what PSU?

[Syrus]

Hi im changing my motherboard and CPU sometime next week and i was wondering if the current PSU would be powerful enough of not its a 350W psu and the system would be:

3ghz pentium 4 800mhz fsb
Intel 865P "springdale" motherboard
256mb DDR ram (will become 512mb when i get more cash)
128mb Ge-force 3
IBM 40GB hdd
Audigy 2 platinum soundcard
network card
CD-RW

also surgestions on other motherboards would be good as long as they are in the regin of 65quid

Thanks
Dan

 

[scriptasylum]

It should be enough if it actually is capable of the power it is rated for. Some of the cheapies overrate them a little.

The CPU looks like the biggest load there. You've got a GF3, which isn't near as power hungry as today's GFfx/Radeons are. You also only have one hdd and one optical. I wouldn't worry about it.

I would just make sure the 12v supply is capable of at least 15A.

 

[Crazy Boy]

I would get a 400/420 PSU man due to the fact that for future upgrades its recommended.

The 350 will do but will ware down alot quicker after time with the load u have.

Also I have first had experience doing system builds every day for my job

 

[Sazar]

350/400 W for your system...

your cpu will draw around 70W I think... compute the rest and go from there with the assumption that the power supplied @ its PEAK is 350-400 W..

 

[Unleashed]

I agree with Sazar, but go more than that if possible, its just a good option if you have the money to blow

 

[Syrus]

cheers lads..........i'll bare that in mind, also when i get my P4 would i put the thermal past all over the top metal bit of the P4? as ive always had athlons im not a 100% sure...........pritty sure tho cos as logic goes theres no point in not covering the topside of the cpu.

Thanks
Dan

 

[Eck]

As for a mobo suggestion, I'd definately recommend the Asus P4P800. Sweet mobo, which has the memory acceleration also. $98 for a P4P800 at XtremeGear

As for your thermal paste question, you don't HAVE to put anything on the cpu. The heatsink comes with some stuff on it that'll work just fine. However, if you do want to put some paste on, you should scrape the stuff of the heatsink first, then apply your paste to the CPU. Gotta be careful not to scratch the heatsink though.

 

[Sazar]

Originally posted by Syrus
cheers lads..........i'll bare that in mind, also when i get my P4 would i put the thermal past all over the top metal bit of the P4? as ive always had athlons im not a 100% sure...........pritty sure tho cos as logic goes theres no point in not covering the topside of the cpu.

Thanks
Dan

yes the thermal paste will go between you heatsink and your cpu's heatspreader...

 

[Petros]

Think of a power supply as the equivalent of a "heart" in your computer, because it feeds power to every single component you have. A bad heart doesn't pump blood as well as it should, and can cause problems for other organs...

Likewise, a cheap power supply will not be the best thing for your expensive computer components. Raidmax/Powmax power supplies are excellent mid-level parts, and they only run about $40-60 USD. They filter that nasty AC coming into your system far better than a $15 power supply would.

If you want to go high-end, Kingwin, Enermax, Antec, and iCute are what you would want to choose from. Raidmax/Powmax supplies are almost as good and cost half as much, though.

 

[the_music_man]

yeah go with a raidmax on ebay if you are on a buget!

 

[Syrus]

so what your saying is i can take my heatsink/fan straight outa the box and put it on the cpu and motherboard?

 

[LeeJend]

NO. Coat the part of the CPU that comes in contact with the heatsink with a thin uniform layer of thermal paste. With a 3 gig processor make sure its a good, silver filled thermal paste. Not the crap that ships with heatsinks.

WARNING!
I was recently out shopping and saw a tube of thermal paste that was silver. I picked up the package and looked into the end of the tube and it was silver paper wrapped around the tube with white paste inside.

Make sure the paste says silver filled!

The damn marketing *******s are at it again.

 

[Syrus]

yeah ive heard about them.............i think ive got some arctic silver somewhere from when my mate did my athlon