Finally talked the audiophile housemate into getting a decent computer to go with all his shiny new kit, and with a max budget of £550 have specced him the following: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 (£111.61) Corsair VX 450W ATX PSU (£43.46) OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz SLI-Ready blah (£58.74) Abit IP35 (£93.99) Antec P182 (Gun Metal Black) (£82.24) BFG GeForce 8600 GT OC 256MB (£93.99) Samsung SpinPoint T 320GB (£45.81) Obviously quiet is good here, we're addressing aftermarket cooling once we work out exactly what's going to work best (and once he gets more money) but the soundcard has already been purchased (who the hell needs 2 PCI slots for a soundcard?!?) so it's a matter of getting a rig to put it in! It's all from overclockers as shipping to NI tends to be a bitch, it's best to stick with one supplier if possible. Any suggestions/alterations/completely new lists?
I would suggest at least a PSU in the 500W or above range just to make sure you have a good overhead of power and for future upgrading as well. Most new components today are power hogs and you can find a lot of 500W+ PSUs that run very quiet. Better to have more than not enough to begain with. Other than that looks like solid components....good luck on the build.
You should be great with a VX450W on that, and if he isn't ever going to invest in a high-end graphics card you won't need anymore anytime soon. You could always pay a bit extra and get the VX550W if you want a bit more room for adding a higher-end graphics card in the future, but that's only if the person would game enough to make use of that. Other then that, the build looks solid, the 8600s aren't exactly stellar at gaming, but if he doesn't really need much for gaming power, then those are fine.
Yeah the 450 should be good as long as he doesn't plan on upgrading anytime soon. Although it never hurts to be a little future proof cause it will save him money in the long run if he does upgrade.
the 450 rating on the Corsair unit it very conservative...it's more like 550watts...but dont take my word for it...search Corsair 450w and you'll see..
The 450 is plenty. Don't look at psu's for the wattage, but the amperage. The corsair has 36. I've seen 600w psu's without that much. It's a great psu. It will be perfect.
I was desperately trying to squeeze an 8800 in there without blowing the budget but alas, no luck. I could maybe sell him my 7800GT and invest in one myself though [runs off to check quiet cooling possibilities for 8800s]
IP35 is £81 at SCAN & that's before it even appears on Today Only as abit mobos usually do once a week or so.
