New PC

We have decided we need a new PC. I've looked around for what I can get for about a£1000 and there is some nice kit but nothing that really fulfilled my requirements for the money available. In particular I wanted a upper mid range sort of spec.

Then a friend suggested I make one. It's not something I've done before even though I am comfortable taking them apart. Having said that I am a bit out of touch on the technology and so have done a lot of research. In the end I came up with this spec:-

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Asus Motherboard P5
Lightscribe DVD writer
Modular Power Supply
Upper mid range Graphics card
Widescreen LCD panel or twin panels

The processor is the slowest Intel currently sell which has 4Mb cache. The cache must be their for some reason so I figured that 4 is better then 2 especially for 2 cores.

Asus motherboards seem to have a lot of good reviews but their range is huge and very confusing to the relative novice. I wanted something that could cope as far as possible with future expansion. This means lots of RAM, more hard discs, possibly a new processor or a second graphics card. My experience is that doubling the normal amount of RAM keeps a machine flying for quite some time. Then I spotted a bundle at CCL which included the processor I wanted, 2GB RAM and an ASUS motherboard, the bundling meant I saved around £100 on buying seperately too.

The Lightscribe DVD is a bit of a gimmick for me but the cost was comparable with normal DVD writers and I like HP kit so I went for the HP DVD 940i

I wanted a modular power supply as I like the idea of them and particularly that with less wires there must be an improved airflow for cooling. I'd also seen a case I liked with a clear side but more of that later. Little did I realise what a minefield it is with something as simple as a power supply. There are so many different makes and variations, some are ATX 2.2 (the latest spec), some are 2.0, so you ask yourself, does this make a difference for me. Having looked around the web a lot I still don't have a clear answer on this one. The specs don't mean a lot to me. They tell me what was added to the spec but it's gobbledegook. This is because I don't understand why anyone would want the extra's. I presume there is a reason.

In the end I went for a Hiper R type as it looked nice, it had some good reviews and it seemed to be able to cope with what I wanted it too. Trying to buy this proved almost as tricky as making the decision to buy in the first place. Almost everywhere was out of stock. Finally I found some on the Chillblast site. When I ordered I got an email that they were out of stock but expecting some more soon. The staff there were great and answered my emails promptly which is a nice change compared to some companies. They told me that the PSU was being discontinued which concerned me but that they were getting one more. When that one arrived it was badly damaged so my search began anew. I ended up with the Jeantech Storm which I am pleased with. It has long leads which fit into my case. This is important for me as the case I have sites the psu at the bottom. I've never really understood what a PSU should be at the top of a case. It also has a little piece of rubber which goes at the end where you connect it to the case. This is to reduce vibration and is a nice touch.

Buying a graphics card was almost as bad as buying a psu. The range is even more intimidating and confusing. I used Tom's Hardware guide to try to understand the different cards. Although it helped a lot, I ended just plumping for one. The one I went for is an XFX 8800 GTS. I ordered this from the same place that I got the lacie which meant I got it for the same price as some 7950's which I figured made it a good deal. I can't say yet as it has been due in 2-3 days for the last week now.

The case that I went for has a lot of cooling and seems well thought out, I didn't want any doors on the front as they just irritate me. I liked the look of this one and I liked the grill and the modularity (and the blue lights).

For the hard disc I went mad and got a Western Digital Raptor. For the money the capacity isn't huge but I have my ethernet disk now and the case will always accommodate more drives. The capacity is more than compensated by the performance

Finally I saw a 22" widescreen LCD panel with a 16:10 aspect at a price too good to resist.

All but the graphics card and the PSU were ordered from CCL and it all arrived 2 days later, (even though the motherboard bundle was special order), which I was very impressed at and meant I had a little time to look through it all