Gaming Build < £1150 ($2200ish)

[fazzah]

Hi, been a member for a while but this is my first post.
I have researched a lot about what im ordering, but thought i would run it past the people who really know what they are doing first .
(all parts are from the UK retailer www.microdirect.com)

Processor: Intel E6600
Motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe
Memory: Geil 2GB DDR2 800MHz CL4
DVD drive: Lite-on LH-20A1S-11C SATA
Hard-drive: 320GB WD caviar
Case: Thermaltake Tsunami
PSU: Coolermaster iGreen 600W
Monitor: 19" Liyama Prolite
Graphics: Sapphire ATi HD 2900XT
or: Xpertvision 8800GTS 320mb for a total of £1060 ($2100)

Total around £1140 with Vista and mouse/keyboard/speakers ($2250).
One question - will the 2900XT be major overkill for 1280 x 1024? That is the max. resolution i will be using.

Most likely will be overclocked. Can anybody see any compatability issues or problems, or any alternative suggestions.

Thanks,

[freakitchen]

Good list there. My first suggestion, though, would be to go with a higher quality PSU than a Coolermaster unit - especially for an overclocked system with a powerful graphics card. Would suggest this Corsair unit:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...123&subcat=823

Or even the 620w version to give yourself more headroom:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...123&subcat=823

The Thermaltake Tsunami is a quality case, but I'll warn you that a friend of mine who built a system in one of these had a LOT of trouble fitting a large video card in it, specifically because the hard drive bays are set further back than in most cases. His 7900GTO - which I believe is a tad smaller than the 8800s - rendered 2 hard drive bays unusable. You might consider a full tower case for this reason.

'fraid I can't comment on the new ATI cards, I didn't realise that they were available already!

Finally, if you're overclocking the processor, you'll probably want to invest in a decent aftermarket CPU cooler. Note also that the E6600 is on special offer this week at overclockers.