Hi all,

I'm on the brink of buying a shiny new PC and wanted to double check with those that are a bit more tech savy than myself before laying down the dough, I'm a skint student so I can do without making avoidable mistakes which could cost me money down the road.

What I need from this setup is good performance on programs such as Photoshop, Flash, Director, Final Cut Pro, Dreamweaver, etc. whilst also being able to run most if not all recent games on decent settings(I'm itching to find out why CoD4 has sold 3 zillion copies!). Oh, and it also needs to be dual display capable (or whatever the correct term is) as I plan to have my laptop hooked up for more screen real estate!

So far this is what I've come up with:

CPU - Core 2 Duo E8400

GPU - XpertVision GeForce 8800 GT 512MB

MOBO - GA-P35-DS3L

RAM - Corsair 2048MB TwinX XMS2 8500 DDR2

Monitor - LG 22" TFT LCD Monitor L226WTQ

Case - Coolermaster Elite 330

PSU - 650W Silent ATX PSU

HDD - Seagate 500GB Barracuda

DVD/CD - Samsung DVD RW SH-S203N

Ok, so all of the above comes to £687.67 plus P&P which is stretching me pretty far financially, before anybody suggests I should invest in a £150 case or 2x8800GTXs;)

First of all, will this all fit together to make something resembling a working PC or have I got some incompatible connections/sockets in there?

Secondly, am I missing anything? I already have a decent M+KB so I can do without.

Thirdly, are there any parts which I should change?

Suppose that just about covers everything, I'll have a look before ordering to make sure MicroDirect is giving me the best deals but from what I've seen they tend to be the cheapest. Also does anybody know how complicated/expensive it is to import from the US. Nearly all of the parts are cheaper across the pond but I can see there being issues with import taxes/delivery costs/vendors willing to ship internationally etc.

I appreciate any advice you guys can throw my way and hopefully this time next week I'll be getting owned on HL2 or Portal!!

P.S. Can I use the copy of XP I got with my laptop or do I need to spring for another one?

Well from what I can see everything fits together. Your PSU connects are all there, memory is compatible with the Mobo, Processor is compatible with the Mobo, and the mobo fits in the case.

From what I can see of the pictures (and what I know of the 8800GT) it is going to be a cramped space around the bottom of your memory slots so you'll probably need to have the memory seated and in place before you put the GPU in.

Similarly you should pick a spot for your hard drive after the motherboard is in the case based on where you think it is least likely to be in the way (ie away from the GPU and away from the SATA connections you want to use on your mobo).

The prices seem kind of high but I'm really at a loss when it comes to where to find deals for the folks who live in the Eu. I wish newegg would ship to you guys, it would make life so much easier for me and cheaper for you~

Thanks for the info.

Would you say the PSU is the right choice? I'm not sure if 650W is overkill & I've also heard that it is important to spend on a good brand, which I've obviously not, what are your thoughts?

I'd personally go for thie CPU http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(28199)Intel-CPU-Core-2-Extreme-QX9650-Quad-Core.aspx

 Well the basic idea is that the PSU touches everything in your system. If your power isn't clean (ie steady) it can damage components over time.  With your rig I think the 650W PSU is probably a safe recommendation in terms of providing the power needed. 

As for brand name vs non-brand name.  Its not a hard-fast rule by any means but when I go with a less known brand I look for things like a warranty and reviews to make sure it's a reliable part. Typically though if the brand-name part is within the budget I would go for it just to err on the side of caution.

Also, Jake's suggestion is pretty horrible...but you probably guessed that =P 

 what's so horrible about it?

well apart from the fact that it needs a high end cooling solution. 

Never EVER try to save money on a PSU. A bad PSU can destroy all the components in your computer, so don't be afraid to spend big on that department. I would urge you to buy an Enermax, OCZ, Antec or BeQuiet PSU of 550-600 watt.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. A trusthworthy PSU is the most important component in any computer.

The rest of your setup looks awesome. It's a tad better than my system, you should be able to play all recent games on high.

@ jake

Thanks for you input but that CPU would eat up my entire budget!

@ sqrl and chrizum

Hmm, it seems you 2 are divided on the PSU issue. I'll have a look at chrizum's suggested brands and if it's quite a bit more cash then I could always downgrade to a E8200 to compensate.

What about the Ram I've chosen, would you say it's the best bet in terms of speed/cost? Also both

OCZ 2GB Kit

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(15871)OCZ-2GB-Kit-2x1024-SLI-Ready-Edition-DDR2.aspx

and

Crucial 2GB Kit (2x1GB) Ballistix http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(18458)Crucial-2GB-Kit-2x1GB-Ballistix-Memory-DDR2.aspx

are available at roughly the same price, do these present better options?

Thanks again for the help.

It looks like a pretty respectable build to me. Some areas I have some first hand experience on:

I own 2 of the DVD drives you are purchasing. They have held up nice (I do tons of burning) but they are LOUD. Maybe it's the 20x speed on them but the last DVD Drive I had was an LG 16x and it was nowhere near as loud as this one. It also didn't hold up 3 months.

I don't know to much on the brand of that card (or familiar with prices in EU) but I prefer eVGA cards over most other brands. The main reason is because of their customer service. They don't void your warranty when you use aftermarket heatsinks and they have been nothing but helpful when dealing with them. I also use a eVGA motherboard and I have been sent free parts several times when I lost or broken I/O shields/SATA cables, etc.

On the RAM I don't think you'll notice much performance between those brands. All of them are relatively top tier RAM manufacturers. I recently purchased 2 sticks of the Corsair you have posted (Tigerdirect had it for $39.99 US a few weeks back) and it's been working fine. I don't get into overclocking/tweaking RAM at all and just run it stock but it's worked good for the couple weeks I've had it.

The eVGA version is over 20 pounds more so I'd be reluctant to swap, especially since I won't be OCing or anything like that to increase the chances of damaging it, at least not for a while.

Think I'll stick with the Corsair from what your saying the difference is pretty negligable. Was Tiger selling 2 gigs for 40 dollars? If so it really is ridiculous how badly screwed we are in the UK.