New mid range Quasi HTPC, comments please...

[onestep]

After spending 2 weeks pouring over 100's of hardware reviews from around the net I finally settled on the components for a new system build and here they are:

CPU: Core 2 Duo E6420
CPU HSF: Thermaltake Big Typhoon 120 VX
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver Ceramique
Case: Antec P180B Black
Power Supply: 520W Corsair HX PSU
Motherboard: Asus P5N-E SLI
Ram: OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) DDR26400CL 4-4-4-15 Platinum Revision 2 XTC
Hard Disk: 320Gb SATA300 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
DVD Writer: NEC/Sony Optiarc AD-7170S-0B 18x SATA Black
Graphics: Gainward GForce 8500GT, 1400MHz 256MB GDDR3,GPU:600MHz
(Total system cost: £580\$1200 inc vat & del)

I spent most of my time deciding on the HSF & Graphics card as I was originally going to go get a noctua u12f but after reading about how hot the NB gets I decided to get the Big Typhoon as it also cools surrounding components.

However I am a little worried about whether or not the Typhoon will play nice with the P5N-E's big NB heatsink. Does anyone know whether or not the Big Typhoon will fit on the Asus P5N-E?

The second (and far bigger) problem was the graphics card. I just couldn't settle on the right card for me (there were 2 many choices!) as I wanted a card that could play some mostly old games (i'm a low-moderate gamer), have decent video acceleration & be less than £100.

I primarily use my PC for video with gaming a secondary concern and initially had my eye on the ATI x1950 pro from powercolour which was £92.99 here in the UK from OCUK.

However after I read about the superior video decoding on the new 8500\8600 series cards I turned my eye to them only to be disappointed by poor reviews and high prices. I considered waiting for the ATI 2400\2600 series but they won't be around till late June\early July and I didn't want to wait 2 months for a card which may or may not be superior...

Then as if to answer my prayers the Gainward GeForce 8500GT with 1400MHz 256MB GDDR3 & GPU factory OC'd to 600MHz for £60 from komplett UK ($120). Card details here:
http://www.gainward.net/en/product/product_detail_v8507.html
Fudzilla Preview:
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=833&Itemid=40

Although there are no reviews around at the moment Fudzilla have given the card a favourable preview stating that it's as powerful as a 7600GT but with the extra 8500 features and for only £60!!!
I don't know if this card is available in the US yet (UK gets if first for once) but I suggest you have a look as there's also a version of the card with a silent heatpipe cooler for the same price which would be perfect for a HTPC.

Anyway i rambled on a bit there but any and all suggestions & reccomendations on OC'ing and component selection will be greatly welcomed.

Thanks

 

[billdcat4]

from what I know, the 8600gts is comparable toa a 7600gt, and the 8500gt is much lower performing. The 8500gt is good for games such as the Sims 2 and WoW.

The 7600gt is quite good as well as the 7900gs. The X1950Pro is another choice in that range. I dont know prices over there, but over here the 7600gt goes for around $100, the 7900gs around $140 and the X1950Pro around $150.

The 8500gt is not recommended for gaming.

 

[onestep]

I would agree but this isn't a typical 8500GT, in fact it's actually got a higher GPU clock than the 8600GT (600 vs 575) and identical memory speed of 1400mhz & it's £30-40 cheaper than most 8600GT's...

 

[billdcat4]

I would agree but this isn't a typical 8500GT, in fact it's actually got a higher GPU clock than the 8600GT (600 vs 575) and identical memory speed of 1400mhz & it's £30-40 cheaper than most 8600GT's...

But how does it compare pricewise to 7600gts and 7900gs's? I dont think even a highly-OC'd 8500GT could compare to a 7600gt.

Are you planning on using the 8500gt's H.264 decoding features? The thing about DX10 is that: its looks better to run DX9 with settings at high, than DX10 with settings at low. Therefore, the DX10 part of the 8500gt doesnt hold much value.