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"Building a PC mk2"

Ok, finally the finances have been confirmed so looking to build a new tower in the next couple of weeks (Unless CrossFire & R520 arrives in the next 4 weeks!)

Here's what I have so far:

Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case
OCZ ModStream 520w ATX2.2 Power Supply
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM
Zalman CNPS7700-CU Ultra-Quiet CPU Cooler
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X850 XT PE ICEQII 256MB DDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
2x LG GSA-4163BA 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
2x Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (OA31637)
2x Akasa AK-183-L2B Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin


Viewsonic VP191B 19" LCD Monitor 1280*1024

Apple iBook 12" (Wife)

Windows XP Pro SP2 OEM

Total: £2,409.35

Just got to check that the HIS GFX card will fit on the Neo4!

Is it possible to get higher priced mobo's (better ones) without good stuff integrated anyway. It'd just become useless when I put in a graphics card, etc. Is there a particular code or style I can look out for?

Anyone know of any mobo's with 2 or more fire wire ports?

(pref: 939 or similar)

Also, how much difference does a sound card make to sound quality?

Slight revision based on feedback so far from various people.

Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200PT TwinX (2x1GB) - £139.95
HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X850 XT PE ICEQII 256MB DDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (RX850XTPE-VICEQ) - £299.95
LG GSA-4163BA 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM - £29.90
Akasa Eclipse-62 Aluminum Case - £74.95
Akasa AK-183-L2B Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin (x2) - £17.90
Akasa Ultra Quiet 460W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.0 PSU - Black Nickel with Blue LED Fan - £49.95
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM - £154.95
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) - £5.75
Zalman CNPS7700-CU Ultra-Quiet CPU Cooler - Retail - £28.95
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard - £79.95
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 Plus NCQ 160GB ST3160827AS SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (x2) - £105.90

Subtotal - £988.10
VAT - £172.92
Total - £1,161.02

Bit of an Akasa theme going on here I think!Wink

The X800 XL can be overclocked to an XT as well.

However, I don't think they intend to overclock anything therefore an X800 XL will be better for them anyways.

And an XL comes with all 16 pipelines compared to the Pro's 12.

Cool, I've been looking to get the first 3 in that combo for a while now.

I was hoping to upgrade the cpu and mobo first and then the gpu later, but the switch to PCI-E has really ballsed that plan up.

Damarus wrote:
> Still requires cables

the Fatal1ty comes with all the cables required, and a sweet sound card module too. My fave bit so far is the PSU (Which again has all the cables required)

The X800XL is actually worse than my current X800Pro @ XT, hence the X850XT PE. And I've always wanted a SavRow SR71 Case, but the Eclipse is exactly the same but more readily available. (Tis H00j3 too)

Nimco wrote:
> Also, like you say, it might be worth holding on for a couple of weeks
> - AMD 64 X2 comes out next week, and so will NVidia's new cards.

The X2's are out already, but not really any use for gaming, but great for multi tasking. Toyed with the idea of an X2, and may change my mind it all hinges on how CrossFire & R520's work out in additional cost.

fwiw, I've changed the spec of the HDD to:

2 x Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 10 NCQ 160GB 6B160MO SATA 8MB Cache

AMD 64 bit 3500+ @ £185 [URL]http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=85424[/URL]
Abit Fatal1ty AN8 SKT939 Mobo @ £115 [URL]http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=8273056251&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=85803[/URL]
Sapphire Radeon X800 XL 256MB @£210 [URL]http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=8273083543&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=85143[/URL]
Corsair (TWINX1024-3200C2PT) 1024MB CL2 @ £80 [URL]http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52471[/URL]
Seagate ST3160023A 160GB 7200rpm 8mb Cache @ £55 [URL]http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52158[/URL]
Antec Sonata Midi Tower in Piano Black Trupower 380W PSU @ £65 [URL]http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=8273165756&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=47659[/URL]

This comes to approx £710. Still requires cables, mice & keyboard, speakers, monitor and maybe a new soundcard however the onboard will do for now. And if wanted, you could spend an extra £20 or so on a SATA hard drive.

Also, like you say, it might be worth holding on for a couple of weeks - AMD 64 X2 comes out next week, and so will NVidia's new cards.

monkey_man wrote:
> I'm going to start buying parts for my uber-pc soon, probably. Can't
> believe that the most expensive thing is going to be the graphics
> card! I'm setting myself slightly lower budgets than Tyla, so I'd be
> interested to see how his machine turns out.

I'm in the same boat.

:)

Coin wrote:
> On hard-drives - I must recommend Seagate Baracuda 7200.8s . Very fast
> indeed, no trouble at all...

Yeah, my brother has one of these in his - great hard drive. I would be looking to get those if I upgraded now. But I'm not. Damn.