Building new PC, components & PSU check

[jmartis]

Hi all, I'm building myself a new "budget" PC as the old P4 one is getting ancient now

The components I selected are as follows:

CPU: INTEL Core 2 Duo E7200 2,53GHz (1066MHz) 3MBL2 WOLFDALE LGA775 - BOX

VGA: ASUS EN8800GT/HTDP/256MB or 8800GTS (I'm still not sure but I'm probably getting the GT as its quite cheaper )

MB: GIGABYTE Sc 775 EP45-DS3, Intel P45

RAM: DIMM DDR2 2GB, 1066MHz, A-DATA, CL5-5-5-12 (KIT 2x1GB) Extreme Edition

HDD: WD CAVIAR BLUE WD3200AAKS 320GB, 16MB cache

Case: REDSTAR Happy16,400W,12cm fan

Questions: Does this look like a nice "ballanced" PC build?

Is it OK to buy a case from Redstar?

Is 400watt PSU enough to supply all the power even if I buy the GTS graphics?

Note: I'll be running XP, I'll update to vista only when it's absolutely needed (I want to keep my XP as long as possible)

Thanks, J.M.

 

[MsTBWLZQ]

Make money online,now!

Buy AdsTest drive our brand new real-time traffic estimator and create your campaign. Choose text, banner, or interstitial ads. Target by site, keyword, demographic. Create or upload multiple ads. Sell AdsFind out how we can help you generate more revenue from your ad space. Customize ads to match your site Approve and reject ads for your site Works alongside other ad programs Make money online,now!

 

[Carel]

Looks good, but, yes, you'll need at least a 600W PSU. I don't think 400W is too much of a good idea, it'll work, but it's a risk, a big one as it might blow one day. Rather try a PSU >= 600W instead, but for the first week you could probably try a 400W, thats what I did then I got a 600W later on...

 

[jmartis]

Well, I have the PC for about 4 months now and it works great with a 400W PSU. I calculated the power draw on some online calculator to around 250W...

 

[Freak]

The thing to remember about PSUs is that its amperes that you need to look for.

A quality named 400w psu will out preform a 600w generic psu. Simply because of the amps. The good psu is able to ouput a stable and consistant amp on the rail. A cheap one wont.

Here is a thread by Ebuyer. http://forums.ebuyer.com/showthread.php?t=26105

Which is backed by our local PSU guru

It may work now but you will have a time bomb in your computer

 

[tonpal]

To comment on the build it is helpful to know what you intend to use it for. I will assume you will use it for gaming.

What you have is workable. I do have some suggestions that you may want to consider.

CPU: E5200. Has a 45nm Wolfdale core with less cache and a lower FSB than the E7xxx or E8xxx but will overclock well. It will also save you a bit of money that you can invest in a graphics card.

GPU: Radeon HD4830. Slightly better performance than a 9800GT and a slightly better price.

Motherboard: A P43 board would do the job and save you a bit compared with a P45.

Memory: Go for 4GB. It is dirt cheap at the moment.

PSU: A good quality 400W PSU should do the job. If you want to give yourself a bit more margin 500W should be more than enough. Only go as high as 600W if you are planning to get a second graphics card.

Case is a matter of personal choice but you should consider if it looks good, has good airflow, is sturdy, minimises noise and for a self build is easy to work with.

Edit:

Well, I have the PC for about 4 months now and it works great with a 400W PSU. I calculated the power draw on some online calculator to around 250W...

Ignore my comments. I didn't look at the date of the original post. Hope the computer is working out well for you.

 

[soapsupah]

1 - Does this look like a nice "ballanced" PC build?

hmm yup, you will be a able to play some things in it (i can play cod: waw with not lag, and its just a GTS 8600 lol.

2 - Is it OK to buy a case from Redstar?

I really dont know this, its a brand?, nvm, just remember that if you can buy a pc with better parts sometimes that cost less than a pre built one.



3 - Is 400watt PSU enough to supply all the power even if I buy the GTS graphics?

My psu is a Soyo 460w, and it's been working hard for 3 years and counting, its not a famous brand, but it worked, but you should try a corsair 500w, remember corsair can be cheap in its price but it really owns in quality.

i also run xp, hard to explain since its something more about taste, but i love it.

just another tip, try to look the price of those itens on stores that sell near your place (or online) you will see that you can make a pc a little better and sometimes with less or just a little more money, trust me.

best luck on your build mate.

Soap.

 

[jmartis]

You guys need to relalize that this thread is long dead My build has already been serving me nicely for more than 4 months.

The final config. was: E7200, P35 Gigabyte MB (DS3 series), 2GB A-Data (enough for everything I do), 8800GT and a 400W FSP psu.

Apart from that the PC will sometimes output soft continuous beep sounds (PSU fan resonance I think), it is nicely silent, also because I've replaced the CPU cooler with Freezer 7.

 

[Rastalovich]

Good to get some feedback on what u ended up with. Indeed, sales of psus are being crazily over estimated in the Watt department.

What the eff with all the old thread bumpage ??@@?!!

Ham is gonna be pished!