Build Advice £650 build, need case advice and spec check

Going to build a pc from scratch (this is my first build from scratch but have built various computers in the past from spare parts and bits online).
I don't need os, optical drive, monitor , keyboard, mouse. I do plan on overclocking at a later date both the cpu and gpu. Power supply has to be enough to power, overclocked cpu,gpu, at least 3 hdd and everything else. I'm pretty set on this spec just not sure about the case ( i have about £70 left in my budget for a case) I am very fussy, i don't like the cm690 II advanced, the utgard looks nice but i don't think i could live with the orange and pretty much every other case i have problems with. The antec 300 doesn't have black interior, no cable management behind the mobotray and no psu intake from the bottom but is cheap and well built.



Also the only things out of stock are the evga gtx 460 and the ram but they both have eta of 30th and 28th so what are scan like in actually getting these in stock on time?

I plan on ordering tomorrow afternoon ( i can't wait anylonger or the money gets spent elsewhere), btw i will have £652 in my bank account so i can't spend over that. I do plan on upgrading though to a titan fenrir, sycth gentle typhoon 120mm in the front and 2 more harddrives for raid 0+1 or some raid array, and a blu ray drive, think thats everything atm.

so is my spec okay and any more case reccomendations?

 

The Antec 300 is a very solid case for the price. Aside from the Utgard, the next one I'd consider is the Fractal Design R2. It's a popular and good looking case. The cooling does benefit from two additional fans so it would go above budget unfortunately.

I'm sure someone else will bring it up - I'm worred about that Basiq PSU. I would try spending another £7 and buying the OCZ ModXStream 500w. Aside from the Corsair CX400, that's about as cheap as I'd feel comfortable with.

 

I wouldn't dare after last time!

I'd move to a 1TB F3 if you're not really bothered about RAID (which I can't see why you would be).

I would also think about the R2, given your statements about the other things on the market. Another one to consider (which a lot of people don't know about) is the Lancool K62.

 

will you want to sli the 460 at some point? will 550 be enough

 

He has a problem with that GA-P55M-UD2 anyway. If both x16 PCI-e slots are used then one drops to 4x ... this board isn't well set up for dual cards.

 

Mate – looks good, nice balanced choice of components and I think you’ve spent the money where it matters (GPU/CPU)

If I had to suggest improvements, like others have said, I’d definitely consider changing up that power supply to either this GX550 or this BeQuiet.

- both of which, to be fair, are out of stock, but maybe in again by the time you order.

Other than that... all good!

 

Thanks for the replys, i don't plan on sli at any time in the future gtx 460 sohuld be more than enough for my needs. About the psu i thought the antec was good, i want it to be modular and fit in with the case colour (lol) what about this.

 

Well I'll probably be hated on for this, but I would suggest this PSU:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/520W-Seasonic-S12II-520-Bronze-12cm-Silent-S2FC-Fan-80plus-%2885%29-Eff-A0TX12V-V23-PSU

I think you pay over the odds for modular in this price bracket and I'd much rather have a stable, efficient and well built PSU than a modular one, if I was on a low budget. This will match the colour of the case as well

 

That ocz modstream isn't £7 more cause p&p is £4.98 ontop of that

Also bank balance is now £637.34, so i think i'll go for the antec 300 and the bequiet psu from ebuyer coming in at £630. Any opinions on the silverstone ps03, it kindof looks okay but there aren't any reviews anywhere for it :/, which makes the antec 300 the safe choice.

 

the reason was modular is because i am buying a case with no proper cable management (and i don't have access to a dremel or powertools), so i want to keep things tidy, so it looks nice and keeps temps down .

 

You don't need a dremel. I had one last weekend when I modded a 300 but only used it as a drill.

A 20mm holesaw, a drill, some drill bits, some metal files, a nibbler (bonus) and all done in 1-2 hours.

 

I'm starting to consider doing that to the antec 300 now, hmm we shall see, i'll try to make it tidy if i'm not happy with it i may do it. Also can somebdoy confirm that i will be able to have the ram in the right slots on the motherboard 1 and 3 for dual channel mode with a titan fenrir fitted on or will i have to move the ram to slots 3 and 4?

also

lol grammar fail

 

Sorry about the shameless bump, but i am ordering tomorrow afternoon and want to know:
1. Will the ram fit in the right slots with a titan fenrir on it nvm it does
2. Can anybody find some reviews of the silverstone ps03 case mentioned i can't or have it themselfs and can compare it to other cases?
3. Is the bequiet psu i linked to from ebuyer any good? i presume it is as the black version is more expensive and be quiet are a good brand for psu's.

 

Please don't buy anything based on brand alone. Be Quiet's new range has come in for criticism from CPC, I wouldn't buy one.

The PS03 however, has been used in budget builds by CPC, so I think you're safe there. Although I don't have personal experience of it.

If you insist on modular (which I think is an extravagance on your budget, but it's up to you) you either need to up your budget:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/520W-Seasonic-M12II-520-Bronze-Modular-87-Eff-SLI-CrossFire-EPS-12V-20-24-pin-M-B-connector

Or lower your wattage:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/450W...Sli-ATX-EPS12V-PS-2-20-24-pin-5-year-Warranty

 

Yer, seems the new series of BeQuiet PSUs are less than solid,
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/520W...SLI-CrossFire-EPS-12V-20-24-pin-M-B-connector - Modular and Seasonic and not obscenely expensive
As for the case, the 300 is a bit obsolete now tbh, when you can get a case like the UTGARD for £60 and a 335 is a good enough case if you don't want to spend much I'd pick one or the other and not compromise in the middle for the Antec. My choice would be the Utgard, and what's wrong with a 5850

If you can stretch your budget to £700 you can get the Utgard, the seasonic PSU and the HD5850

 

I don't think its worth stretching to the 5850, and i plan on duel booting with a linux distro (probabily arch) and have had nothing but trouble getting ati cards to work properly on linux. As for the case the antec 300 provides better cooling options, comes with a 120mm and 140mm fans where as cm elite come with one 120mm and the antec looks better imo.
As far as psu's go i've had a few computers run for years and years on old no name psu and had no problems what-so-ever friends have had the same experiences, think i'm gunna go for the ocz modxstream 500w, but will this be enough, i presume so but would but like to stay on the save side, i put my system + upgrades into this, my processor and gpu aren't on there, so i choose i5 and 5850 which comes in dead at 500w with everything else.

 

just found this http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=28148&tid=frooct.

 

The minimum power supply recommended for the 460 is 450 Watts so you should be absolutely fine.

As for the case I'd highly suggest that you consider the Utgard as it's only around £20 more & has so many extra features such as a great fan controller, powder-coated interior, cable management features & effective tool-less design. It also looks nice IMO.

 

I think this is the review of the model up from the bequiet i found

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/206053

Only problem in the review is the price andi found it cheaper but it 600w not 680w :/, i don't get why people are saying it bad though.

As for the case i have been looking at the its look alright on the outside kinda, just not that big of a fan of the black and orange, and don't want flashing lights on my pc.

EDIT:Silverpower 650w
Silverpower review

 

If you're happy - go ahead. Moyo has recommended the same unit as me and that's the cheapest I'd be happy with for your build. But ultimately PSUs aren't as sexy as other components and you have to make your own decision. The OCZ units are an old design that's come in for criticism under load with questionable caps. But If you want to save £10 or £20 that's up to you.