty, not because of any inherent faults with them.
But they are more expensive; just something to consider :)

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[Firerat]

Fact is Maxtors are/were very Popular Drives, so it is inevitable that more Faulty Drives are going to be reported.

I remember when IBM had a problem with the GXP75s, that was a Nail in their Coffin, which is sad as I used to use IBMs a lot and never had a problem.
I have mentioned this before in a few topics

Also remember that the net is full of doom and gloom

No one ever writes

“I have just installed XYZ and it is working great, has anyone else not had problems with XYZ?”


Just my two pennies

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[mac124]

Tis true you only really get to hear the bad stuff, i have had numerous maxtors and NEVER had a problem with any of them.


Tempting fate or what?? :roll:

[SIMON11]

The only hard drive I had that packed up was a Maxtor. I don't buy them now.

[Firerat]

[quote:f4c1f8abf0=\"SIMON11\"]The only hard drive I had that packed up was a Maxtor. I don't buy them now.[/quote:f4c1f8abf0]

fair enought

once bitten twice shy and all that