Well some of you may know my PC died recently (gfx card) and as I was planning on putting my own together sometime over the summer realised there was no time like the present and started going gear hunting. Now I'm not the techiest person out there (cough Pilsy & Khola ) but I know a decent amount and generally learn fast - so any input from you guys would be much appreciated

Here's what we have so far:

Sapphire HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz) Socket 775 Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor

Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL4(4-4-4-12) E.P.P. Technology Heat Spreader

Corsair TX 650W PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail

Antec Nine Hundred 900 - Gaming Case with 200mm Top Fan - No PSU

Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Hard Drive SATA II 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM

Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler

Sony DRU-190A 20X DVD±RW DL & DVD-RAM IDE internal - Retail With Multi Bezel & Nero

ASUS P5E AiLifestyle Series iX38 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard

All on ebuyer 'cause it's easy to navigate and has the gfx card I wanted in stock - once I finalise the build I'll shop around..

The only really core components that I'm sure of are the HD4870 and the E8500(/400). If anyone has any strong ideas about the mobo that would help, I know it should be either x38 oor x48 so I can think about crossfiring in the future but apart from that and the manufacturer (hence BIOS and drivers) there seems to be little to distinguish them

Anyways thanks again and please, be brutal - I'd rather be told I'm an idiot for xyz now than when I'm £800 lighter

peace

Pilsy or wooj will expalin why not to get the e8500 or even hito, only advantage is it goes 4 ghz with stock cooler where e8200 will go from 2.66 to jsut over 3

Oh and get the ram pisly recomends aswell crucial balistix or something i think.

If you're looking at crossfiring in the future you might want a higher rated power supply. Its always best to go way, way over spec for that.

1.21 gigawatts!!

In real terms you could get a 1000 watt psu if you are a bit mental. But then we all need MOAR POWAR!!

Are you comfortable with overclocking (I assume so, with that HSF you're planning on buying!)?. Anyway... if so, I'd get a processor with a lower stock frequency. The C2D chips are typically very easy to overclock and it'll save you a nice bit of cash.

I can also recommend Crucial Ballistix memory. I got away with buying a PC2-5300 set since they're very overclockable.

I can't really fault anything else really, you've chosen well.

Unfortunately, I'm a bit behind with motherboard knowledge (I'm still using an ASUS P5K Deluxe which uses the P35 chipset if I recall correctly), so hopefully someone else can offer some advice here.

Good luck!

All from ebuyer bar cpu which is from overclock....

Crucial PC5300 Ballistix £33 (or corsair PC8500 DHX - £40)
Corsair Airflow module £13
LG Sata DVDRW £15
Antec 900 £67
TX650W £60
Scythe Zipang or Infinity/Mugen Heatsink £36
Samsung F1 Spinpoint 750GB 32mb Cache £60
Gigabyte EP35-DS3R £75
Radeon 4870 £180


E8500 £140

Total £679

Could swap the heatsink and the leftover cash for a water cooling kit (XSPC Pro kit for example). Won't be massively better than a top air cooler but will be fun .

By fun I assume you mean in a sadisticly fiddly kind of way.

Looking good to me! Didnt even know the 4870 was out! Should eat anything you throw at it

Also that looks close to the same as my mobo (P5N32-E sli+) which is serving me just fine.

(and I just like to think I'm techy... PiLsY is the real deal! .... all hail the destroyer of worlds!)

Quick update: replacement vid card for current PC is here so I can comfortably sit on IRC an hit up the webby at my leisure

Parts should be arriving soon. See yous on IRC

Welcome back mate!

Í got a fish to really coin that phrase for me somewhere else in this forums tho