Core 2 Quad PC build, Budget range $800-$900

[thrice3990]

Hello!

This is my first post on this forum, I've been reading several threads for the past 3 days, and the guides were really helpful. OK, lets cut to the chase, I'm trying to pick out the right parts for my new build. I'm mainly using this PC for probably 60% of the time for gaming, 20% of the time watching movies, and the other 20% for research/school work.

My price range is around 800$ to 900$.

I'm not sure if the compatibility of the parts I've chosen is completely accurate b/c this is the first time I've ever attempted to have a pc custom built.

Will I be OC? yes. But I plan to probably get this pc completed by mid-september, I'm hoping to get a Quad core intel CPU for a lower price since the i5 will be coming out in september. so the cpu and the gpu I will not order right away, since knowing by the time i5 comes out, the prices might drop.


GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case With 500W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156062&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

(the case + psu, and mobo I've already ordered and should be arriving tmr.)


Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218


EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434


G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166


Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041


As for the optical drive, monitor, keyboard, etc. I'll try to find out some good deals later on. But please, any advice on what you guys should recommend, and I would appreciate to take a look b/c I might subsititute with what I've choosen so far.

 

[skora]

You did well for your first time. A few tweaks, but overall, well done.

Generally, its better to wait and buy all you're stuff at the same time or the same week. Unless its a crazy good deal, prices will get cheaper, rebates will renew, but combos are a great way to save money.

With what you have spec'd out, you have just enough left for the rest of the components except one big cost. The OS.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116677

Also, if you are going to overclock, you'll want an aftermarket cooler. I have this one and the performance is great for the cost. Here's a honest review so you can make up your own mind. If you don't like this and can find $45 for a HSF, Xigmatech Dark Knight is a great cooler too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=35-207-004&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=100&SelectedRating=-1&PurchaseMark=&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&Page=1&Keywords=thorough

I'm sure someone will comment on getting the Caviar Black for $15 more for some extra performance.

Not sure how well the PSU will be constructed on the Raidmax case. There's more to the PSU than the watts, so make sure the amps on the +12v rails is high enough for the 260.

 

[thrice3990]

Thx for the advice skora! Yes I forgot to mention the OS...BUT more importantly, I've got a quick question.

As for the PSU on the Raidmax case, unfortunately when i ordered it they didn't mention the references of amps on the psu. How can I tell what is "efficient" amount of amps for the gtx 260? I just finished reading an article on the PSU and yes, the "watts don't mean squat"...=_=... So apparently the 12v rails is what is connected into the CPU and for the PCI-express slot...How do i check whether the CPU i chose and the graphics card will be supported by the 500W PSU ?

 

[skora]

Looks like the 260 needs 36 amps combined on the 12v rails. Reading review, the PSU for that case only comes with 22-28 amps depending on what it ships with. Either way, its not enough.

This corsair is more than enough but its the same price as the 550w. So might as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

If thats too much, these are options too. Not as great, but decent.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

 

[thrice3990]

Yes, apparently this psu only comes with one +12V rail, and under it says the max is 22A, so ur right it's not enough. But do u mind explaining why this specific graphics card cannot be supported by a 500W psu eventho that's wut they say on the required specs?

Oh could u also gimme a link to where u found out the required amps for the 260?

 

[thrice3990]

Actually I just did some searching and i found this:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce-gtx200-theory_12.html#sect0

since the gtx 260 only uses 136W at max, that only amounts to 11.34amps of consumption from the PSU. Then in that case, the 500W psu I have on the 12V rail is at maximum capacity of 22amps, shouldn't that be enough? Or are you saying that the 12V rail (since I only have one, i assume since it doesn't denote any other 12V rails like "12V1", "12V2", etc.) is supporting the amps not only just my graphics card, but other parts as well?

That part I'm a bit confused...

 

[AKM880]

Its because the Raidmax PSU is close to a generic and could take down components with it if it dies. Usually those PSU's aren't as reliable as ones like Corsair, Antec, PCP&C PSU's.

 

[mcwargod]

why not just make a i7 build if u live near a microcenter

 

[thrice3990]

But as I stated before, the gtx 260 gpu only consumes 136W, so on a 12V rail, that's about 11.34 Amps. My PSU has max capacity of 22 Amps on the 12V rail as is labled on the side of it.

Shouldn't that be enough for the 260 to run on?

 

[hunter315]

Except that the majority of the power consumed by modern computers comes from the 12V rail, so if we round up for safety the GTX260 takes 12 amps off your 12volt rail, leaving a mere 10 amps for the rest of the system, this gets consumed by a number of other components in the system, even the cheapest POS power supplies on newegg provide 13 amps on the 12 volt rail which is only really enough for the motherboard, onboard graphics, and 2 drives. If you try to draw 22amps from the 12volt rail in that raidmax PSU, do be kind enough to set up a video camera to watch as i havent seen magic smoke leave electronics in a while.

 

[thrice3990]

I see. Well if in that case, I'll consider buying a better PSU. I researched on the forum and noticed that there are some PSU's with multiple 12V rails and single 12V rails. As Hunter315 stated, a lot of the components in the system will use the 12V rails. So my question is, which is better , Multi or single 12Vrail, in terms of the compatibility of the parts I've chosen?

 

[effel]

I see. Well if in that case, I'll consider buying a better PSU. I researched on the forum and noticed that there are some PSU's with multiple 12V rails and single 12V rails. As Hunter315 stated, a lot of the components in the system will use the 12V rails. So my question is, which is better , Multi or single 12Vrail, in terms of the compatibility of the parts I've chosen?

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=84&threadid=2167846&enterthread=y
^This.

 

[thrice3990]

I see. But I wanted to get an Intel since I plan to overclock, and I heard AMD doesn't have that capability. Also you stated that the splitting of the rail does not matter, but in a way each rail would then have a smaller, yet limited amount of power to source the motherboard right? Doesn't the motherboard come specifically with a certain amount of connectors that go along with the psu? I know that you can't combine several 12V rails to combine the amps required for the motherboard...

 

[skora]

Dont know where you heard that from but the 940 and the 9550 will both clock to 3.8ghz, the 9550 maybe will get to 4 or 4.1 if your real lucky and have the right hardware and cooling.

Unfortunately, in the first post, the OP had already bought the mobo, so there wasn't any going back for AMD. But AMD would have been a great fit for the budget.

To thrice3990: the older phenoms and athlon x2s couldn't come close to intel on OC, but once they hit the 45nm chips, they were back in the game.

For the PSU, one rail will provide power to the mobo and maybe some other connections. The PCIe connections will probably have their own rails and another for the molex and drives. Since the 260 needs two pcie 6pin connectors, you would be adding up the amps since they are supplied from different rails. You can't max all the 12v rails without blasting past the total wattage and tripping the safety, but you'd almost certainly need to have a short on the mobo and drive lines for that to happen.

 

[thrice3990]

Ah ty for your posts guys, man i love this forum, everyone responds so fast

Well if this is the case, then if the 260 requires 2 PCI-e 6pin connectors, then what kind of PSU would you guys recommend that is a good investment in terms of being able to use this same PSU in like maybe 2 years if I want to use it on another custom build?

I really don't want to have to buy another one in the future, so wut would be a very good psu that can last maybe 4 years? enough for 2 custom builds.

Also, I was wondering, if the gtx 260 requirements for the entire system to be estimated around 36A, then how much "extra amperes" would I need to make sure im not like cutting too close to the max capacity of the psu?

 

[skora]

If you're looking for something that is acceptable: OCZ 700w $55 amir
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019

For a little more but much better quality. Antec 650 $77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

Or if you want a PSU that can do multi GPU in your next build: Corsair 750w $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

That gives you a decent price spectrum. The last too being the more future proof of the 3, but OCZ makes a decent product.

 

[skora]

This is a good one too!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

All good quality psu's come with a 3yr warranty. Some have a 5 year.

Thats a great point. Never thought to use the warranty to help rate a PSU. Now, is that info readily available on based on model, or do you have to hit the manufactures web site each time to see?

 

[thrice3990]

this psu : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022 has about 50A total after adding up the 12V rails.

But wut do u guys think about this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182185

This one has about 80A total on the 12V rails, it's a bit more expensive, but I think I can use it for an extra custom build in the future. Do you guys think this is a good quality psu? I not quite sure, but it's a rosewill brand.

 

[skora]

Rosewill has no standing as reliable here and it doesn't meet ZZFH's warranty test.

OCZ has a decent product and would work fine. If you want a little more headroom and willing to spend $60, this OCZ is nice too. 3 year warranty.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018

 

[effel]

I don't know why any of you guys recommend OCZ power supplies when more proven products on are on the market. You know why they're cheaper? -because they use cheaper components.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/03/03/ocz_modxstream_pro_700w_40c_update

You really ought to look at something from Seasonic, they offer a 3 or 5 year warranty depending on model, and are one of the premier power supply manufacturers in the business. They don't just ride on their reputation for long standing quality though*cough* pcp&c *cough*, the reviews back it up. Check out some of the reviews on silentpcreview.

 

[skora]

I don't know why any of you guys recommend OCZ power supplies when more proven products on are on the market. You know why they're cheaper? -because they use cheaper components.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/03/03/ocz_modxstream_pro_700w_40c_update

You really ought to look at something from Seasonic, they offer a 3 or 5 year warranty depending on model, and are one of the premier power supply manufacturers in the business. They don't just ride on their reputation for long standing quality though*cough* pcp&c *cough*, the reviews back it up. Check out some of the reviews on silentpcreview.

There's a place for the BEST power supplies and thats with high end systems. That article is a good example of the place for OCZ PSUs. It doesn't meet the min standards hardocp has becauce it can't operate at 45C, but its not rated as such. Rarely will mainsteam users put those kind of demands on a PSU. That's one of the benefits of buying more PSU than you need as most people do. I agree that there's better products out there, but for the price and since OCZ meets minimum standards, it will get a nod from me where it's a good fit. And as noted above, OCZ does 3 year warranties on their PSUs. 5yr is better, but if you don't have the money to pay for it, you have to get what works within your budget. There's always better parts and more money that could be spent. The OP has a budget and I've tried to work within it and get the best products for them within their means.

 

[thrice3990]

Hi guys. Well yesterday my friend got his evga gts 250 in the mail from newegg and he played COD: world at war on high settings. It worked great, but my reason for bringing this up is that, he was running it on a 450W psu with only 21A on the +12V rail. O_O and yes, the system requirements is that the card would need a minimum of 450 watt, 24A. So really, my question is, how was he able to run that? and would I be able to run a gtx 260 on my 500W? I know we kinda went over this, but now I'm confused as to why it was able to run the game so efficiently.

 

[thrice3990]

just bumping up this thread.

 

[skora]

I'd post this question in the PSU section. Some of the more knowledgable will be able to answer your question more thoroughly.

But this is a spirited debate that may shed some light on what can happen.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247188-33-just-3870-works-sparkle

 

[yoyojam55]

I would post any PSU questions you have to the jonnyguru forums. Everyone there is very knowledgeable about PSUs. People here know about other hardware, but few of them know anything about PSUs.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3