Half done, half undone, advice needed.

[btarunr]

I'm building a reasonably powerful gaming PC for my younger brother returning home for the summer. I bought a few parts, but confused with the rest.

I bought:

AMD Brisbane 5400+
ASUS M2N-SLI
Two sticks of Transcend TS128MLQ64V8J (DDR2 800 ; 1 GB per stick)
2x Relatively unknown brand "Zogis" GeForce 8800 GT in the mail.
2x Seagate ST3320620AS (320 GB, 7200 rpm, 16M cache)
LiteON DVD-RW IDE.

That's the bulk part done now:

Storekeeper insists I buy a EPOWER ZU550 PSU. Never heard of that? It's cheap but have no clue about the brand. 550W considering it's a Brisbane sufficient? Suggest a PSU there's also a PCP&C PSU at his store with the same specs though it's like 2x the price. Is it worth?

Suggest a CPU cooler for this, or should I run stock cooling?

Does this look good? http://www.kunhar.com/vipcabinets/excaliber.html or CM Centurion ?

There's an increasing number of Indian users with dead pixels on ViewSonic panels though the monitors sell cheap. I know VS is a very reputed brand in the US so

Q91b : http://www.viewsonic.com/products/lcddisplays/optiquest/Q91b/index.htm

or

AOC 912SW-4: http://208.109.228.157/site_v1/php/index.php?req=produto&ctg_tipo=1&prd_id=182


Thanks.

[Namslas90]

Always get the best quality PSU you can afford. Nothing sucks worse than blowing your mobo with a POS PSU. Finding out your PSU is not good enough to run your rig sucks also as you have to buy another one and wait for it to arrive(twice the money +, and down time).

[btarunr]

Did some egg-beating.

I think this is the PCP&C box the store keeps : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005

and the EPOWER box: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817101013

[sttubs]

I agree, go with the PCP&P. Many tests have been done on their products & they are leaps & bounds above the rest.
As far as cooling, if you're not overclocking, then the stock cooler would do just fine.
As far as an LCD, I'm a Samsung fan. I have a 22"ws myself, the clarity is just great.
As far as case, I use the CM Centurion 532 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119094 The fit & finsih is excellent, it has great ventilation too. I did replace the front fan with one without the LED's though. I think it looks more luxurious that way. Almost like art, lol.
BTW, you're one great bro to put a computer like that together for him. He'll be floored, will this be a surprise too?

[btarunr]

I've been using Centurion too :) 2004-05 model. The one in the store is the plain-jane Centurion with silver-black colour, single large side panel window.

Specific model on the Samsung panel?

Surprise so far. Kid with SLI is surprise enough.

[sttubs]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001096

[AsRock]

Maybe drop a HDD if you have to and get the PC&Power as it has Continuous @ 40°C were as the other is likely 25c. As for a LCD i been happy with mine.

I'm sure you can mod a cheap case :)..

EDIT: i have considered getting that CM case but i my self would end up modding it.

[FatForester]

That PCP&C is a fantastic PSU, you won't regret it. As far as monitors go, that Samsung looks good. My friend bought a Viewsonic that initially had a dead pixel, but it went away and hasn't come back since. This was 2 years ago if it makes a difference.

[btarunr]

@sttubs: Nice one, I'll talk to the storekeeper first thing tomorrow.

@ASRock: Centurion is a good case to start off with. It has been my stepping stone.

@Fatforester: I sooo want to blow my cash on that now. :)