I would like some advises regarding the new computer I'm planning to built. First of all, I live in Canada and I will be getting all the pieces from a store in Montreal (Soho Diffusion) and a internet retailer (NCIX). The computer will be in my room so it need to be quiet enough. I will install windows vista premium and would like to use the Aero effects. I don't do gaming therefore I don't need a super performant CPU nor a fancy graphic card. So here's the setup I have for now: Case: Antec Solo 60$ PS: Sparkle Power 400W 40$ (or Thermaltake 430W perhaps) CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 130$ MB: ABIT IB9 105$ RAM: OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 80$ HDD: Seagate Barracuda ES 250GB 85$ Video Card: EVGA E-GEFORCE 8600GT 105$ (or something just powerfull enought to run Areo such as XFX GeForce 7200GS 50$ ) Optical Drive: LG H62N 18x SATA DUAL LAYER 35$ Keyboard & Mouse: Would like to go cordless < 100$ Wireless adapter: ASUS WL-138G-V2 Wireless G 30$ Display: Dell E207WFP 20'' Widescreen 230$ OS: Vista Home Premium Edition 64BIT French 125$ All in: 1000$ -1200$ + Tx My main concerns are about the MB/CPU combo, the power supply and the graphic card. Any comment would be greatly appreciated Thank you very much, Merel
From your OS, I see your in Quebec, and possibly Montreal! right? If so me too! - You'll love your SOLO case. The case looks way better then on Antec website, and you can really do a nice clean cable management job with it. Just have a pair of white gloves, as scratches will be visible (the down side of having a reflective finish). As long as you don't put the painted side on faced to your floor or carpet or ruff cloth your fine. I use a micro fiber cloth to remove the dusk on it, works great. When I open my case I put my panel on my bed, it's smooth enough to prevent scratches, and of course to not take changes I put painted side upward. And no it doesn't scratch as easily as the iPod nano first gen. Also the scratches are actually hard to see, you really have to put your self at the right angle depending on your light source position. You don't even see you finger prints on it. So all is good. - I never saw the name Sparkle before... go with Antec, Termaltake or even better Corsair. - I would get the E6600 as CPU. Vista take power to run, and the E6600 will give you that, and moreover you can overclock it, to add 1 year and half or even more to your comp. It will also go nice with your RAM. Else, personally I see your waisting your RAM and can get cheaper ones. - After 4 (really) LG optical drive I can tell you, that they suck balls. They last for 3 months, no more, and their service sucks, I went with ASUS since then I have no issue with them, even thus the tray motor is not as quiet as the LG one. - For Keyboard and mouse, nothing beats Logitech for an all purpose environment. I recommend you getting the Logitech MX 3200 (has great reviews on it). I don't have the keyboard but form what I saw, it will go well with your system design/ As for the keyboard taking 4 batteries, If i'm not mistaking it actually take 2, and once it's empty it will eat the 2 others. Same for the mouse (but it takes 2 batteries). It also works very well with rechargeable batteries. The mouse is a laser mouse, with side scrolling. - As for HDD, I recommend this, it's quieter then your drive and more space, same quality (same price) http://www.microbytes.com/computer/ordinateur/product_info.php?cPath=2050200&products_id=8119 The graphics card is fine, you won't be able to play games on high settings (Medium-low) but it beats a Geforce 7600 and Geforce 6600 GT. It will run Aero just fine. I saw Aero work perfectly with a Geforce 6150 and 8300, so no worries. As for motherboard I don't know...
I have heard of Sparkle before (they also do graphics cards)... but I certainly wouldn't be trusting a new system with specs like those, to a CAN$40 PSU Although it'll obviously be quite a bit more expensive... you need to buy a far more respected/reliable make/model PSU - such as the one suggested (520w Corsair HX) If you can't run to $115... then even something like this 600w OCZ StealthXstream ($77), would still be a lot better than the one you've listed! But you really ought to try and scrape up enough for the Corsair... or one or other of the many other quality PSU's mentioned often in this section of the forums - even if it means cutting back on something else in the system? Let's face it. It won't matter how good the rest of the components are, if your PSU ain't up to the job
Psu: Sparkle is fsp, but 400w isn't enough. The thermaltake 430 is even worse. Corsair VX 450, or HX 520. The ocz stealthxstream is.. for the lack of a better word.. poo. Out of spec ripple at high loads, group regulated, not modular, not silent, not my idea of a good psu.
unless you need the 4 IDE device support you are much, much better off getting an IP35-E. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24631&vpn=IP35-E&manufacture=ABit
