Need advice on new build, £600-700 budget

[fantastic117]

Made a previous thread in the wrong format, so deleted it and made this one correctly. Just need advice on the parts, and whether it will run or go up in flames.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: A week

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming/watching video's, listening to lots of music, light video editing in the future perhaps.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Moniter, Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.ebuyer.com, though would buy from other good, reliable sites that ship to mainland uk

PARTS PREFERENCES:
-[cpu]: Either the E8600 3.33GHz 1333MHz FSB Socket 775 6MB L2, http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149217, or the E8500 3.16GHz 1333MHz FSB Socket 775 6MB L2, http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140428. Most probably the E8500, £70 for .17Ghz seems a bit much.

-[motherboard]: I'm leaning towards the P45 chipset, either the PQ5 deluxe or pro

-[ram]: I couldn't find a QVL for the PQF Deluxe, so I used the one from the PQ5 PRO, and ended up choosing Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 HyperX Memory CL5 2.2V, http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148859.

-[gfx]: I was looking at the Zotac GTX260 216 Core 896MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card, http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166185. I read some good reviews of Zotac graphics cards and they seem to be nicely priced compared to some of the others, so I'm leaning towards them. Is the 216 core version much better than the 192 core version, http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160748, is the difference worth paying for? Maybe I should get the HD4870, it performs as well or nearly as well as the GTX260 216core, and is £30 cheaper.

-[hdd]: Stability and reliability here is important. I was planning on a 1TB model here, though a 650GB might do too.

-[cd/dvd drive]: I need a DVD-RW, I'm leaning towards something from sony perhaps? I've had decent eletrical goods from them before.

-[case+psu]: -[case]: I was looking at this case: Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower Case - With 500W EarthWatts PSU, http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128045. I really like the look of it, sleek, black and minimalist, plus it comes with a 500W psu, is that enough?

-[os]: I'll be getting either a 64bit version of vista ultimate or premium (with option to upgrade to win7), I think premium will do for me, to help keep costs down.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes, for the future when I need it. SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe


MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I know I should buy a heatsink and fan to replace the stock ones, for the purposes of overclocking, but I'm at a loss as to what sort of thing to look for. I don't mind a fans that are bit noisy, as I nearly always wear a headset anyway.

Any help at all is much appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[Helloworld_98]

1) don't bother with core 2 cpu's, they'll be out of date within three weeks. Look at amd's Phenom II line and a 785G mobo. You'll want DDR3 ram with that as well, and it takes it in lots of 2. (the 1366 i7's take ram in lots of three.)

2) for a graphics card, for £15 more you can get the superior 4890, which can beat the GTX 285 if you oc enough.

3) look at the Spinpoint F2 series for the HDD, and the F3 series if you can get hold of one.

 

[fullmetall]

Mobo: ASUS EVO 785G ATX

CPU: x3 720BE

HDD: 640gb WD Black

DDR3 1333 / 1600: anything with a CL: 7 in the Mushkin / G.skills / OCZ.

Vista ultimate is a big nono, get the vista premium 64bit with the 640gb wd black hdd combo.


any case that has a psu added to it is either really expensive or the psu is a lightweight(p.o.s)

4890 is a good +1, sapphire or xfx. or the sapphire / vapor-x / xfx 4870 will do good to.

SLI wouldn't work on these boards anyways so cf is your only option.

1280x1024, didnt even see that till now.

That's a low rated res for these types of vid. cards. Not saying it wont work, just putting out there for your future information that, you wont see the best performance on a low res. for a 4870 you will want 1680x1050 +. 4890 1920x1080 +.

Yea it's $200 u.s dollars +, would just recommend later on when you have money, get a bigger res monitor.

 

[szymek]

i agree with helloworld: pII, ddr3 and 4890 will work perfect. I'd wait for F3 series. I've seen some screenshots showing they're the fastest drives and noise doesn't really matter cause caviar blacks are quite noisy. i've had several problems with sonys dvdrw. if you can afford plextor then pick up plextor. if not, everything is almost the same, take pioneer or samsung. and 500wats is absolutely not enough. 600 is minimum id say if you plan cf and oc. oh, almost forgot, you don't really need the BE PII, you might want to buy some newer cpu in the future and now save some cash. and i dont know about pricing but sunbeams core contact freezer seems to be the best choice and aftermarket cooler for gpu - forget about it right now, you wont need it.

 

[fantastic117]

Thanks very much helloworld, fullmetall and szymek.

This is what I think I'm going to buy. I think it's all compatible, looks like it will do ok, and should be able to play most high end games, not on high but I should get by hopefully... all for only £600

My only doubts now is the dvd drive, I went for a cheap one, but I'm not too sure about it. Would love some suggestions as I'm clueless to what makes/brands are reliable and which arn't.

 

[obsidian86]

asus,nec,lg are good brands http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-090-LG&tool=3

 

[fullmetall]

LG is a good 22x dvdrw brand. nice pick.

 

[psycho sykes]

see this: (sorry a little late )