Question on system im building

you should get a GOOD 300W at least. better with 350W or 400W and they cost between £30 and £100 depending on brand, supplier, etc

I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.

300W is the bare minimum. You would be better off if you could afford a little larger one.

If you can find it on the internet, it HAS to be true! :smile:

Better buy a 350 PSU at least, and from a well-known company. I haven't test any, but I've heard Antec is a good one (other people or your local reseller can tell you more). It is something that you will benefit for this and probably future PCs, so it is worth.

DIY: read, buy, test, learn, reward yourself!

If you are going to use the system for a lot of gaming (which I would guess you are if you want a GF3) then I would suggest that you avoid a completely generic sound card. Cheap, sure, but go with a brand name that you can trust for good solid operation with quality drivers. I've seen plenty of systems with generic (many times on-board) sound and many of them become unstable in certain games because their drivers (or maybe even the hardware) are bad and the ever-famous BSOD kicks in whenever the driver (or hardware) farts. (Or the sound hangs and the system locks up, or, well, you get the idea.   frequent crashing = no fun)

Just remember, in gaming the sound cards are constantly under pressure just like the video card is. Do you really want to trust your gaming experience to something generic (video or sound) just to save a buck or two? If you want to take that kind of a risk, that's fine. It's your call. If it were me though, I'd make sure that my system leaves no weak links to chance whatsoever.

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Thank you everyone for your replies, they helped a lot  

Generic sound??
Why when for 25 bucks you can get a SoundBlaster 5.1.
i picked up one of these recently and am loving the eax sound and all around compatibility.

un less you have hit some price cap u haven't stated it's less than $10 bucks more for a 1700+

lite-on LTR-32123 32X + 10X + 40X around $60 + shipping.

a quality 350watt is best bet for now and in the future.
i have XP cpu, GF2 GTS, raid, nic, modem, sound, 4HD's, CD and floppy running on an enlight 300watt.

Yes the prices of 1700+ seemed to have dropped where i live to around US$100 exactly. So i might get that (the 1600+ is just US$5 cheaper, blah!  ).

I will upgrade the sound later on, its just not a priority at the moment (dont use it much).

A few more questions, since im probably going to buy the CPU without the stock fan & sink, i was wondering whether i should buy this "ArticSilver3" thermal greese? If so how much does it cost?

What about the fan, i heard copper sinks are great, but is there a particular brand i should be looking for? How fast (in RPM) should they be? How much for those? I prefer one thats not too noisy.

Additional info, i wont be OCing my CPU at all.

Thanks again  

Yea i said sound wasn't a big deal too. i had a CL 128 and i can't beleve i waited to get my 5.1 ...

hs/f get one with atleast a copper heat spredder and one that has a 5k+ rpm fan. Not a big deal finding one rated for a XP CPU if your not going to be OCing. I have a cooler master and i run 110 idle => 124 under load.

good luck.

Intel: <i>"Thoroughbred just a die shrink - will only help with frequency, not performance." <i>

I've heard good things about the Thermaltake 6cu heatsink (not the 6cu+, as that plus sign adds alot of decibels). They're selling for as low as $10 on pricewatch. If you're not overclocking then I would recommend looking for a quiet HSF over a very powerfull one.

Artic silver is good thing. It'll run you about $10, give or take. It should drop your temps by a degree or two Celcius. Once again since your not overclocking you should be able to make due with a cheep generic thermal grease instead.

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Thanks both of you