Building computer for friend

C

Corbin

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
509
I am building a computer for my friend. He has a 17" CRT Monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, cd-rom drive, and hard drive. I am buying it all form newegg and would like to get your imput on this build. His budget was around $500 so this is what I decided with. I also got some help with a previous post.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16811119104
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813138106
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16814130334
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16819103243
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16820231098
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16827151153
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16832116202
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16817339012

It goes in this order:

1. Case: 49.99 COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-SKN2-GP Black / Silver Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
2. Motherboard: 67.99 BIOSTAR A770 A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
3. Graphics card: 149.99 EVGA 512-P3-N861-AR GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
4. Processor: 59.99 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Brisbane 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor
5. Memory (ram): 44.99 G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
6. DvD Drive: 29.99 SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM
7. Vista - Operating System: 99.99 Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
8. Power Supply: 27.48 hec HP585D RETAIL ATX12V 585W Power Supply - Power Cord Included 100 - 120 V/ 200 - 240 V UL, cUL, FCC, CSA
 
Somebody is going to tell you to get a better power supply. and building a gaming machine on a $400 budget is tough...
 
good suggestions. and for making another thread I'm new to forums and I thought after a few days no one ever goes back to the old ones because they are a page or 2 back.

I also have one more question. The hard drive he has is an old one and it has one of those long skinny fat thread band things that hooks to the motherboard. will that work? It's also only 80 or 100GB
 
You mean PATA (IDE Ribbon Cable) It's grey and thick? It should, most boards still come with IDE slot.
 
Corbin said:
It has 39amps. Isn't that enough to run that setup?
Click to expand...

How did you get 39A for that PSU? It only has 16A on the +12V rail. That's pretty anemic for a "585W" PSU.

Anyway, I recommend going with crhscoog's recommendations. Especially about the power supply.
 
I thought you added all the +12v1, +12v2, +12v3, ect together to get the amps. That PSU had a +12v1@ 19A and a +12v2@ 20A. I added those together to get the amps.

If thats wrong how do you get the amps?
 
Remember that wattage doesn't mean as much these days. What matters most is where those watts are being delivered. For current rigs, it's all about how much amps are on the +12V rail since most PC parts draw their power from there. The more amps you have, the more upgrades (hard drives, video cards, PCI cards, etc) you can add. You determine the amperage on the +12V rails by first finding out what's the total combined, max load, combined or max wattage aside for the +12V rails/section alone. Then divide that total by 12 and you get how much amps the PSU has on the +12V rail.

That's the correct way to find out how much amps a power supply has. Don't add up the amps on the +12V rail to figure out the amperage. Doesn't work that way. If the total combined or max wattage can't be found on the power suppply, check the manufacturer's page for that PSU for that info. If the manufacturer doesn't provide that information, it's generally a good sign for you to drop that power supply from consideration.

Oh I was wrong about that PSU having 16A on the +12V rail. There is no info on the HEC website or on the PSU itself just how much amps or wattage is reserved for the +12V rail alone.

Just an FYI, the Antec Earthwatts 430W PSU has 30A on the +12V rail.
 
Can you show me in numbers how you got 30A for the 430w power supply. I'm better with numbers than with words. You did explain it well I just didn't fully understand it.
 
Corbin said:
Can you show me in numbers how you got 30A for the 430w power supply. I'm better with numbers than with words. You did explain it well I just didn't fully understand it.
Click to expand...

Ok look at the label for the Antec 430W PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...tion=Antec+earthwatts+EA430+430W+Power+Supply

See where it says "+12V1, +12V2 max load: 360W'?

Divide that 360W by 12 and you get 30A total on the +12V rail. That's the kind of info you should look for in a power supply: how much wattage is available on the +12V rail.
 
ya I think I'll stay with what I have. With shipping and everything it comes to about 570 already and his budget was around 500. So I really don't think he would want that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top