View Full Version : large enough power supply?
gellin
August 15th, 2005, 11:56 PM
I'm looking to build my first computer and here's what I plan on getting so far:
AMD Athlon 64 4000+
2GB DDR SDRAM (PC 3200) Dual Channel
Geforce 7800GT 256MB
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
16x dual layer dvd burner
Sound Blaster Audigy2
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
Will a 450 watt power supply be enough for this? What if I decide to upgrade later and get another 7800GT and 2 more gigs of ram?
Also, let me know if there's anything I'm missing or something way better that I should be getting.
Thank!
ccc1005
August 15th, 2005, 11:59 PM
I have a very similar rig with a 420 Watt PS if I can remember correctly, anything 400+ should be fine for you...
Krell
August 16th, 2005, 12:12 AM
You want 2gb of Ram, and a 10,000 rpm seriel ATA Raptor, but you want to scrimp on a Psu?
Get the most powerful psu you can possibly afford, and make sure the 12v has HIGH current delivery, not just the 5v rail.
Here is a great example, and a DAMNED good deal from newegg.com
Cool pic (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.asp?image=17-148-008-15.jpg,17-148-008-14.jpg,17-148-008-11.jpg,17-148-008-12.jpg,17-148-008-10.jpg,17-148-008-09.jpg,17-148-008-07.JPG,17-148-008-16.jpg,17-148-008-17.jpg,17-148-008-08.jpg&CurImage=17-148-008-15.jpg&Description=ASPIRE%20ATX-AS520W%20BLACK%20ATX%20520W%20Power%20Supply%20-%20Retail)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817148008
$55
ASPIRE ATX-AS520W BLACK ATX 520W Power Supply 115/230 V CB IEC 950/ TUV EN 60950/ UL 1950/ CSA 950 - Retail
Model #: ATX-AS520W BLACK
Item #: N82E16817148008
Type ATX
Maximum Power 520W
Fans 3
PFC No
Dual +12V No
Power Good Signal 100-500ms
Hold-up Time >10ms at full load
Efficiency >70% under max range load
Over Voltage Protection YES
Overload Protection YES
Input Voltage 115/230 V
Input Frequency Range 50/60Hz
Input Current 10A @ 115V, 5A @ 230V
Output +3.3V@30A, +5V@32A, +12V@35A,
[email protected],
[email protected], +5VSB@2A
MTBF 100,000 hours at full load/25°C
Approvals CB IEC 950/ TUV EN 60950/ UL 1950/ CSA 950
Features Aluminum casting for best cooling
DwarfBaby
August 16th, 2005, 01:46 AM
AMD Athlon 64 4000+???
Go with the X2 3800+ or 4200+ you will not regret it. You can burn a DVD, while decompressing a rare file, while downloading off of newsgroups, while surfing the web with very little lag at all. Simply amazing. It's the multitaskers dream chip.
Digital Bliss
August 16th, 2005, 02:05 AM
Check newegg id round id just get a 500 cause you never know how much shit your gonna be throwin in it once your "done" building it lol.
cpugeniusmv
August 16th, 2005, 12:06 PM
Get the PSU Krell suggested. I bought that exact one a couple months ago, and it's great!
ccc1005
August 16th, 2005, 02:19 PM
I have a 480Watt PSU actually, from Thermaltake and it has a fan speed control and everything, quite a nice unit.
Lord_of_the_Dense
August 16th, 2005, 09:10 PM
IWestern Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
Is that supposed to be 740 GB? Sorry, but 74GB seems a bit odd. Even 740 seems unlikely for a single drive.
cpugeniusmv
August 16th, 2005, 10:15 PM
Is that supposed to be 740 GB? Sorry, but 74GB seems a bit odd. Even 740 seems unlikely for a single drive.
74 GB is correct.
ccc1005
August 16th, 2005, 10:15 PM
Is that supposed to be 740 GB? Sorry, but 74GB seems a bit odd. Even 740 seems unlikely for a single drive.
Nah its actually 74GB, does seem odd but the 10k RPM drives are commonly in that size...
CompuGeek
August 16th, 2005, 11:19 PM
Check newegg id round id just get a 500 cause you never know how much shit your gonna be throwin in it once your "done" building it lol.
The wattage rating on power supplies don't mean much.
The number of amps you can get off the 12V rail is a much more accurate way to guage a power supply.
Also, buying a trusted brand name means it's less likely to damage any of your components if it fails.
Mels_Smileys45
August 17th, 2005, 03:04 AM
AMD Athlon 64 4000+???
Go with the X2 3800+ or 4200+ you will not regret it. You can burn a DVD, while decompressing a rare file, while downloading off of newsgroups, while surfing the web with very little lag at all. Simply amazing. It's the multitaskers dream chip.
My AMD 3000+ can do all that with only 1 gig of ram. Just last night I was running Winmx, DL'in about 5 files pretty fast, using Sonic My DVD to convert some files to DVD format, and surfing the net with no lag at all. The DVD turned out fine too. I didn't build the fastest system but by god its very stable while multi tasking.
I think most people go over board when building a PC. If youre just using your computer to download files and check your E-mail, you can get by with much much less. If your building a gaming rig, it sounds good although I think my PC can play anyhing out there with no problems. Plus it was cheap as hell to build. I use mine for editing video VERY large video files. I do need to add another gig of ram soon!
EDIT: Oh yea, don't be cheap on the PS, I went with a 500watt model with a built in light, multicolored fan with speed ajust..
.:sp00ky:.
August 17th, 2005, 03:30 AM
I totally agree with mel iv got a 3200 and to test it out i had bf2,fear,nero,some dvd converters and another 40 programs including p2p running and it ran fine cpu didnt even reach 100%
can't see the point of duel cpu,or sli gc for that matter yet.
ccc1005
August 17th, 2005, 07:40 AM
Well after converting over 50 movies to DIVX this summer I could have definately used a multi-core processor, unless you are doing sometime like that which uses a lot of CPU constantly, it really isn't worth it.
CompuGeek
August 22nd, 2005, 11:44 PM
I'm looking to build my first computer and here's what I plan on getting so far:
AMD Athlon 64 4000+
2GB DDR SDRAM (PC 3200) Dual Channel
Geforce 7800GT 256MB
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
16x dual layer dvd burner
Sound Blaster Audigy2
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
Will a 450 watt power supply be enough for this? What if I decide to upgrade later and get another 7800GT and 2 more gigs of ram?
Also, let me know if there's anything I'm missing or something way better that I should be getting.
Thank!
450 Watts might not be enough.
You should buy one of these to be on the safe side: Link (http://www.hexus.net/content/static/enermax_galaxy.html)
:icon_thum
DwarfBaby
August 23rd, 2005, 12:42 AM
My AMD 3000+ can do all that with only 1 gig of ram. Just last night I was running Winmx, DL'in about 5 files pretty fast, using Sonic My DVD to convert some files to DVD format, and surfing the net with no lag at all. The DVD turned out fine too. I didn't build the fastest system but by god its very stable while multi tasking.
I think most people go over board when building a PC. If youre just using your computer to download files and check your E-mail, you can get by with much much less. If your building a gaming rig, it sounds good although I think my PC can play anyhing out there with no problems. Plus it was cheap as hell to build. I use mine for editing video VERY large video files. I do need to add another gig of ram soon!
EDIT: Oh yea, don't be cheap on the PS, I went with a 500watt model with a built in light, multicolored fan with speed ajust..
I don't mean to challenge you in any way but my last machine was an Athlon 64 2800+ with 1 Gig (Two Gel 512 2.0 CAS) which by the way was pretty damned fast but met an unfortunate untimely death by the hands of a faulty Gigabit board. I figured since I had to buy a new board and CPU I might as well buy the best. The X2 4200+ was the best for the price. For what I do the difference in performance was far more then noticeable it was rather dramatic. I used all the same parts from my old system except of course for the Motherboard and Processor.
This may sound like a fanboy post but for serious multitaskers (which a great number of you are) the dual chips are by far the best option. Even if you’d rather go with Intel I would still recommend their dual chip, the Pentium D.
Krell
August 23rd, 2005, 12:49 AM
This may sound like a fanboy post but for serious multitaskers (which a great number of you are) the dual chips are by far the best option. Even if you’d rather go with Intel I would still recommend their dual chip, the Pentium D.
I didnt reply to Mels, but I see his point, and it's a valid one.
What if . . you DO have a very CPU intensive app, maybe a P2P app, and you also want to burn those dozen Netflix DVDs on your desk?
By dedicating one CPU for each purpose, they can occassional peak high and not interfere with the other processes. I would spend a bit more, and have the breathing room.
but thats just me
.
DwarfBaby
August 23rd, 2005, 01:07 AM
By dedicating one CPU for each purpose, they can occassional peak high and not interfere with the other processes. I would spend a bit more, and have the breathing room.
.
I agree and as much as it pains me to say this WindowsXP does a rather good job in distributing tasks evenly to both processors. I am an incredibly impatient person and waiting for a windows to finish what the fuck its doing before it switches to another window is simply annoying regardless of how many programs I have running in the background.
Dual core is like choosing between one really hot woman or two almost as hot women. I leave the choice to you.
ccc1005
August 23rd, 2005, 10:09 AM
I would say the X2 would be a great deal but 2 Gigs of RAM is wayyyy overboard unless you do some really high end graphical editing, I have 1 Gig and never even come close to using it all (even while playing games). Save money on the RAM and upgrade the processor a little bit IMO.
gellin
August 23rd, 2005, 06:40 PM
Thanks for all the responses. I took your guy's advice and here's what I ended up getting...
AMD Athlon 64 x2 4400+
2GB DDR SDRAM (PC 3200) Dual Channel
Geforce 7800GT 256MB
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
16x dual layer dvd burner
Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
An aspire-x case that came with a 500 watt power supply exactly like the one in Krell's post minus 20 watts
Now one more question. I have a IDE harddrive in my old computer that I want to bring over. Is there anything special I have to do so that my SATA harddrive is the master and the old one the slave?
Krell
August 23rd, 2005, 08:06 PM
Is there anything special I have to do so that my SATA harddrive is the master and the old one the slave?
Yes, set them for Master and Slave
Check your BIOS to see if you need to make the SATA one the PRIMARY or bootable one, otherwise, youre good. aka rtfm
Sounds like a great system!
.