I'm building my first PC

[Asterix]

I'm in the market for a new PC and I've decided to build it as a learning experience and so that I can customise what I'm getting.

I'd like your opinions on what I've got so far, please.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 £137.95

Motherboard: ASUS P5KC AiLifestyle Series £72.82

Memory: OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz £69.99

Graphics Card: Point Of View 8800GT 512MB £119.98

Hard Drive: Already got (Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA 7200.9) £0

DVD/CD Drive: Pioneer DVR-215BK 20X SATA DVD±RW £17.99

Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU £47.58

Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium £62.96

Cooling Fan: Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P £15.24

Case: I-Cute Black UL01 Mid Tower Case £20.99

Front Case Fan: Hiper 120mm Case Fan £5.99

Rear Case Fan: Hiper 120mm Case Fan £5.99

Total: £577.48

 

[b1gapl]

Everything is looking good to me. Pretty nice choices for a new member.

Welcome to Tech-Forums!!!

 

[Asterix]

Everything is looking good to me. Pretty nice choices for a new member.

Welcome to Tech-Forums!!!

I wasn't expecting that for the first reply! Thank you! I'm happy to admit that I've had help on another forum, so it's not entirely my doing. I'm very excited about it.

 

[gurusan]

Welcome to tech forums, and yeah those are pretty good choices... I recommend this cooler, performs on par with 40quid coolers yet costs just a few quid more than the AF7pro
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Also I assume you will be overclocking a little so I REALLY recommend the Q6600 over the E8400.

OCZ DDR2 PC2-9200 Flex II 4GB Series
85
I recommend this ram, extremely good performance for the money.

Also this motherboard is a much better overclocker than the gigabyte
OcUK Value IP35 Pro Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

 

[Asterix]

Thanks gurusan.

I'm not sure if I'm going to try overclocking as I've never done it before. What's your opinion? Should I read a tutorial and dive in?

Will the OCZ RAM work much better than the Corsair to justify the extra £15?

 

[gurusan]

Its EXTREMELY easy and all of us here can help you out Just a matter of changing a few numbers in the bios really.

And the OCZ ram is much better than the Corsair yes...especially if you are overclocking. Actually in my opinion it's the absolute best DDR2 kit out at the moment

 

[Asterix]

Excellent. It all sounds really great to me. Thank you.

The Overclockers MOBO is not available at eBuyer, which is where I'm hoping to get all the components from. I can't find out how quickly they deliver or how much delivery costs on the Overclocker's website. Do you happen to know? If the delivery is free and speedy I would be okay with purchasing from them.

 

[gurusan]

If you want to keep mostly with ebuyer this is another very good motherboard. I used to have the P5K Deluxe and it was an excellent clocker.

ASUS P5KC AiLifestyle Series iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard - Ebuyer

In fact I'd recommend it over the J&W IP35pro I mentioned before.

Also here's the q6600 you want:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Energy Efficient 95W edition Socket 775 (2.40GHz) G0 Stepping L2 8MB Cache OEM Processor - Ebuyer

It's the g0 stepping which will do over 3ghz no problem, most likely 3.4-3.6ghz




Also I accidentally linked you to the wrong cooler before....this is the version I meant to show you. It's extremely good and very quiet.
Xigmatek HDT-S1283

 

[Asterix]

If you want to keep mostly with ebuyer this is another very good motherboard. I used to have the P5K Deluxe and it was an excellent clocker.

ASUS P5KC AiLifestyle Series iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard - Ebuyer

In fact I'd recommend it over the J&W IP35pro I mentioned before.

What should I look for in a Motherboard? At the moment I am completely in the dark. I like the sound of having a couple of Firewire ports, like the one you've posted above has, but the Gigabyte one I've posted does not.

Also here's the q6600 you want:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Energy Efficient 95W edition Socket 775 (2.40GHz) G0 Stepping L2 8MB Cache OEM Processor - Ebuyer

It's the g0 stepping which will do over 3ghz no problem, most likely 3.4-3.6ghz

It's a beaut.

Also I accidentally linked you to the wrong cooler before....this is the version I meant to show you. It's extremely good and very quiet.
Xigmatek HDT-S1283

Shipping takes the price up to £28. I'm worried about going to far above £500 in total. The Arctic Cooling one has rave reviews and has been reviewed 98 times, so I'm still preferring that one over the Xigmatek (which isn't available at eBuyer).

There are so many choices! It's a good thing.

 

[Asterix]

Updated the processor and rear fan so far. Question below.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 £137.95

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 iP35 £63.16

Memory: Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz £64.39

Graphics Card: Point Of View 8800GT 512MB £119.98

Hard Drive: Already got (Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA 7200.9) £0

DVD/CD Drive: Optiarc AD-7200S 20X DVD±RW £15.95

Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU £47.58

Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium £62.96

Cooling Fan: Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P £15.24

Case: I-Cute Black UL01 Mid Tower Case £20.99

Front Case Fan: Hiper 120mm Case Fan £5.99

Rear Case Fan: Hiper 120mm Case Fan £5.99

Total: £560.18

What is the difference between these two?

OCZ 4GB Kit (2x2GB) 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Platinum Performance CL5 (5-4-4-18) - Ebuyer

OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800Mz/PC2-6400 Memory REAPER X EDITION ENHANCED BANDWITH CL4 - Ebuyer