I was thinking this, it's specifically aimed at SLI so should do the job especially considering the low power usage of the CPU, it comes reasonably high up the chart you posted and saves me a few pounds into the bargain.

The only console I own is a Wii so don't see any point in hooking it to a monitor.

EDIT - fixed link, also had a look at Tom's Harware review which states at peak usage one 9600gt sucks up 197 watts, double that and it leaves 206 watts for the rest of the rig, am I wrong in thinking that seems kind of puny?  

CPU - Core 2 Duo E8400

GPU - XpertVision GeForce 9600 GT 512MB

MOBO - ??

RAM - OCZ 4GB Kit

Monitor - LG 22" TFT LCD Monitor L226WTQ

Case - Coolermaster Elite 330

PSU - OCZ 600GXS Sli

HDD - Western Digital 250GB

DVD/CD - Samsung DVD RW SH-S203N

That's what I'm currently looking at, I downgraded the HDD so as to offset the extra cost of the ram/PSU, unless anyone can see any issues with the setup it's really only the sli mobo I need to decide on.

EDIT: that's currently standing at 639.97 so the mobo will need to be in the 'reasonable' range. 

9600gt's have a power draw of 26a on the 12V including your usual components(cpu/fans/hdd) so the PSU you listed or the ones I did should do just fine.

Though I gotta tell you my 2 cents about SLI/Crossfire, I've always felt it wasn't worth the money. 2x the money for 1x-1.9x performance depending on the game, usually the lower end. Never seen 2x performance yet. Better off saving the money for a few years down the road to upgrade.

Few things,

PSU: You do need to make sure you're not buying a piece of crap PSU but not all off-brands are crap. There are some sites that do thorough PSU testing and if you're worried about how reliable a PSU is you can usually check with them. Like I said though, there is nothing wrong with paying a bit more for assured reliability on your PSU. If you'd rather not do a bunch of research before hand then I would go with a known brand.

GPU: From what I've seen of the 9600GT and what I know of the 8800GT you really can't pick the wrong one. Basically decide if a bit of cost savings is worth losing a bit of power and then you're good to go. As far as DX10 support goes there is no difference between the 9600 and the 8800 both support DX10. A lot of folks mistakenly think that the 9600 supports 10.1 but it doesn't. So truly the choice between them is one of budget and preference.

I have to admit I am a bit worried about your GPU brand though, I don't have any experience with them and I can't find info on their warranty policies. They might turn out to be a great savings or it might turn out that the savings comes at a price down the road. Personally I second the eVGA recommendation above, they are by far the most reliable GPU manufacturer I've found and I would personally pay the extra on the GPU since (in my rigs at least) it is the part that endures the most stress testing throughout its life and thus is the part I want to be very reliable and have a warranty for if/when things do go wrong.

RAM: I would go with Corsair but thats mostly a personal preference. Both of the sets you picked out have manufacturer limited lifetime warranties and I know both brands are good quality.


CPU: I want to point out that for gaming a big beefy CPU is not that great in terms of performance per $. This is probably the best place to make a bit of a cut if the price is getting to high. Also the site you linked to says it is out of the 8400 right now so that another reason to consider it. The E6750 is the next closest in stock and is £20 cheaper.

Given the prices we are dealing with I'm not a huge fan of the C2D lineup but you're already far enough along in the build process that its not worth changing unless you really need to cut cost.

@ vtx

I'm not planning on buying the second 9600 for a while(at least a year to 18 months) at which point the card should be super cheap , eg. you can get a 7600 for 35 quid nowadays.

@ sqrl

Think I'll stick with the PSU I've listed above, it's not cheap but it'll hopefully last me a good while.

As for Xpertvision, I've had a search about the net and whilst the user reviews are pretty scarce the ones I have found have all been positive. Regarding the warranty, I'll probably give MicroDirect a call before ordering and find out what's covered. Is there any key questions you suggest I ask?

Since I plan to do a fair amount of design work I think I'll keep the E8400.

In regards to a SLI mobo I'm thinking this, any objections?

Looks good.

try and get the stuff cheaper:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?IL-E8400

Free delivery!!

E8400 is out of stock in a lot of places at the moment.

Get a decent PSU 750w or more!!

HDD - Hitachi or go for WD Raptor

If I can't get a hold of the E8400 i'm willing to settle for the E8200, I hear it is easy to overclock though I have absolutely no experience in that department.

Do you really think a 750W PSU is required? I've already had to increase my budget to accomodate the 600W I've listed,  can't imagine adding another 150W is going to be too affordable!

As for the HDD, the one I've listed has good users reviews, albeit only 2 of them, any particular reason why I should change? 

These new chips are great which ever one you get!!

Yes overclocking is very good on these chips and you can get good results on stock CPU/air fans, just Google overclocking and the cpu chip details and you are bound to find guides and details of results. (close to 4ghz is possible!!) Or try http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/

Like mentioned above a good PSU is key so if you intend to upgrade your graphics card or do serious overclocking you should consider it otherwise you will be fine.

Hitachi drives have always been good to me (avoid Maxtor!!). I have an external Western Digital drive and I'm very happy with it. I would always buy a Hitachi drive from now on (internal) with Western Digital as a good second choice!!

 The mobo looks fine...unless you plan on upgrading to SLI down the road then I would point out that the motherboard will only support full x16 on the first slot and the second slot supports x8.  But then again if you plan on going SLI in the future then you do need to get that 750W PSU or you'll have to replace the 600 down the road when you get your second video card.

As it is if you only plan on having one video card both the motherboard and the 600W PSU are fine. 

As for CPUs, one of the best places to go for benchmarking is here .  They aren't my favorite review site but they are thorough and compile all the stuff they test into those charts which makes life so much easier.  Looking over the benchmarks you can get a good idea of the difference in power from one CPU to the next and make an informed call about what is worth a little more cash and what isn't should you need to make a change due to stock shortages.

/begin seagate rant 

On the issue of a hard drive, I absolutely 110% recommend Seagate.  I personally own I think it is 11 of their 320GB drives.  I've owned a lot of hard drives and dealt with a lot of CS reps and seagate is easily the best to deal with.  Of their drives I've owned only one has failed and it was entirely my fault, when I called them their questions weren't about how it failed, just if I had data I needed to get off the drive(I didn't) and where I needed the replacement sent etc...Outside of that they've been rock solid reliable for me and to my knowledge they offer the longest standard warranty of any hard drive manufacturer at 5 years. Seriously just go with Seagate, they are well priced, high quality, and reliable.

/end seagate rant 

Finally, if I'm being honest I'm cringing at what you're paying for what you're getting.  Part of it is dealing with the overseas taxes and retailers (I spec'd a comp on Newegg and Micro and Micro was about 25% more expensive before VAT). But part of it is part selection.  I know you have your mind made up for a lot of this stuff and I don't expect to change it but I don't think I do you any favors if I lie and say I think you're getting a great deal when I don't.  I'm just trying to give you my honest opinions here, you don't have to take them and you won't hurt my feelings if you don't. 

Chrizum said: 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.

There is a lot of good advice for you here, but none better then what this guy said.

If you are at the edge of your budget, I would even step down in watts for a better name PSU. The watts is a rating system that the manufacturer recommends, not some magic figure that at that the PSU shuts down at. Of the brands mentioned above, some 500W units will run better then 650W budget models. I have a 430 Antec that provides very clean power at 500W, where a lot of knockoff 550W PSU's are not near as clean at 500W.

The higher the better, but good quality always trumps numbers.