Need Advice for a new monitor, new rig by end of the week :)

[Lord Lihp]

Hey guys

So its confirmed, i'm buying me a new PC by the end of the week from money from my 18th / work and selling my current one. Will post specs further down for your opinion, but first, I need advice on a monitor.

Ok so I currently have a 22" CRT iiyama Vision Master Pro 513.
But I need a flat panel, this thing is simply too big to take to Uni with me.

I dont want to size down too much though, so i'm looking at 20" and i'd settle for a 19". Naturally i want to keep the price down too, and good looks is a good bonus.

So i'm currently looking at the Belinea 20.1" widescreen (note: in PDF format). this is going for £310 inc.vat. (about $520 US). Any other recomendations? preferebly something between the £200- £300 mark. If anyone can give good reason to get one under £200, please gimme a shout because you'll be saving me a fortune!

Ok, so the system I plan to get:

Processor:
AM2 X2 5000+

Graphics:
Leadtek GeForce 7900 GTX Extreme 512MB GDDR3 (with Core running at 675MHz, and Memory running at 1660MHz)

Memory:
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 (800MHz) (2x 1GB in dual channel)

Motherboard:
Asus M2N32-SLi-DLX nForce 590 SLi

Hard Disks:

Primary: Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB

Secondary: Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB 3200KS SATA-II 16MB Cache

Case: Thermaltake Kandalf (still undecided as to black or silver) (see picture)

PSU: Thermaltake PurePower Power Station 520W Modular ATX2.0

And a DVD/RW Drive and a standard DVD Drive.

Oh, and i'll be getting me the Logitech G15 gamers keyboard, and keeping my current Logitech MX1000 laser mouse.


Any last advice/recomendations before I order greatly appreciated! I'll post pictures when I get it up and running

Thanks guys

 

[Trifid]

Great choice on case. It is the most dominating one I have seen, and own one in Silver. You will not be moving it very easily. I can Lift it but I am staggering around with it. This is aluminium btw.
;p

anway for the monitor get as low ms time as possible. There is ghosting on a 8ms screen and it is really annoying.

I quite like the NEC MultiSync® LCD20WGX2 20.1" but that is
£400. For your budget, my choice is: Samsung SM-940BF 19" LCD

 

[Lord Lihp]

Great choice on case. It is the most dominating one I have seen, and own one in Silver. You will not be moving it very easily. I can Lift it but I am staggering around with it. This is aluminium btw.
;p

anway for the monitor get as low ms time as possible. There is ghosting on a 8ms screen and it is really annoying.

I quite like the NEC MultiSync® LCD20WGX2 20.1" but that is
£400. For your budget, my choice is: Samsung SM-940BF 19" LCD

If I can sway my budget a bit, that NEC screen is very tempting indeed.

But the Samsung one has currently won my heart... looks nice, good resolution, and a 2ms response time! whoot! plus its £60 cheaper than the Belinea one I was considering. Thanks Trifid

Yeah the case really is a beauty, I was trying to decide between the Kandalf, the Armor, and the Eclipse DV. After a lot of consideration and review reading I decided on the Kandalf. (^_^)

 

[003]

The LG L2000C is an incredible monitor if you are willing to pay a little extra for it (it's $550).

 

[Lord Lihp]

The LG L2000C is an incredible monitor if you are willing to pay a little extra for it (it's $550).

Hmm. I shall also put that in for consideration, I have 4 days to decide yet.

This whole thing is costing me a little over £1900... yeesh. (about $3200.)


Will post pictures when it arrives

 

[dwarf]

I'd suggest the silver Kandalf, as it's lighter, but really, whatever color you think would go best with your setup.

Personally, owning a Kandalf Silver, I find it rather good if you're set on a tower case, however I decided I'll be upgrading to a MountainMods U2-UFO, though it isn't always feasible in financial or positioning aspects, I think the layout will be much more simple and clean to work with, not to mention the extra fan ports, dual psu mount, and ample room for watercooling.
http://mountainmods.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_32&products_id=77

 

[Lord Lihp]

I'd suggest the silver Kandalf, as it's lighter, but really, whatever color you think would go best with your setup.

Aye i'ma going to go for silver I think, it will suit the monitor best I think.

Hmm. I was going over my specs and costs again, And I approached a bit of a dilemma.

At present i'm going for the Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 (800MHz) (2x 1GB in dual channel).

However i've found some with the exactly the same size, spec, and latencies from a company i've never really heared of, G.Skill, for £30 cheaper.

Anyone know about G.Skill? Is it worth another £30 to get the Corsair ones?

Another thing, I was thinking of getting Liquid cooling, not now because i'm pushing the limits of my budget already.
Unless someone can recomend a very good, (preferably cheap) one that preferably looks very cool, I may consider adding that to my shopping cart too (its for the AM2 5000+)

 

[Trifid]

Yes. They make really good overclocking ram (TCCD chips only really) Go for it.

When i got my Kandalf I ordered the Tt BigWater, despite half the world saying not to. Cooling wise it is better than air, but is quiter. But it looks amazing with UV lighting. As good as this picture looks:

(first one I found.)

http://www.alphacool.de/ this will be the cheapest place to buy the set up from - including postage. Have a look round (the English section.)

 

[Lord Lihp]

Hmm. As much as I would like water cooling, I'm really not that fond of the idea of water in my PC and the fact they're so expensive. Maybe in the future.

I've been considering the Zalman CNPS9500-AM2 Aero Flower (Socket AM2/939/754) CPU Cooler (HS-021-ZA) Linky

Thought? suggestions? Or should I just stick with the Stock and save me the £30?

 

[Trifid]

Worth every penny really. You need to add a stick of Artic Silver 5 to that though for £5.