PC rebuild and looking for input

rounderdude

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25 May 2007
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Hello to everyone. I am a first-time poster, here at OSSN.

I'm preparing to do an overdue upgrade to my PC. Actually, I consider in a rebuild, as everything is going except the Power supply and that may have to be replaced, as well.

I'm installing an ASUS P5W DH-Deluxe mobo and an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 CPU. Going from a Samsung 172T 17" LCD to a Samsung 226BW 22" LCD. It will have 4 GB's of Corsair, a couple of DVD RW's and two Seagate 320 gig HDD's. Not sure about doing RAID, but I want to have ample power for everything in case I ever do.

I know that the CPU uses 65 watt and the monitor states 45 watts. I don't know about the other devices, so I'd like to ask if the 430watt Antec PSU, that I have currently, will provide enough power to support Intel's new Core 2chip and everything else. Also, willing to listen to input on the devices I named above. Good/bad choice?

Any insight that is given will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
rounder
 
What OS? cause 4 gigs RAM in 32bit is no good, and the moniter does not draw power from the PSU , the graphics card will , what card?

I say go for 550watts good brand name PSU at least if your using a decent videocard.
 
Shamus is right, you need to 550 watts or better, video cards, cpu take away alot of power, 64 PRO or vista in 64 would love 4 gigs of ram
 
The video card you select (if any) will determine if you need a new PSU.

What model is the antec? truepower, truepower II, neo, or smartpower, etc. The neo and smart power are wimpier.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

With just on board video your 430 antec is fine.
A high performance video card will probably drive you to a new PSU.
A mid range video card you will need to look closely at power demand.

Note if you are going any Vista version other than home basic then an add on video card is necessary. Vista is a video bandwdth hog.

PS Welcome to OSNN. :)
 
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Shamus,

My bad on the "no power draw for monitor". I ABSOLUTELY thank you for the "4 gig mem NO GOOD in 32 Bit". I remember reading of that in the past, but completely overlooked it. That would have bit me in the a$$, big time! I, currently, am using Win XP Home and I'm happy with it. Like many, though, I can't wait to scroll thru Vista, but I will. I'll wait until I hear that the bugs have been eradicated.

I almost did an edit on my post because I didn't include vid card consideration, but thought I'd wait for replies. PNY 8800 GTS PCI-e.

LeeJend,

The PSU is a Truepower 430 watt with Smart Fan. My old vid card is a PNY Ti4400, it will be transferring to another case with the rest of these old bones. The 8800 will, undoubtedly, mean more power.

madmatt,

Yes, "PC Power and Cooling" looks like the place to shop for a PC power supply. I glanced at the site, but bookmarked it and will be back. I have been salivating at the thought of this upgrade for years. The money is there and the desire is HIGH!

I would like to thank you all for you time and consideration,

GITIT!
rounder
 
Sorry to piggyback on this thread, but was wondering if one can get away with a 480W PSU if they decide to go for SLi vid cards with an X2 4xxx series CPU?
Not sure how much power the GPUs consume these days as different webpages state different consumption.
 
I think that huge PSU's are over rated. I have one 350 Watt PSU powering 6 hard drives, a beefy AMD XP Athlon 2000+, with 4 GB's of ram, and a few extra peripherals. The school I go to has Dell computers with an Core 2 Duo, 3 GB's of ram, an NVIDIA PCI-e card, don't remember exactly what one, but it is top of the line. With one hard drive, and they have only 300 watt PSU's in them. Oh, I almost forgot, they also have a physics card in it, as it is used for the game design students.
 
If your using the 8800GTS like me and the 6600E c2d like me , then I say go with the 550watt PSU like me !

Your 430watt wont be enough with the 8800 line of cards..
 
Sorry to piggyback on this thread, but was wondering if one can get away with a 480W PSU if they decide to go for SLi vid cards with an X2 4xxx series CPU?
Not sure how much power the GPUs consume these days as different webpages state different consumption.


Dual video card really requires something in the 550W+ range unless you are running dual 6600 cards...

It also depends on the make and model (ATX standard) of the PSU. They are not all created equal. Amount of +12V amperage varies greatly.
 
I think I will stick with the 430 watt for now, as I have ordered the 8600 256 MB vidcard. What signs of trouble would I see if the necessary power is not there, auto reboots?

I have found a 610 watt PSU st PC Power and Cooling, that I am prepared to pick up, if necessary. I am confused about the "single rail" term, though. Can anyone explain "single rail" vs. "multiple rails"?
 
If the supply is too small it may not power up at all (unlikely) or you may get artifacts or BSODs while doing 3D graphics. The best bet is to run a 3D demo for an hour once you get the system running and see if it is stable.

Ahhh, 1 rail vs 2 rail vs 3 rail... The new great debate.
-The standard (ATX 12 V 2.x is still valid I think) calls for 2 rails.
-Antec is pimping 3 rails now.
-PC Power & Cooling is pimping a single rail.
There are pro's and con's to each.

A rail is an individually regulated power output.

The Problemo
For recent PC's the +12V is critical since it now powers the CPU and GPU which are humongous power pigs that draw big surges of current when they switch in and out of high demand operations. PSUs can't respond to those surges instantly so if the CPU and GPU both say "gimme more now" the PSU may not be able to react fast enough and fall out of spec. (BSOD/Reboot time).

The ATX 12V2 standard decided the best approach was to isolate the GPU and the CPU on two seperate +12V output rails (one for MB/CPU other for GPU's, etc). This has worked fine for a while and then SLI/Crossfire same along. Now there are 3 obscene power pigs and only two +12V rails. What is a PSU maker to do?

-Antec said ok, lets just add a 3rd +12V line for the 2nd vid card.
--Provides isolation between each major power user.
-PC Power said, enough is enough. Lets just make one, honking, fat ass +12V rail.
--Provides a brute force approach which does not isolate the surges from big loads because it's so tough it doesn't care.

When building $100 million dollar airplanes we go with the isolated multiple rails approach. It costs a little more because more parts and more testing is involved. But what the hey, we're worth it. And with a single rail, if it dies, everything dies with it. Bad plan in airplanes and not so good for your $400 video cards and CPUs either. Now the protection in the PSU should prevent collateral damage to the loads, but Murphy was an optimist. (Murphy? Google Murphy's Laws and his corollaries. Good reading.)

Now, Does everyone need a 600W PSU with 3 rails or one honking big one?
-No, if your video card is mid range, you don't have or plan on Crossfire or SLI.
-If you are watching the current trend in power demand you will note that Green is in.
--CPU demand is dropping from 125-150W power demand to <100W now.
--GPU card power is dropping a little with the current generation card (8xxx for sure, jury still out on ATI 29xx series).
--RAID is an annoyance with 4-5 disk arrays, but HD are not really power pigs.
-- Memory power demand does not go up with capacity. 2 -2 gig sticks use the same as 2-512 meg stick.
 
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I pulled the trigger and ordered parts, but post-purchase-dissonance has grabbed me by the gonads, yet again. I have received the mobo, ASUS P5W DH-Deluxe, the CPU, Intel C2Duo E6600, the memory, 2 gigs Corsair XMTS, the HDD"S, two Seagate Barracuda 320 GB, and some peripherals.

BEFORE I open the mobo, I have to admit to an oversight on my part. I spent so much time checking the specs on the mobos available, that I failed to focus on the reviews offered on the ASUS mobo. After ordering I checked the reviews and found fewer Pros than Cons. The Cons had to do with incompatibilty issues and that scared me! Now, do I just go for it or heed my fears and return it for something with better reveiws? Here is a link to the biginning of the Newegg reviews for the ASUS P5W DH-Deluxe:

ASUS P5W DH-Deluxe

This whole week has been tied up with training the folks at work, 13 hours a day and a 2 hour commute, that I have had time for little else. This weekend, though, and scheduled vaca for next week, is slotted to building my "new" PC. It's already Jonesin' me to know that I have two boxes of PC parts sitting here and can't get started.

I want to do this with as few hassels as possible, so I am looking for input that tells me, "I have built a similar system with these parts and NOT encountered problems, as well as, "I have bult a similar system and experineced the problems described in the reviews." Something that I can weigh out and make a judgement call on.

I am prepared to return the mobo and wait the time, necessary, to build with trouble free components. Time is of the essence...

Anyone been there, already?

Thanks, in advance, for any input you may have to offer,

rounder
 
I got a gigabyte that is in tomorrow. I have always liked Gigabyte. I think MSI sucks. Asus is a good board, but you will pay for every option.
 

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