First Build in 4 Yrs

[kristoficus]

Hey guys. Sincere appologies for not visiting this forum in so long. Lucy still around?

Anywhoo, my current system is just about kicking the bucket and im growing increasingly impatient with it. AMD64 3200, 1.5GB DDR400, 6800LE. As you can see, it's pretty much crying whenever I chuck Crysis at it. Although it does actually play it! (albeit on low settings). I can however play CoD4 @ 1280x1024 without much lag, but that aint enough to save it!

Now, im by no means computer illiterate, but when it comes to picking a motherboard, cooler and PSU, im totally clueless. Now, here's the specs which I have currently put together on my "wish list" (some components from Aria, others from elsewhere):

Monitor HP W2007v (£150) OR Samsung SM223BW (£160)
Case Antec Nine Hundred
MoBo Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R OR MSi Neo2-FR OR Something Else
CPU Q6600
Memory 4GB GeiL Black Dragon PC6400
HDD Samsung Spinpoint 500GB
Graphics 8800GT from eVGA (KO Model)
Cooler Asus Silent Knight II
PSU Corsair TX 650W

Basically I need a little assistance on choosing the best motherboard for the ~£75 mark (no more!), and a decent PSU that'll have enough RELIABLE power, but at a decent price!. And if anyone can help me choose between those monitors I would appreciate it. They are £150 and £160, respectively. Would like the Thermaltake 90 or 120 cooler but nowhere has them in stock. Next best it seems is the Tuniq Tower, but it's butt ugly and huge... So for now im settled on the Asus SKII.

PS. Many components are from a different site and some on 'special' till tomorrow, so plan on purchasing tonight... So any speedy responses would be hugely appreciated indeed.

[PeterStoba]

Speedy response for you :P

The Monitor I would choose is the Samsung!

Antec 900 is a good case, although there are others, such as the P182 or CoolerMaster CM-690 for similiar prices

The Gigabyte you chose is for DDR3 memory only, which is not really worth the extra money, and you chose DDR2 so i'd go for the Neo2-FR or Gigabyte P35-DS3R with the chosen RAM, which is ok.

Everything else looks fine, should be a nice machine, but the cooler lets it down, i'd go with the Tuniq Tower, ugly or not it performs alot better, if not a Scythe Ninja is around £30 and performs great!

If you give us a budget we might be able to see if we can get anything more for your money ;)

[kristoficus]

Well basically I dont have any cash right now, so will be applying for finance. I wont mention the site, but basically from it I can get a much better PSU for the price than the equiv. from Aria. Similarly for the graphics card and hard drive. This other site also sells the Samsung monitor which means I can find the money for it over 12 months as opposed to paying outright... Everything else from Aria, so basically it's two lots of finance from 2 different sites. I realise theres a £30 finance agreement fee for each, but still works out best this way.

As such, I dont have a 100% budget, but without the monitor I wouldnt want to spend more than £580

PS. Im sure the P35C supports either DDR3 OR DDR2, and being Aria dont have the standard P35 in stock. Apart from the DDR3 support, there seems to be no other difference.

edit: Also, from the very beginning the Antec 900's been the case for me. Looks stylish, quite roomy, and plenty of air cooling! Im not adventurous enough to go down the watercooling route, so I need plenty of fans to keep the components cool in this warm room. 4 x 120mm fans + 200mm fan = w00t.

[PeterStoba]

Oh, yeah it supports both DDR2 and 3, sorry

[kristoficus]

Ok, have changed the cooler from the Silent Knight to a Scythe Ninja Plus. I would have went for the tuniq, but the sheer weight and size is a bit scary, and they both have the same cooling potential anyway (not to mention the Scythe being nearly £15 cheaper!).

My question though... With the Antec 900 case, will I have enough room to fit the Xilence Red Wing fan onto the side panel, or will that Scythe ninja get in the way?

https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Xilence+Red+Wing+Case+Fan+12cm+?productId=19866