What do you chaps think? How should I change this?

Any ideas?

If you are trying to be on the cutting edge for a few hours, you might wait till the end of April when Intel's Ivy Bridge processors and motherboards will be released.

Sound card: I'd forget it until I felt onboard sound was inadequate, unless you are recording on the PC. Think more about your speakers or headphones.

Motherboard: as long as you have a good brand with no identified issues, I generally think you should just get the cheapest one that has the features/slots you need. That typically means something in the midrange of the company's line. You give up bragging rights.

Power supply: OCZ is dubious anymore from what I hear. Get something between 500 and 600 watts from Corsair, XFX, or Seasonic.

Cooler: For all but the last bit of overclocking capability, everyone says the Coolermaster Hyper 212 is excellent and inexpensive. You give up bragging rights.

Thermal compound: it matters little, it's all marketing hoopla. The old standby is Arctic Silver 5, but get whatever you can get easily and cheaply.

SSD: I'd probably try to steer you to Samsung, Intel, or Crucial.

Music Guy123 said:

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Case: I will be building my own out of 10mm acrylic, it will be open! Does this sound OK, I will build it after I receive the parts to allow it to fit everything!
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See here for some considerations on static/dust/EMI.

Thank you chaps, am busy for an hour or two, will have a look in detail when I am finished!

Thank you very much everyone for replying, much appreciated! Have some rep! I do not need bragging rites, just something that is upgradeable and will last a little while. I am afraid mobos are something I really do not know a lot about! I quite like the look of the one I chose but please do show me some options! This whole pc needs to be future proof and upgradeable. For the sound card, I think I will just drop it entirely, I don't really need one! I can always get one later! Onboard is very good now days anyway. For the psu, I think I will get the corsair 650w enthusiast series Product name is something like TX650 V2-80 I think. I will be adding another gpu in the future so this does need to be future proof! I might get a modular psu, the 750w modular one corsair do is pretty good. Its product name is something like HX750... I can't remember! For Cpu cooling, I looked at your recommendation and tbh, it didn't look that great a cooler! I like the noctua but I have just realised it doesn't fit with a 2011 socket...oops! Will have to find another one! Recommendations please! I will look into the thermal compound when it gets nearer the time. For the SSD, you mention stay away from corsair? Why? I can understand your preference for Intel, I am just looking to save money! Why Crucial or Samsung? Finally, for the acrylic, thanks for that link! It was interesting. Because I will be building a desk to support the pc, I might put a shelf for the mobo, a shelf for the other stuff on the left side of the desk if that makes sense! I will work the desk around the cooling!

As for Ivy bridge, I see its benefit for cooling and power consumption, however, for performance, I don't think it is going to be massive, my aim would be to wait for ivy bridge to come out, if I decide it is a huge amount better than sandybridge, get it, the way I am thinking at the moment is use it to knock down the prices for my sandybridge stuff.

3 recommendations still needed then! Mobo, Cpu cooler and keyboard any suggestions?

Thanks again very much guys!

Oh and where would you recommend I got these parts? Don't forget I am in the UK!

Any suggestions on the above?

The Noctua is an excellent cooler---but: it weighs nearly 3 pounds and is over 6 inches tall. Do you have an extremely demanding cooling situation in mind??

I just looked at Newegg. It seems there aren't many socket 2011 coolers, so you may have a limited choice. You might try Frostytech for reviews.

What do you prefer: low noise and temps of x or high noise and temps of x minus 10? Cooling is a tradeoff. Some are obsessed with driving temps down. Others aren't.

Modular PSUs are a big help in reducing clutter inside the case. I'd never go back to non-modular.

I haven't made a study of SSDs and am just going by what I generally pick up from this forum and whatever reviews I come across. Any SSD will be a big improvement over any HDD. The published specs don't mean much in real-life. I'd be more concerned about reliability, support, and price. I can't recall hearing anything bad about the Corsair you mention. There is some recent buzz about issues with Crucial M4 series, but I'm not sure how widespread it is.

Yes, I don't think Ivy Bridge will be a major leap, but I'm not sure you will see significant price reductions in Sandy Bridge stuff. Ivy Bridge will have a new chipset and that might make me reluctant to just dive in quickly.

Not sure about "future proof and upgradeable". If something is future proof, which would you be concerned about upgrading? I don't really believe in "future proof". It's a buzz-word.

Motherboards:

Here's all the socket 2011 boards at Newegg:

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Motherboards, Intel Motherboards, LGA 2011

I'd decide what features I wanted (eSATA, Firewire, USB 3, etc) and buy accordingly in the midrange from Asus or Gigabyte, subject to reviews I could find. It looks like they begin above $200, which is ridiculous. They might come down over time.

Yes, I realise that 2011 sockets are demanding price wise and research wise! I have been looking at frosty tech and am coming across a couple of options! I want something to be fairly quiet but give enough cooling for o/cing. As I said before, the CPU will be working 100% all the time the pc is on so I need something that will keep temps down. The thing is, I have a design for a fan that will be next to silent but I can't get it manufactured...it is so hard! I also have a slight feeling part of the design may be patented but there definately is no fan with this design on it! The corsair force GT is supposed to be pretty reliable but SSDs are often hit or miss! Future proof, I mean being able to o/c, add another gpu, possibly change the gpu etc.

I have just found a cooler I think could be perfect! Have a look: Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

I will now go have a look at mobos! Thank you very much for your help! I tried to rep you but I couldn't because apparently I need to spread the rep first!