[thekempo]

Excuse the double post.

I've changed my mind on the case and gone with this one:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127584

It has a 120mm fan already attached, and space for another 120mm fan. Would I need to buy another 120mm fan or would the one already in there be sufficient?

[Carbon]

Actually, now that I'm thinking a bit better, I'd go for a P35 or P43 motherboard at most with this setup. You really don't need the extra features of the P45, and it'll save you a little bit. You can plug in a graphics card later if you want to do gaming or something.

You are really overestimating the need for cooling. Most setups run well below standard operating temperature even in crappy beige box cases. Without a graphics card you could probably run this in a steel box with one 80mm fan and be fine.

[thekempo]

I realised that I'd like to play The Sims 3 and possibly Spore, so I'd like to get a graphics card or a motherboard with a built in one now. I posted these 2 a couple of posts back:

MSI P45 Neo-F Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145707
£71.95

Gigabyte GA-EP45T-DS3R iP45 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147049
£83.95

Would you recommend either?

And yeah, I think I'm basing my cooling knowledge on my current computer lol. I had 2 beastly fans running, it was extremely loud and it was still fairly hot.

[thekempo]

My friend advised me against the motherboard with built in graphics, and said the motherboard and graphics card I chose would be better for games. What do you think?

[thekempo]

I ordered it.

1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 2.53GHz (1066MHz) Socket 775 3MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB Hard Drive SATAII *32MB Cache* - OEM 143288
1 x Noctua NF-P12 Vortex Control 120mm Quiet Case Fan 138604 Allocated
1 x ASUS P5B Socket 775 Core 2 ready P965 chipset onboard audio ATX Motherboard
1 x Inno3D 8500GT 512MB DDR2 VGA DVI PCI-E Graphics Card
1 x Corsair 450W VX 450W PSU - ATX12V v2.2
1 x Coolermaster Elite 330 Black Mid Tower Case - No PSU
1 x OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800Mhz/PC2-6400 Memory CL4 Unbuffered ATI Certfified Dual Channel Kit

Thanks to Carbon and thingie for your help. I'll let you know how the build goes :)

[Carbon]

I wish you would have waited one more day, the difference between "non-gamer cheap" and "gamer cheap" is pretty huge.

In fact, I think you're going to need to cancel your order. The P965 chipset does not support 45nm 1333FSB processors - that's partially why I warned against it earlier. I would highly suggest a E5200 for the processor, and going to a P35 chipset and 9600GT/8800GT if you can find one for a little bit more.

[thekempo]

Funnily enough the order was cancelled anyway, due to billing problems.

I really want to get this done, so based on what you said in the post above here's what I've found:

Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G iP35 Socket 775 6 channel audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141600
Price - £55.46

Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz Socket 775 800FSB 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148715
Price - £54.58

Inno3D 8600GT 256MB 128bit DDR3 DVI PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126974
Price - £46.02

Is that ok? If not, would you be able to suggest other parts? Thanks man.

[Carbon]

Is there _any way_ you can stretch to a 9600GT? The 8600GT is way, way below it. You don't need a lot of power for those games, but there is a massive performance difference between the two.

[thekempo]

Yea, ok, I might as well spend a little extra if it's that much better, especially as this PC should last me for quite a while.

Is this ok?

Inno3D 9600GT 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147945
Price - £73.90

[Carbon]

Yeah, just get the cheapest 9600GT you see. That'll run what you want a lot better, though it's too bad they're so expensive in the UK beyond the other cards.