First Build - Opinions wanted

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"nic087" <paul@nicholson087.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1109970432.836736.256450@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
First sorry for the long Note.
Getting bored buying retail PC with limited Upgades, so looking to
build my own (Uk Based). Never done this before so after many days
surfing PC site for rewviews and test results. With a buget of £1500
I,ve decided on the following spec.

Case - Antex Mini Tower Plus660AMG with 330W True Power PSU
Case Fans - 3*Akasa Amber Series 80mm (AK-182-L2B)
PSU - Antx NeoPower 480W ATX12V v2.0
Mobo - Asus P5GD2
CPU - Intel P4 530 3.0GHz SKT lGA775 with HT Tech
CPU Heatsink/Cooler - Zalman CNPS7700-Cu
Memeory - 2*Crucial 512MB 240 Pin DDR2-533 (CT6464AA53E)
VGA - Sapphire Hybrid Radeon X700 Pro PCI-E (256MB)
HDD - 1. Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA 80GB -Retail
2. Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA NCQ 250GB -OEM
3. Future upgrade
DVD - Aopen DVD-ROM 16x (DVD1648/AAP PRO)
CD - Aopen CD-RW R52x,RW32x,ROM52 (CRW5232/AAO PRo)
FDD - Mitsumi 7 in 1 card reader with FDD (FA404M)
Speakers - Creative megaworks THX 2.1 250D
Wirless Card - Belkin 802.11g Wirless Desktop Card PCI (Owned)
USB2.0 card - Belkin USB2.0 5-Port PCI card (Owned)
Mouse - Logitech MX1000 Laser (Owned)
Keyboard - Logitech (Suggestion's Welcome)
Moniter - 19" CTR (Suggestion's Welcome)
Printer/Scanner - Owned
OS system - Windows XP - retail

The PC main use will be Gameing, not online just yet, some photo
editing, graphic design(AutoCad) and the usual surfing and word
processing. Looking to source componets from PC world Componet Center,
Overclockers UK, SavaStore and Dabs.
Would love some opinions on my components and anything I might have
missed and the retail sources.

Thanks for you thoughts.
Paul

For less than the cost of your two optical drives, you can get a dual-layer
DVD burner. The DVD burner can do everything you want to do, and it can
also burn DVD media. I realize you already own the USB 2.0 card, but
doesn't your motherboard have enough USB 2.0 ports already? You might be
better off leaving that PCI card out, to free up resources. Everything else
looks good. For your monitor, think Viewsonic/Optiquest or NEC. -Dave

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Why not look for a case without a power supply if you are going to buy a
NeoPower? You could get a better quality case for the same money, or save
some money on a case without the power supply. You may also be able to
upgrade the 330W to the NeoPower if you are ordering online.

Fitz

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

With one optical drive dont you run the risk that is thare is a problem
with the drive you are unable to access any saved data or go gaming
until the drive is fixed or replaced.
After a miss-calculation of USB ports required I can leave out USB
card.
Paul

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Thanks for the replay will look into alterantive cases and upgrading
online but do you have any suggestions. Paul

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"nic087" <paul@nicholson087.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1110013687.106389.300170@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> With one optical drive dont you run the risk that is thare is a problem
> with the drive you are unable to access any saved data or go gaming
> until the drive is fixed or replaced.
> After a miss-calculation of USB ports required I can leave out USB
> card.
> Paul
>

I don't know about that. Optical drives do fail, but not very often. If I
wanted redundancy, I'd be tempted to go with (2) dual layer DVD burners.
But that's me.   I'm not a gamer, but isn't the saved data going to be on
the hard drive? For that matter, don't games run better if you do a (all on
hard drive) install, instead of running off of CD-Rom?

I still think it would be better to have a DVD burner than to NOT have one.
If you want redundancy and to still save a little money, maybe you could go
with (1) dual layer DVD burner and (1) DVD-Rom drive. The DVD-Rom drive you
picked out earlier should work fine, just substitute a DVD burner for the
combo drive. IMHO -Dave

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

I went for the overpriced Lian Li case, and it has served me well through 3
builds. Plenty of room, thumbscrew takedown, and lots of cooling. The only
mod I did was add a top "blowhole". I agree with the next poster- I prefer a
good quality, "stylish" case over see through sides and flashing lights.

Fitz