Re: Building a computer?

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

Sounds like you are cutting it close. I believe the newer nvidia cards ask for a 350 watt power supply.....let's see....

NVIDIA recommend a 350W-400W power supply (22-26A on the 12V rail)

You should have a sticker on your power supply. Look where it says 12V and see if the number is 22 amps or greater (or if you have 12v1 and 12v2 make sure the 2 numbers add up to over 22). If it's not, definitely get a new power supply and make sure you have 22 or greater on the 12V.

If you over tax your power supply, nothing catastrophic should happen but that's no guarantee it won't. Usually you just won't be able to turn the thing on anymore when it fails. You might get a strange almost like something is burning smell or hear a pop when it happens....or no indication at all other than the computer won't turn on.

Just pop it out and replace the power if that happens.

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

Ok, thanks for the info. This has been very helpful.

[Kilmer]

Re: Building a computer?

Really depends on the Power Supply make. I have a 6600GT, 2 HDD's, 2 DVD drives running perfectly fine on my Antec TruePower 330w.

I thought this was a helpful site...

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page1.html

AND REALLY USEFUL tool...

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

I was borderline on my PS, but knowing my Antec TP could hold its own against most 350-400w, I did not upgrade when I picked the 6600GT and have been fine.

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

Looks like my current power supply only has 12A on the 12V rail. If Nivida recommends 22 I'll probably upgrade to be safe. No point in spending $500 and having it crap out because I didn't get a new power supply.

Any thoughts on this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817148012

I know it looks stupid, but looks pretty solid for a good price after the rebate. This is one area I know very little about. Any suggestions are welcome.

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

That was the exact power supply I almost bought. In the end, I went with an antec truepower, but that one should be good.

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

Ok, I placed my order today. They were having a deal on the AMD 3700 and it was only $10 more than the 3500 so decided to upgrade to that.

MB ASUS A8N-E NF4U 939 - Retail

VGA BFG 7900GT 256M BFGR79256GTOCE - Retail

PSU ASPIRE|ATX-AS550W-BK RT - Retail

CPU AMD|ATHLON 64 3700+ 2.2G 939P R - Retail

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

Hey people. Thanks for all the suggestions. From the combined input I've gotten from all the people I've asked - here's the setup I've come up with for the moment.

So far I've got everything I believe I need, minus a video card and possibly a monitor, but I might just use an old one.

~$600 at the moment

Case/Power Supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129155

CPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103535

Motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813131540R

HD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148113

MEM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145505

DVD: (possible, might use an old one I have instead, but it's not a burner - so I'm not sure)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827131354


Does it look decent? I went a little lower on the CPU so that I could put a nice extra dollar into the video card.

edit - do you think I'd need any extra fans or anything? I don't really know anything about that - but I would think the fans coming with the items would be good enough.

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

Everything looks good. Just be aware you have an SLI motherboard there. If you don't plan on doing SLI, you don't need the SLI version and can save some cash. If you buy an ATI graphics card and you would like to keep the option open to add a second video card, you have to get a Crossfire board, not SLI.

In regards to fans, if you aren't overclocking and you don't have your computer in a tight confined space, you should be ok with the 1 120mm fan that comes with the case. Adding fans later to increase airflow is easy if you find things are a bit too hot though.

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

Oh - thanks! I really just plan on one video card - I didn't catch that though.

I'm having a hell of a time figuring out video cards. The prices just seem so off base, that I can't figure out what the differences are, and what I should go for. For example, here are two cards I'm looking for. As you'll notice they're both PCI-E, 512MB and X1600 Pro. So why the $100 difference?

One card is a 512MB X1600PRO:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814102682

then there's another 512MB x1600PRO:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814102653

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

I wish I could help 'ya on that one, but I know very little about the latest ATI cards. My last ATI card was a 9600xt so it's been awhile since I've looked into what they offer.

Those 2 cards look very similar and I have no idea what would cause the 100$ price difference.

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

I asked around - and apparently it's just another company that makes the ATI card. So it's the exact same thing - just Sapphire instead of ATI - but it uses the ATI chipset.

I think I finally nailed down what i want - hopefully it's a good looking machine. I still have that motherboard though - but it seems the price isn't that bad.

DVD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827131354

Case/Power:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129155

HD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148113

Mother Board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131540

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102653

Memory (going for 2GB I think):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145505

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103537

I've got a monitor, keyboard, and mouse I can use. Is there anything obvious I'm missing, or anything incompatable that I've overlooked?

Thanks for all the help thus far, it's been great.

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

Case x
PSU x
mobo x
processor x
ram x
video card x
HD x
dvd/cd x
monitor x
mouse x
keyboard x

How about operating system? You can get an oem xp for about 100 bucks on newegg as long as you buy it with hardware.

I'm still not understanding why you want an SLI board with an ATI video card. It just seems like a waste of $$$.

If you want to keep the option open for a 2nd ATI video card, here's a crossfire board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131584
or something like that in a crossfire board


If a 2nd video card is something you'll never do, I don't see why you want to spend the extra $$$ on an SLI mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131530
or something like that in a non sli/crossfire board

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

I'm probably going to get WIN XP for the time being, I've already got access to a legal, free copy - so I'm going to do that.

I'll look at that mother board. I really just plan on the one video card.

Here's what someone told me before (why I went for the one I did):

Stay away from anything with a "Chipset Fan" like the A8N-SLI or A8N-SLI Deluxe. The Premium does away with the fan (which is known to burn out after a few months) and replaces it with a Heat Pipe. So far, I've only seen one Premium returned to manufacturer and it was because of a faulty BIOS.

I couldn't really tell what mobo's had a fan - because none of them seem to mention that :\

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

Ok, I slightly remember this when shopping for parts back in december. I thought ASUS had gotten the fan problem fixed though...maybe not.

It might be worth looking into a different manufacturer then so you don't have to spend extra $$$ on a feature you don't need.

[Kilmer]

Re: Building a computer?

mudtiger answers are what mine would have been.

My next PSU will be a Foltron...probably this one...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104935

Or back to Antec if the recent manufacturing qualtity issues get cleared up.

Saphire is usually an OEM vendor of ATI cards and will normally just not have as fancy a cooling solution on the card as higher priced cards.

I will forever stay away from ATI now though. I went from TNT2 (nvidea) to Radeon (ATI) and now back to Geoforce (Nvidea). In my experience, ATI Drivers blow...hard...IMO.