Advice needed - is this a good deal for a PC or should I build one myself?

wolfman

tonyhague wrote: »

wolfman...thanks for the input, the nocturna is, allegedly, silent, and about a fiver less than the ultra 120 once a fan is added (does run 1-2 degs hotter), I've heard bad things about sammy hdds getting rma'd, £70 or so for a mbo is mid range, I'd like to spend more but...
Thanks for the case comments, i'm after quiet as possible, without spending silly money, and with a window so i can see where my money has gone
"Are you looking to overclock? Probably not I'd guess" er....yes, always.

sadly I won't be back home til friday, but any comments between now and then i'll take onboard before shoping

Don't forget the Artic Silver 5 thermal paste from your list.

I've not heard a single thing about Samsung's getting RMA'd. Great drives, usually top of any group reviews I've read. Any new drives I buy are Samsungs.

I went for a £70ish mobo. The MSI (ah damn forgotten the model number). It's good, I moved away from Gigabyte as the north/south bridge's on those run real hot. The only reason I wished I had stayed with Gigabyte is their ability to "undervolt".

I've got my cpu overclocked, but I'm sure I could run less voltage through it, which in turn would reduce the heat a lot. My previous Core 2 Duo, when running at stock voltage ran stupidly hot. Amazingly, I could take the voltage down loads (more than the average cpu) while still overclocking and the temps dropped about 10-15C.

I was running a Scythe Ninja, Artic Silver, and had lapped it, but simply dropping the voltage made all the difference.

For cases, I've got an Antec Designer, which is basically an Antec Sonata 3. It's very quiet, and I like how the hard drives mount (I can either screw them onto rubber grommits, or suspend them on elastic supports!). However, the PSU is a pain to get out, and there's no motherboard tray which is why I still miss my Lian Li. But if you're not changing your system too much that shouldn't be a problem.