New PC build.

[Koko56]

1) Gaming as well as "everyday stuff".
2) £660 GBP.
3) UK
4) CPU, mobo, RAM, GPU, case, PSU, OD, HD, some reasonable speakers and a set of reasonable headphones.
5) None...
6) Possibly, not too much.
7) 22" 1680x1050.
8) Building.
9) A wireless card integrated onto a motherboard might be a good feature, though a normal PCI card would be just as good.
10) XP, but considering buying Vista to go 64-bit.

I have put together a rough list of parts and they keyboard would be chosen later as well as the mouse.

CPU: E8400 or something similar.
Mobo: a bit rusty on that section, but have been looking at some Gigabyte P45 variations.
RAM: 4GB Corsair XMS2
GPU: For the budget might end up being a 4850 or a 9800 of some sort.
PSU and case: Sonata III with a 50W PSU integrated looks pretty good, though I don't know if there could be better variations for case/psu nor if the 500W PSU included would be quiet under the load of the system.
OD: An OD of some sort, non BR though - you know a good one.
HD: A good 500GB HD.

It seems like a good amount of things have been mentioned now, so any help would be welcome! Thanks!

EDIT: Also the PC is not for me and the green font color seems ok-ish. :

 

[tiraides]

I'm going to list out some parts. Could you tell me where you intend to buy everything from and whether or not the list below fits your budget?

Case/PSU: Antec Sonata III with Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Memory: Corsair XMS2 2x2GB DDR2 800 CL5 dual channel kit
Hard Drive: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB HDD
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S223F SATA DVD burner
Video Card: HD4850 or 9800GTX/GTX+ (the cheapest brand you could find)

Do you have an unused copy of Windows already on hand?

Which speakers and headphone set did you have in mind?

 

[Koko56]

The stuff you've listed would appear to be withing the budget.

Here is what I've quickly put together, that's with a 260GTX 216 and a 750GB Samsung F1 HD which is about £2 more than the Black 640GB WD one.

However I've just glanced at an HDtach result of the 640GB WD and it appears to be slightly better than the 750GB Samsung F1. How quiet is the WD and which one is the better one overall?

Also - that retailer is one of the more expensive ones, I have used it to put together a list as the site interface is quite good. So using another site (such as ebuyer.com) might take away a few pounds.

Another EDIT: It just crossed my mind - how would that 500W PSU be for the 260GTX, as I assume that it consumes a bit more power than say a 4850. Oh, and another thing - that motherboard you've mentioned seems to have a few problems, especially regarding 2x2GB sticks as well as having "outdated" BIOS. Do you know if the new versions ship with updated BIOS? Might be the case, now, as the 1333FSB C2Ds have been out for some time now.

 

[lowteckh]

Quiet, wouldn't be recommended all over the place if it screamed.

That system with a 4850 won't eat anywhere near 500w, neither would a GTX260.

 

[Koko56]

Quiet, wouldn't be recommended all over the place if it screamed.

That system with a 4850 won't eat anywhere near 500w, neither would a GTX260.

So it's either going to be the WD 640GB Black or the Samsung 750GB F1 regarding the HD choice. As for having a 260GTX in the system - would it make the system noticeably louder or not really. I just have it in my head that the more power a PSU is supplying the more heat it produces, so the fan would spin faster. Saying that I really don't know how loud it would with either GPU. I'm "getting my bearings" from an EzCool 600W PSU. I'm not sure if it would become more quite if I put it in a less power demanding system though.

 

[lowteckh]

If you can hear your system run when you're playing games, you should consider turning the sound on so you're not wondering why you're getting fragged from the behind/sides

PSU fan spin up and down is tied to when it'll spin when a load is put on; you'll have to check review sites for that.

You're making it seem like the GTX260 is miles above a 4850 in power draw, which it isn't. Idle power draw doesn't put a load to the PSU that requires it to spin above minimum - the noise will depend on your fans, the GPU fan itself. At load you'll hear the GPU spin up more than anything else, and if you're worried about that when playing... well again, turn your sound on, don't game, or get a passive video card.

 

[tiraides]

The Gigabyte EP43-DS3L isn't a bad board by any stretch of the imagination. Motherboard vendors usually ship their boards with the most recent BIOS update at the time they're manufactured... the long story short is that it will support the E8400 out of the box. (Actually, the E8400 first appeared before the EP43-DS3L was first released.)

Sound is a highly subjective matter, but you could check out Silent PC Review for the answers to your sound questions. Generally speaking, the Western Digital Caviar Blue/Black drives are the better performers whereas the Samsung SpinPoint F1 drives are quieter. For the price (and because, personally, I'm a storage whore), I recommend the F1 750GB HDD over the Black 640GB HDD.

The Antec EA500 would be fine with either the HD4850 or the 9800GTX, but I've heard of mixed reviews about its performance with the GTX 260 (while under load). For that, it would be better for you to get a power supply with at least 40A from its 12V rails, like the Corsair VX550 or the Antec TP3-550. However, that would also require a separate case purchase, which may or may not put you above your budget.

 

[lowteckh]

I wouldn't put my "storage" files on the OS drive - Performance for OS, capacity for storage.

 

[Koko56]

If you can hear your system run when you're playing games, you should consider turning the sound on so you're not wondering why you're getting fragged from the behind/sides

PSU fan spin up and down is tied to when it'll spin when a load is put on; you'll have to check review sites for that.

You're making it seem like the GTX260 is miles above a 4850 in power draw, which it isn't. Idle power draw doesn't put a load to the PSU that requires it to spin above minimum - the noise will depend on your fans, the GPU fan itself. At load you'll hear the GPU spin up more than anything else, and if you're worried about that when playing... well again, turn your sound on, don't game, or get a passive video card.

Well, judging by the noise of my 8800GTX at idle with the fan at 60% (not really audible) I'm not too worried about the noise of the GPU. I might be coming out with all this about the noise levels of PSUs due to my PSU appearing to be the loudest part of my computer, though it could be said to be "far from being premium". Not that it's bad or anything.

As far as the power requirements of 4850/9800 vs 260GTX I'm don't really know all too much about that. I am aware though, that the 2**GTX cards consume more or less nothing at idle. and I'm assuming that the 260GTS might consume a fair bit more than the 4850/9800GT/X

The Gigabyte EP43-DS3L isn't a bad board by any stretch of the imagination. Motherboard vendors usually ship their boards with the most recent BIOS update at the time they're manufactured... the long story short is that it will support the E8400 out of the box. (Actually, the E8400 first appeared before the EP43-DS3L was first released.)

Sound is a highly subjective matter, but you could check out Silent PC Review for the answers to your sound questions. Generally speaking, the Western Digital Caviar Blue/Black drives are the better performers whereas the Samsung SpinPoint F1 drives are quieter. For the price (and because, personally, I'm a storage whore), I recommend the F1 750GB HDD over the Black 640GB HDD.

The Antec EA500 would be fine with either the HD4850 or the 9800GTX, but I've heard ofmixed reviews about its performance with the GTX 260 (while under load). For that, it would be better for you to get a power supply with at least 40A from its 12V rails, like the Corsair VX550 or the Antec TP3-550. However, that would also require a separate case purchase, which may or may not put you above your budget.

Well, yay for the mobo! As it goes for the boldeded part +1, though it should not rise the budget too much if the choices are kept reasonable.

Also a "" for the storage whore bit! Not implying that I am, just saying, a funny you made.

I wouldn't put my "storage" files on the OS drive - Performance for OS, capacity for storage.

Why you say that? Also by OS do you mean OS + any software installed?

 

[tiraides]

The Antec EA500 would be fine with either the HD4850 or the 9800GTX, but I've heard of mixed reviews about its performance with the GTX 260 (while under load). For that, it would be better for you to get a power supply with at least 40A from its 12V rails, like the Corsair VX550 or the Antec TP3-550. However, that would also require a separate case purchase, which may or may not put you above your budget.

Well, yay for the mobo! As it goes for the boldeded part +1, though it should not rise the budget too much if the choices are kept reasonable.

The problem is that getting a decent case plus a separate, "quality" power supply will, in most cases, cost more (especially when you factor in shipping and other costs) than a case that's bundled with a power supply. One thing that I've also noticed is that the Antec Sonata III/EA500 bundle is at a very good price (considering the location). While I could find a cheap case, like (for example) the Cooler Master Elite 330, you may or may not like the choice.

I wouldn't put my "storage" files on the OS drive - Performance for OS, capacity for storage.

Why you say that? Also by OS do you mean OS + any software installed?

Most likely it's personal preference. Personally, I'm used to having everything on my main partition/HDD... but I also like to keep several backups of important documents and a backup/image of my primary HDD/partition on an external HDD. In the past, I've tried keeping the OS on one drive/partition and other programs and games on another drive/partition, but that setup gave me more problems than it was worth. Granted, that was years ago, but different people have different experiences with using the same tactics.

As long has you have a backup plan of some sort in place, it really doesn't matter where you place your files.

 

[Koko56]

I see what you mean, though I would call it a reasonable price being a few £s above the AS III, say £120-£140 maybe. One thing I wanna ask, regarding the Corsair PSUs.

There are the VX and the HX ones. What are the difference between the two mainly? I picked up that VX ones aren't modular whereas the Hx ones are, also are the HX PSUs a bit more quiet?

 

[tiraides]

You're correct, the HX series are modular whereas the VX/TX series aren't.

I've heard varying reports as to the sound level of the Corsair power supplies in general, but most people would consider them to be generally quiet. Of course, your sound tolerance and the amount of load you plan on putting them thorough will also affect how loud they run.

 

[lowteckh]

Since you can hear your PSU, any Corsair will be silent/quiet. OS drive stays OS drive as that's the drive that gets formatted the most (if you have a problem and what not.. yea you can partition), and since it's your .. OS drive, it gets worn more.

It's more a question of whether you have large amounts of files that require multiple drives, and if you do require that, a better performance drive > lesser performance + 90 more measly GB, since by then we're talking about terabytes.

 

[Koko56]

You're correct, the HX series are modular whereas the VX/TX series aren't.

I've heard varying reports as to the sound level of the Corsair power supplies in general, but most people would consider them to be generally quiet. Of course, your sound tolerance and the amount of load you plan on putting them thorough will also affect how loud they run.

Hmm... I might go for the 520HX, as the lower priced cases might not have "amazing" cable management. Also, about the HDs, it seems like the WD640GB Black is about 15% faster than the SS750GB F1 in sequential read.

So now I need a case of some sort. The one that you have suggested me not like the look of too much. I've just looked at a few within £50-£70 and all have something which I'm not sure about. For this I will need to ask the owner-to-be.

EDIT:

Since you can hear your PSU, any Corsair will be silent/quiet. OS drive stays OS drive as that's the drive that gets formatted the most (if you have a problem and what not.. yea you can partition), and since it's your .. OS drive, it gets worn more.

It's more a question of whether you have large amounts of files that require multiple drives, and if you do require that, a better performance drive > lesser performance + 90 more measly GB, since by then we're talking about terabytes.

I see where you coming from with that. Though, of course there are other factors, but yeah.

______________________________
So now I'm putting a "final" list together and I'm a bit unclear whether one of these mobos would be significantly better than the other. Any main differences between them could you tell me?

Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3LR iP43 - £79.73
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L iP45 - £87.99

Also the WD640GB available on that site (ebuyer.com) is the Blue version, but the difference between the Blue and Black versions are almost negligible I glanced in places?

Another thing do the Total War games utilize multiple cores; will the latest one use multiple cores?

EDIT № many: Forgive for asking now, but what about the Q8200/Q8300?
Would it be beneficial to have a quad at lower clocks on a system which is likely to be used for strategy games? Not "RTSs" though.

____________________________________________________________

Final list:

CPU: E8400
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3LR iP43
RAM: 4GB Corsair XMS2 C5
GPU: GTX260 216 cores EVGA I think. Stock but OC'd version can be had for £6 more.
HDD: WD 640GB Blue or the black one if can be obtained.
PSU: Corsair 520HX
Case: CoolerMaster 690
OD: Samsung of some sort but I can recall the model.

Then add about £100 for the mouse, keyboard, headphones and speakers. Maybe more, but the keyboard and mouse aren't required be of the "gaming" sort. Just a mouse that mouses and a keyboard that keyboards, not too shabby, of course.

As far as headphones and speakers go, about £60 - £70 should be enough.

 

[Koko56]

Thanks to you two guys for the help!

 

[lowteckh]

GL with the build.