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Geeking out :)


pritchard9

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Hey there. :)

Ive started looking into building my own PC - for mild gaming, sound recording and editting, and general usage.

I think I'm going down the AMD route, and I've found some nice, middle-range motherboards.

I was just wondering, if the motherboard is in the form of MicroATX, do I need a MicroATX case?

And also, what wattage PSU do you recommend?

Thanks,

Pritchardo92

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The fun thing about AMD is that there most high end consumer grade processor is cheap as hell http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....rodid=CP-226-AM. The result of course been that it's performance sucks compared to the latest core 2 stuff.

Wouldnt that be offset though by OverClocking?

The GigaByte motherboard I'm looking at getting seems to like OC'ing.

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I recently (as in last week) spent a pretty penny on a few bits and pieces for my new box.

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 Motherboard

Intel Core2 Duo E8500

Logitech Z-5500D THX Digital Speaker System

Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2

CoolerMaster Real Power M1000 Modular

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion

Thermaltake Spedo Advance Package

And a couple of Terrabyte (930GB really...) HDDs.

It'll be used for mild gaming, but mostly audio production related things

(recording/producing), hence the particular X-Fi model with all the fancy

ports on the front panel.

Could be a bit overkill...

The PSU gives me room to grow as I currently have 6 HDDs in my 'old' PC I

can see using all the SATA ports on the new box very soon.

I decided to stay away from AMDs latest falechip, and stuck

with a dual core as its all I need, plus it was on special :).

Most regular cases support MicroATX but just check to make sure.

One thing I highly suggest is doing a lot of research (compatability, expandability, prices etc), and make sure to future-proof yourself incase you want to expand without going the whole hog next time.

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Wouldnt that be offset though by OverClocking?

The GigaByte motherboard I'm looking at getting seems to like OC'ing.

I can't say from personal experiance as I have been with Intel since Core 2s came out,but

I have a friend who overclocks obsessively, and according to him AMD processors (particularly the Phenom) run really hot even before OCing and if you do OC them, cooling them enough that they are stable is damn near impossible.

But once again no personal experience.

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Thanks for all the comments!

So you guys think Intel is the way to go?

I was only really looking at AMD as I'm on a bit of a budget. Not quite sure how much of a budget, but I dont want things going above £400.

I have had a look at the AMD spec, and most of the higher-end chip are running on 90nm fabrication, so I did expect a higher heat dissipation in comparison to Intel's, where most are 45nm or around that.

Any recommendations for graphics cards?

@ Keelbug: Cheers for listing you components. Has given me something to think about soundcard-wise.

@ PLuNK: Same goes to you :)

Cheers lads.

*Another thing, a friend of mine is also building a PC, mainly for gaming. On his current PC, hes been using a External DVD writer. Hes wondering if this can be used to set up his new PC once built? Or is it a bit of a paradox, as drivers are needed for USB ports, but they need to be installed through USB..?

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Most OSs will install just fine from a USB DVD drive, in fact it's the only way to install on some machines (small form factor machines and netbooks). Windows XP or Vista should be no problem and the same should apply to pretty much any Linux distro, I've yet to come across anything that doesn't like being on a USB DVD drive.

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Most OSs will install just fine from a USB DVD drive, in fact it's the only way to install on some machines (small form factor machines and netbooks). Windows XP or Vista should be no problem and the same should apply to pretty much any Linux distro, I've yet to come across anything that doesn't like being on a USB DVD drive.

Wow, nice one. Thanks :). Ill keep that in mind while building, and will tell my friend asap.

Vista will install nicely from a USB stick, i preffer this method over optical media as its faster.

Cant beleive Ive never thought of that, nice one :).

Thanks for all replies. :)

Pritchardo92

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