New Build - Opinions Required!

[frolicols]

Hi all. I am looking to build a new rig in the very near future and want some opinions on which parts to get. I haven't built a machine for a while now so am a bit out of the loop. Thank you in advance for your opinions!

Background
I'm looking for an allrounder rig that will hold me in good stead for gaming, video editing and some office work. Preferably something that can last for at least 2 or 3 years.

Budget
£900ish. I will probably get most parts from ebuyer.com (so if any of my american brethren wish to contribute please quote prices in sterling!)

Must Haves
Case: Antec P182 (£82) (I love this case! Price doesn't include any extra cooling other than the standard 3 x 120mm tricools)
Mobo: Asus branded (I love Asus, don't really want to go with anything else)
HD: At least 500Gb
Media: DVD-RW, Card Reader, Firewire, Wireless

Not Required
KVM

Other than that I'm pretty open. Reading around I was contemplating a Q6600 but wanted to gauge opinion.

 

[frolicols]

Apologies for double post, I also need to include O/S. Vista Home Premium or Ultimate?

 

[litlrabi]

Ok, let's see...

Antec P182 - £83.18
Corsiar 550VX PSU - £55.21
Seagate 7200.11 500GB HDD - £61.93
ASUS P5K w/WIFI (P35 chipset) Motherboard - £85.54
Q6600- £149.99
Corsair XMS2 PC2-6400 4GB(2x2GB) kit - £64.99
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512mb - £234.99
LiteOn 20x DVD-RW - £21.70
Enlight Internal Card Reader - £8.98
Total - £766.51

The DVD drive and card reader were chosen because they were cheapest. LiteOn is a solid brand, but I don't know what else you might find. There is no floppy, which may or may not be an issue (flashing BIOS is the biggest issue I can think of with not having one). The PSU, HDD, RAM and video card are top of the line brands, and solid performers. I did not include extra cooling which you would need to think about if you are going to go beyond stock.
The price leaves room for a monitor if you need one, and other peripherals you might desire.

 

[aevm]

Excellent list. (Except I have no clue about Enlight.)

If you have money left you can upgrade the HDD to this one:

Western Digital WD7500AAKS 750GB SATA II Hard Drive 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM £89.30
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130839
It's bigger, faster, a bit cheaper per GB, but has a shorter warranty:

This one would be even better for video editing, but ebuyer doesn't have it yet.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD6400AAKS) £70.49
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-198-WD

This one is pretty good too, but for the price I'd rather have two of the 640GB models.
Seagate ST3100340AS 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM, £145
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134684

Edit: add this Freezer 7 cooler too for £15 and overclock a bit. If the hard disk you get is really fast, some video processing will actually be able to benefit from the overclocking. Not often, because the Q6600 is very fast even at stock, but it will help from time to time. If you play Flight Simulator X you definitely should overclock.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994

 

[frolicols]

Thanks guys. My bro sings the praises of the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, I don't mind spending the extra £25 over the Freezer 7 if it potentially allows me to overclock the Q6600 later on?

Also quietness is an issue (mainly cos I'm fed up of my current rig sounding like an over-revved Vauxhall Nova) - what's the noise like on the LiteOn DVD-RW?

 

[litlrabi]

I have no idea on the LiteOn sound.

How important is quietness? The fans on the P182 are pretty good, but switching them out for a set of Scythe S-Flex would be a lot better.

Also, for PSUs, check out this list of PSUs based on noise and quality.

 

[aevm]

I have no idea on the LiteOn sound.

How important is quietness? The fans on the P182 are pretty good, but switching them out for a set of Scythe S-Flex would be a lot better.

Agreed, I use a bunch of S-Flex fans myself (SFF21E) and they're very quiet. I hear that Noctua makes even better stuff, I just couldn't find those products where I live.

The 550VX is a very quiet PSU, should be OK.

The P182 is very good at sound proofing, good choice.

The Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme, with a Scythe SFF21F fan, can get the Q6600 to about 3.6 GHz. The Freezer 7 can do 3.0 GHz or so.

I haven't listened to the Lite-On either. I have an LG and a Plextor and I can definitely say the Plextor is quieter. It's also free of rip-lock nonsense. It's more expensive though.

 

[sailer]

Thanks guys. My bro sings the praises of the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, I don't mind spending the extra £25 over the Freezer 7 if it potentially allows me to overclock the Q6600 later on?

Also quietness is an issue (mainly cos I'm fed up of my current rig sounding like an over-revved Vauxhall Nova) - what's the noise like on the LiteOn DVD-RW?

I bought an Ultra 120 Extreme and used a Noctua NF-P12 fan, which fit nicely in my Antec case. The Ultra 120 Extreme does a great job at cooling my QX9650 and the Noctua fan is totally silent. The Antec's fans are nearly silent themselves, being run at a low speed setting. Compared to my other computer, this new one is so quiet that I didn't think it had turned on at all when I first fired it up, so if quietness is an issue, I can say that the the Ultra 120 Extreme and a Noctua fan should fill the need very well.