Did I do ok?

H

huxley

Pleeze Maik Mee STFU!!
Joined
Oct 23, 2001
Messages
9,342
I havent built a PC in 4 to 5 years, I get really antsy when its time to buy and I actually didnt order anything online and got it all at the store. I tried to review best I could but some were on the fly purchases, please give me your feedback

EVGA Nforce 650i ultra $99
BFG 8800GT $240 (best buy deal)
Corsair 800mhz ddr2 2x1gb (non-ecc) $60
Antec Gamer Case $80 (60 MIR)
160gb Seagate SATA (for OS) $50
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2ghz $150
Reused 420w PSU from old pc
Reused dvdrw from old pc

So all in all it cost me about $700 dollars and I am feeling pretty good about it especially for not buying anything online. I know the memory isnt perfect but so far I am really happy. My old pc was an athlon 2800+ and ATI 1550 graphics card with IDE disks and I am amazed at how fast things have become, I cant even believe how fast installs go. Did I make any big mistakes?
 
RoBo said:
What is your old PSU?
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I posted it in the original post but it was AMD athlon 2800+ ya I know I am way behind the times lmao. I heard AMD sucks now so I just went with intel and I heard ATI sucks now so I went with Nvidia, it felt weird to go to the darkside but its good to be there mmmmm
 
Foz2001 said:
PSU = power supply unit


that 420 might need to be upgraded.
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a quality 420W would stand a chance against a system like that.

That said, there are few quality 420W psus that old, not mentioning the fact that your jumping of ATX 1.0 spec to ATX 2.0 spec (the biggest diff being the 20 to 24 pin mobo power connector).

Get a new PSU. Hard will wash you toward the Corsairs instantly, built by CWT and Seasonic, making them both excellent units, but there are other quality units. I think the silverstone Element 500W would be a good idea.
 
yep I have a 20 pin connector. Also I have 4 hard drives, dvdrw, 4 fans on the case etc so I need more juice. I am thinking something along the 500w range...just 100 dollars for psu seems so expensive. Any good deals out there? I dont mind waiting and ordering online for the psu but I hate mail in rebates.
 
well corsair has plenty of MIRs :p

Your going to want to spend at least $100 on a psu minimum. If it goes for cheaper then that, well, I'd do some background reasearch into it.

4 hdds? those suckers will pull in ~100W alone when starting to spin up.

anyways here I am about to launch myself into another great essay when I need to get out of here! shift yourself on over to the PSU sub forum and see what those guys think. the best sites for PSU reviews are this one and jonnyguru.com

gotta go, maybe ill give more detailed suggestions tomorrow.
 
minimum ayieee, I am thinking 100 max ;). Anyway, my last pc had the 420w, 4 hard drives, graphics card needed a psu, cd rom blah blah blah. This pc definately takes more juice but the psu doesnt seem hot at all. I will check out what is going on in the psu forum and upgrade it plus I dont even have enough plug ins for everything. ty for the advice!
 
Here are two PSUs with free shipping:

Corsair 450VX - $79.99 @ NewEgg
Corsair 550VX - $95.90 @ ZipZoomFly

The Corsairs are highly recommended due to the amount of amps they have on their 12V connectors. With the prices (and the rebates) they have, it doesn't make sense not to recommend a Corsair power supply.
 
I like the 550 but the thing is I need more of the standard ide power connectors because that is what the fans use as well as 2 of the hard drives...i will check around and I suppose I can just buy a few converter cables as well..
 
your fans should have connectors so you can attach them all together with a single power lead, do they not?
 
Yes definitely get a new power supply. Foz2001 is right, your fans should allow for multiple fans to be linked to one peripheral (molex) connector.
 
Not meaning to be rude, but why didn't you ask about the parts to buy before you bought them? It is just cus I would have bought a P35 board instead of the older 650i, and a different case.
 
lamboman said:
Not meaning to be rude, but why didn't you ask about the parts to buy before you bought them? It is just cus I would have bought a P35 board instead of the older 650i, and a different case.
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ah the reviews for the board I got were pretty good and I am not much of an OC'er so I didnt worry about it too much and I just liked the case I suppose, if you're not OC'ing it doesnt matter too much.
 
tiraides said:
Here are two PSUs with free shipping:

Corsair 450VX - $79.99 @ NewEgg
Corsair 550VX - $95.90 @ ZipZoomFly

The Corsairs are highly recommended due to the amount of amps they have on their 12V connectors. With the prices (and the rebates) they have, it doesn't make sense not to recommend a Corsair power supply.
Click to expand...

Ok I got one very similar to the 550 corsair w/ a lot of the good 12v stuff mmhmm that should be that. Now my budget system that only cost 700 dollars made it past the 800 range which makes me sad :(
 
huxley said:
ah the reviews for the board I got were pretty good and I am not much of an OC'er so I didnt worry about it too much and I just liked the case I suppose, if you're not OC'ing it doesnt matter too much.
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Yeah, but now you have slightly lower performance and no 45nm compatibility... all because you didn't ask first.
 
dandragonrage said:
Yeah, but now you have slightly lower performance and no 45nm compatibility... all because you didn't ask first.
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psstt...what is 45nm capability? Also why would my performance be lower? My PC is so fast my eyes barely have time to focus before a window pops open, its like *click* instantaneous I love it.
 
Don't worry about it anymore. You bought it all, and you're happy with it. So, just enjoy it.

For anyone else reading this thread and is thinking about building a new system, ask first, buy later.
 
huxley said:
psstt...what is 45nm capability? Also why would my performance be lower? My PC is so fast my eyes barely have time to focus before a window pops open, its like *click* instantaneous I love it.
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nm = nanometers, and its the measure of the width of a transistor on the silicon (I think). The smaller the nm the less voltage required, the higher you can crank the clocks. When your dealing with such tiny circuits, voltages, and amperages, the distance the electrons have to travel actually becomes a very important variable. Generally speaking, you cant run a current over a transistor already under current (read: run a 2nd clock before the 1st has completed). By shortening the distance you decrease the time it takes to complete 1 clock, thus enabling the option to run at higher clocks.

Actually heres a semi- interesting piece of trivia for you: a "microprocessor" is a system of transistors that operate at in environments measured logically in micrometers. 1µm (1 micrometer) is 1000nm... I've only been around since the Athlon days (150nm). A quick wiki search revieles that the Pentium I was built on a 600nm process (which I guess you could logically call a .6µm process). All this is to say, is that logically, the "microprocessor" died about ten years ago, when the "nanoprocessor" was born.

By the time I kick the bucket I hope we'll be measuring the Core 5 Octavio :)P) in picometers (.001nm).

So THERE.

But yeah, if you got your PC, its too bad your not ready for Intel's Penryn (45nm) procs, but since you already bought your proc, and you don't seem like a 6 month upgrader, its probably a moot point anyways.

In regards to the Corsair units being good because of the high 12V rating:
It's plenty more complicated then that. Apevia (these guys are officially the ass end of all my psu jokes at this point) builds PSUs that they claim are "rated" for a 40A load on the 12V. The truth is, while technically the parts might be able to handle that load, they would over heat in any non-N²(l)[liquid nitrogen] environment. Furthermore the secondary wouldn't stand much of a chance yielding grotesque ripple, but, possibly, still maintaining 40A on the 12V.

The corsairs have stood up in multiple tests, including [H]'s and Jonny's, due to which I respect them. They can produce there maximum rated load while staying within ATX spec for ripple and V-droop, and maintaining a quiet and cool environment, and managing over 80% efficiency. They do it all at an excellent price point.

and here I am launching myself into another essay. Being sick (not at school or work because i feel like... snot) sucks. Ok well Il'l hit up one more point:

Ripple is a byproduct of taking AC current (wall supplied) and turning it into DC current (usable by the computer). Its measured in small, rapid fluctuations of Voltage. On the 12V rail, this limit is 120milli volts, but its not like once you hit 121 you kill your computer. The cleaner (smaller) the ripple the longer the life of your parts, but even if the PSU starts putting out really ugly power, the motherboards own voltage regulation (cleanup) can usually compensate. When the motherboard passes a current to the CPU, (with its hundreds of millions of delicate parts), you'd better expect that the power supplied as squeeky clean. If the PSU's suppling really ugly power and the motherboards voltage regulation isn't able to compensate, you could shrink the life of your processor from decades to less then a year.

Your lucky that previous power supply of yours didn't damage anything. Most mobo companies, such as Gigabyte and Asus, have various programs that try to prove the worth of their voltage regulation. One of the S's in the S series from gigabyte is for all solid capacitors, which can handle power better then their cheaper liquid counterparts.

/rant.
 
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