Your thoughts please, gentlemen ...

[slavicVII]

It's time to build a new system (my current machine is a beeping mess displaying corrupted graphics. My own fault I think, unfortunately, but enough of that.) I'm trying to build something quiet, but something that will stand up to my weakness for Half-Life 2. Here's what I have on the list:

Antec P180 (if they ever arrive in the UK. Anything on the grapevine? )
Seasonic S12 430 with cable extension
AMD (Venice) Athlon 64 3200+
Scythe Ninja (pricey from quietpc.com/uk )
Asus A8N-SLi Premium (only board with nb heatpipe & coaxial spdif, I think)
2 x Crucial 512MB DDR 400 MHz
Gigabyte X800 XL

+ WD740, SP1614C and Pioneer 106 salvaged from the wreckage of the other box.

I'm pondering a few of things. Mainly whether the airflow of the P180 is good enough for me to use the Scythe Ninja without a 120mm Nexus. I'm hoping so, because of the proximity of the top 120mm fans in the case. Also thinking about the graphics card. From what I've read here, people say it gets pretty hot. Hmmn. "Too hot?" is an impossible question to answer, I know, but I'd be grateful to know what you guys' views are - perhaps it would be a better idea to get a stock X800 XL and put a Zalman ZM80 heatsink on it?

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about the whole thing - it's looking pretty much like my dream system so far! Any ideas you boys have, or if there's any mistakes you think I'm going to make, let me know

[lenny]

I don't see anything wrong with your configuration. If I'm building a new system I'll probably pick the exact same parts. Regarding the CPU HSF, the 3200+ should be cool enough without an extra fan. You can also experiment with turning off one of the fans, as well as building a duct from the fan outlets to the Ninja. As the P180 review shows, different configurations can give some unexpected results.

[nomoon]

I recently posted some comments on my system here. It's similar to the one you describe. My system has a 4600 (X2) without a fan on the Ninja, so I'm sure that a 3200+ would be fine. See the other thread for temperature data and other details. I also have 2 GB (2x1GB) of Patriot memory which isn't listed.

Jason

[geordie]

The Abit AN8 Ultra mobo has heatpipe NB cooler and optical in/out, and is a lot cheaper (assuming you can live with optical instead of coaxial of course).

The P180 is just about available in the UK now. Overclockers.co.uk have it listed for pre-order now, as do Overclock.co.uk with stock due next week.

Looks like a nice system

[Per]

The Abit AN8 Ultra mobo has heatpipe NB cooler and optical in/out, and is a lot cheaper (assuming you can live with optical instead of coaxial of course).

I'm a bit of a noob but I am thinking of getting the AN8 Ultra too, and I was wondering if you could explain what optical in/out and coaxical is?

[geordie]

Basically, there are 2 ways to send a digital audio signal - optical or coaxial.
The quality is pretty much identical, so which you prefer to use probably comes down to what connectors you have available on the amplifier you're sending the signal to. My AV receiver has 5 optical inputs and only 1 coaxial, and I have spare optical cables - so for me that's the better choice.

If you don't want to send 5.1 (or 6.1 etc) digital audio signals to an external decoder/amp then you don't need either. Stereo sound is still send by the old phono leads.

[slavicVII]

Thanks for the info guys Seems quite encouraging, especially loooking at nomoon's setup.

geordie, you're right. I did consider the Abit AN8 Ultra, but i've got one coaxial input on my Creative 5500 Digital decoder and one optical. The optical has my PS2 plugged into it. But it's not just my unwillingness/laziness with regard to swapping cables, I'm a bit of a sucker for Asus - I was really impressed with my old P4C800-E Deluxe.

Now I can't wait for P180s to arrive in the UK. Heh.

[amjedm]

You might want to check kustompcs.co.uk for the P180. It may be the cheapest price (pre order last time I checked).