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Building new system, are these components OK?

J

jmartis

n00b
Joined
Aug 9, 2008
Messages
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Im building a new "budget" system, the old P4 one is really getting ancient now:D
After some changes here is final list of components:

CPU: INTEL Core 2 Duo E7200 2,53GHz (1066MHz) 3MBL2 WOLFDALE LGA775 - BOX
VGA: ASUS EN8800GT/HTDP/256MB DDR3,2xDVI-I,PCIe2
MB: GIGABYTE MB Sc 775 EP35-DS3, Intel P35, 4xDDR2, 6xSATA2, (DES)
RAM: DIMM DDR2 2GB, 1066MHz, A-DATA, CL5-5-5-12 (KIT 2x1GB) Extreme Edition
HDD: WD CAVIAR BLUE WD3200AAKS 320GB SATA/300 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
Case: CoolerMaster Elite 334,ATX,black,without PSU
PSU: Fortron 400W ATX-400PNR 12V v2.0 (silent 120mm FAN)

I will be running XP and update to Vista only when absolutely needed. The PC will be used mainly for games, eventually for music production, and of course for net browsing etc.

Do these components make a nice "balanced" system?
Is the 400W PSU enough to supply all the power?

Thanks, J.M.:)
 
A few questions...

- What's your budget?
- Where are you buying everything from?
- Which monitor/resolution are you using?
- Which games do you plan on playing?
- EP35-DS3? Could you provide a link to what you're buying?

I believe the Fortron 400W PSU would be cutting it a bit close. Choose a power supply of at least 500 watts with active PFC and 80 Plus certification.
 
Overall, the layout looks good. I would suggest changing the PSU to a more reparable brand such as Corsair. Can't really comment on A-DATA memory (haven't used it), but they seem to be excellent from wht I have heard. I would say u have a "balanced system" there! :)
 
AMD_RULES- thanks

tiraides- I am buying components from a wholesale, my dad has a company and I can get the components for dealer prices. The MB is exactly this one http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2741
The monitor is a crt one right now but I will be getting a lcd soon. But anyway, I won't be playing the games much over 1280@960 as I prefer smooth performance and high level of detail over high resolution.
My all-time favorite game is Trackmania nations forever, so that's what I'll be probably playing most of the time. but that does not mean I won't find other games i might like :)
 
Just one more question, will the P35 chipset support newer CPUs when I choose to upgrade after some time?
 
I don't like Gigabyte boards.

Use a Abit IP35-e.. they're good boards

I'm not sure about that last question you asked. I'd say probably not, cause P35 is gettin old. (P45, and X-- chipsets, have replaced P35.)
 
jmartis said:
Just one more question, will the P35 chipset support newer CPUs when I choose to upgrade after some time?
Click to expand...
It supports the 45NM Core 2 Duos (e8xxx) series.

Honestly man, get the 512MB 8800GT. It's a huge boost for very little additional cost. I could see that being a bottleneck on your system that is easily avoided.

Otherwise, your system (cpu, mem HDD especially) is very tight. Grab that 512 card and that would be a rockin budget system.
 
bigdogchris said:
Besides DDR3 full support, what does that offer that p35 doesn't ... for a budget system. /sarcasm off.
Click to expand...

The P35 is more than enough for a budget system. With the latest BIOS update, the P35 supports all of the Core 2 Duo/Quad processors, and today's PCI Express 2.0 video cards are backwards compatible with the PCI Express 1.1 (x16) slots.

The only things that the P45 chipset offer over P35 are PCI Express 2.0 support and dual x8 CrossFire.
 
tiraides said:
The P35 is more than enough for a budget system. With the latest BIOS update, the P35 supports all of the Core 2 Duo/Quad processors, and today's PCI Express 2.0 video cards are backwards compatible with the PCI Express 1.1 (x16) slots.

The only things that the P45 chipset offer over P35 are PCI Express 2.0 support and dual x8 CrossFire.
Click to expand...
qft :D
 
tiraides said:
The only things that the P45 chipset offer over P35 are PCI Express 2.0 support and dual x8 CrossFire.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks, will there be any noticable difference btwn. PCIE 1.1 and 2.0?

As to the video card, I've JUST noticed its 256MB!:eek: I thought there were only 512M versions so I grabbed the cheapest one. The next slightly more expensive alternative is then 9600GT 512M, the 8800GT 512M is again a bit more expensive.
The problem is that the Nvidia cards are mostly out of stock so my choice is somewhat limited.. or I'll have to wait.:mad:
 
jmartis said:
Ok thanks, will there be any noticable difference btwn. PCIE 1.1 and 2.0?
Click to expand...
Absolutely none. As long as your PCI-E x16, you're fine.

Get the 8800GT 512MB. It's better than the 9600. The original power supply you had listed should be fine. I looked up a review on another one that company sells and they seem legit. Also, "cheap" and "power supply", don't go together very well. You're better off buying a cheap mobo.
 
jmartis said:
I found this 500 watt power supply for cheap, do you think it'll be alright?
http://www.silent-jersey.de/front_content.php?idart=97
Click to expand...

No. Based on what I could determine, the PSU supposedly has 18A on its 12V rail. That's too low.

Find a 500 watt or greater power supply with at least 32A (or at least 384W) on its (combined) 12V rail(s). If you can, try to find a Corsair or Seasonic power supply.
 
tiraides said:
No. Based on what I could determine, the PSU supposedly has 18A on its 12V rail. That's too low.

Find a 500 watt or greater power supply with at least 32A (or at least 384W) on its (combined) 12V rail(s). If you can, try to find a Corsair or Seasonic power supply.
Click to expand...
That's a little excessive for his needs. He's on a budget. I don't even use up 450Watts and I'm on a system a lot bigger.
 
bigdogchris said:
That's a little excessive for his needs. He's on a budget. I don't even use up 450Watts and I'm on a system a lot bigger.
Click to expand...

It's not that excessive. There are 450W PSUs out there with 33A on the +12V rail. Hell theoretically, there could be a 400W PSU with 32A on the +12V rail. Plus he won't have to worry about not having enough power for a future upgrade or addition.
 
Am I going to notice any difference with 1066MHz CL5 ram vs. 800MHz CL4 ram? my CPU is running @1066 so is there any advantage in choosing 1:1 ratio?
 
jmartis said:
Am I going to notice any difference with 1066MHz CL5 ram vs. 800MHz CL4 ram? my CPU is running @1066 so is there any advantage in choosing 1:1 ratio?
Click to expand...

1:1 Ratio is the most optimum setup. In others words, you won't see a performance increase with faster RAM. So if your FSB is 333Mhz and the RAM is 533Mhz, you will see zero performance increase over 1:1 ratio where both the FSB and RAM are 333Mhz.

So for your needs, DDR2 800 CL5 is all that you need. You won't notice the difference in real world apps and games between DDR2 800 CL4 and DDR2 800 CL5. Since DDR2 800 CL5 tend to be cheaper, get CL5 instead.
 
You could maybe swap the 8800GT for an ATi HD4850? It's considered a little step up and I'm not sure about where you live but here they're actually cheaper than the 8800GT 512mb.
 
BoWzA said:
You could maybe swap the 8800GT for an ATi HD4850? It's considered a little step up and I'm not sure about where you live but here they're actually cheaper than the 8800GT 512mb.
Click to expand...

While the HD4850 is better than the 8800GT, only get the HD4850 if you could literally afford to -- after getting a better power supply than the one you were asking about earlier.
 
400 watts is more than enough headroom for a build like that. It's really odd that people are always recommending 500w plus psu's for simple builds. For a build like that, even with a second hd added and the processor oc'd, total system consumption is under 300w. As long as you go with a good brand like Seasonic or the like so you know you have a steady supply of clean power, you'll be more than fine with something like a 380w Seasonic or if you want a little more headroom a Corsair VX450.
 
The issue (for me) is not with the overall wattage, but the power provided by the 12V rail(s). The Jersey 500W PSU the OP asked about earlier (reportedly... I haven't found much to confirm or deny this accurately) generates around 18A with its 12V rail. The Fortron 400W PSU mentioned in the first post (if I found the right model online) has about 27A on its combined 12V rails. The 8800GT uses approximately 24A.

Yes, a quality PSU can produce more from its 12V rail(s) while generating less (overall) power. However, I don't believe that the two power supplies that I've mentioned are anywhere close to being "quality" power supplies.
 
jmartis said:
Maybe you should rethink what you just said, are you sure the card draws 12x24= 288 watts?:eek::eek:
Click to expand...

OK, I'll reclarify: At full load, depending on the brand (and system setup), the 8800GT draws between 230W-290W on the 12V rail. That's why I said "approximately" -- I couldn't get an exact number. I'm not trying to scare you when I said that, but the two power supplies you chose earlier may not be able to handle the load over an extended period of time.
 
tiraides said:
OK, I'll reclarify: At full load, depending on the brand (and system setup), the 8800GT draws between 230W-290W on the 12V rail. That's why I said "approximately" -- I couldn't get an exact number. I'm not trying to scare you when I said that, but the two power supplies you chose earlier may not be able to handle the load over an extended period of time.
Click to expand...
Ok so you were for real then:rolleyes: I can't imagine how the little sink on the card, smaller than the box heatsink on the 65W core2duo, would ever be able to dissipate over 250 watts, even for few seconds...

http://arstechnica.com/journals/har...-consumption-of-the-ati-radeon-hd-3800-series lists total system power consumption, the peak with 8800GT is 245W for the whole system... so I guess the 400W Fortron PSU will do fine. Also here http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t49662.html "The GT needs minimum 400W and 22A on the +12V rail(s). According to EVGA." My PSU has 27A combined so again I don't see any problems here.
 
tiraides said:
OK, I'll reclarify: At full load, depending on the brand (and system setup), the 8800GT draws between 230W-290W on the 12V rail. That's why I said "approximately" -- I couldn't get an exact number. I'm not trying to scare you when I said that, but the two power supplies you chose earlier may not be able to handle the load over an extended period of time.
Click to expand...

I think thats total system power consumption, not the card alone. ;)

jmartis said:
...My PSU has 27A combined so again I don't see any problems here.
Click to expand...

Yah, you'll be fine with 27A on the +12V rail(s).
 
jmartis said:
My PSU has 27A combined so again I don't see any problems here.
Click to expand...

OK, how are you getting that 27A figure? Can't find any info at all about that PSU, not even on FSP's website. Do you have a link to it?
 
tiraides said:
OK, I'll reclarify: At full load, depending on the brand (and system setup), the 8800GT draws between 230W-290W on the 12V rail. That's why I said "approximately" -- I couldn't get an exact number. I'm not trying to scare you when I said that, but the two power supplies you chose earlier may not be able to handle the load over an extended period of time.
Click to expand...

Highlighted for emphasis. I wasn't trying to imply that the 8800GT alone would draw that much power.
 
hehe, yah, but he thought you meant card alone.

Also, I couldn't find any info on that particular PSU either, so I'm not sure if that PSU would suffice. If it really does have 27A, then its fine... but as Danny said, how did you figure out it has 27A?
 
I had to perform a Google search on the specific model number of the power supply (ATX-400PNR). Most of the results that I found were in various languages (here's one example), so using Google's Auto-Translator, I tried to find the 12V figures listed on the description page of the various sites. The "averages" were 14A on the 12V1 rail and 13A on the 12V2 rail (I couldn't find any wattage listing for either rail), so I combined them to get the "estimated" figure.

Yeah, I know... it's a half-assed guess for a couple of hours' worth of work.
 
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