Building a Desktop PC - suggestions?

S

spamzillla

New Member
PC bought - see post 9 http://www.computerforum.com/127102-building-desktop-pc-suggestions.html#post1039269

I intend to use this as a media PC - just remote control it and play media on my TV...maybe play games too but I doubt I'll do this much, if at all. Budget - about £420.

Here's the build:

Gigabyte GA P31-DS3L, iP31 Express, S 775, PCI-E x16, DDR2 667/800 MHz, SATA II, ATX:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?GIG-P31DS3

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 2 x 2.53Ghz 3Mb Cache 1066 FSB Dual Core Processor:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?IL-E7200

800MHz 240Pin 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 RAM DIMM 1.8V:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?RAM-80/2GB

GeForce 8600GT SLI 512MB GDDR2 HDTV, VGA DVI/TVO PCI-E:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-86GT5

ThermalTake TR2 550Watt PSU:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?TT-W0101

Thermaltake Soprano Black Middle Tower Case :
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?TT-SOPBW

Samsung Lightscribe H653N - 20x DVD+/-/RW - 8x Dual Layer - SATA - Black:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?SAM-H653N

Belkin 54g Wireless PCI Adapter:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?F5D7000UK

Novatech 2500 Watt 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-SP51

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 CPU Cooler:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?AC-FREEZ7P

I have everything else, which is why HD, monitor etc aren't included!

Cost £400

Would I need the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro fan for my CPU? Will that PSU be good enough if I add another HD or two?

Any comments are more than welcome :)

Cheers!
 
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get an e7200 instead of the e8400, and a passive cooler to go with it, might want to look into a tv tuner as well, and maybe a bluray player too, unless you have a seperate one
 
just a noob said:
get an e7200 instead of the e8400, and a passive cooler to go with it, might want to look into a tv tuner as well, and maybe a bluray player too, unless you have a seperate one
Click to expand...

Why should I change the e7200 for the e8400? Just curious.

I'll look into the other items. Thanks :)
 
The E7200 is better for overclocking the E8400 has a slower fsb (front side bus) the E8400 has twice the cache but is not very good for gaming
 
I don't know about the case, isn't this suppose to be a media PC? Take a look at the Antec Fusion or something similar to that. As for the AC7, you might want to pick up a passive heatsink, this way you won't hear your computer when you're watching TV or something. Same goes with the graphics card fan. And yes that PSU will handle a couple of hard drives more as the graphics card doesn't draw much power at all.
 
diduknowthat said:
I don't know about the case, isn't this suppose to be a media PC? Take a look at the Antec Fusion or something similar to that. As for the AC7, you might want to pick up a passive heatsink, this way you won't hear your computer when you're watching TV or something. Same goes with the graphics card fan. And yes that PSU will handle a couple of hard drives more as the graphics card doesn't draw much power at all.
Click to expand...

I don't want to spend £100+ on a case which is why I haven't gone for the media style cases.

I'm having a hard time finding a passive heatsink on the Novatech website. Here's where all the cooling fans are. Can someone suggest a decent heatskin + fan for around £20, please.

Thanks a lot guys :D

edit

Is the aluminium casing around the fan considered a heatsink?
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?TT-BLUEORB
 
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After all that, I went with this build from OverClockers:

GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz Black Dragon DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GB24GB6400C5DC)

OcUK GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express)

Asus DRW-2014L1T 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black)

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.53GHz (1066FSB)

Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L Intel P31 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2

Belkin F5D7000UK 54Mbps Wireless Desktop PCI Network Adapter

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)

Akasa AK-961 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775)

Antec Basic 500W PSU

NZXT Alpha Classic Series Silent Midi-Tower Case

Creative Inspire T6100 5.1 Speakers

£426. Not bad me thinks. Now to decide on the OS...XP 64bit or Win Server2k3 64bit. Hmmm...
 
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