Just a quick question....

[goombatommy]

Hello everyone. I do not post here often (as much as I would like), but I have a simple question.

I am planning on upgrading from a Q6600 this week. I will be looking at either the Core i7 2600K or i5 2600, the new Asus P8z68-V Pro Z68 and some new RAM (not sure of which). I will be keeping my GTX 470 gfx card. I do not really plan on doing any overclocking (if I do its very minimal). My question is...

I currently have a Corsair 650W PSU. Would this PSU be sufficient to "comfortably" run all the above? Or would I have to upgrade my PSU as well? Thank you very much!

PS: Also one more thing - is there any real significance between the LGA-1155 vs. the LGA-1366? Thanks!

 

[Lycidas]

Would this PSU be sufficient to "comfortably" run all the above?

yes, however the gtx 470 can suck a lot of power away. So as long as you're not OC you should be fine.

What do you want to do with it though? Depending on your use of it, it may be worthwhile to upgrade your PSU

 

[goombatommy]

Thank you for your quick response Lycidas! I do a lot of gaming; World of Warcraft, RIFT, Crysis + Crysis 2, CoD:MWF, BC2 - as well as upcoming games such as RAGE, DNF, etc.

As of writing this - I JUST got a deal alert from Newegg in my inbox for a Corsair Enthusiast series 750W PSU for only $79.99 after Instant/MIR. Sounds like a steal!

 

[Lycidas]

you should really wait for Danny_Bui before really making a purchase, but if you're planning on playing Crysis 2 and BC2 at high graphics, I'd recommend an upgrade. You'll be comfortable at 750W as the article I posted says.

For a person wanting to run a single GTX 480, we would suggest no less than a 600 watt power supply but we would be more comfortable with a 700 watt power supply

 

[goombatommy]

Yea, I was more than likely going to go that route after coming across that. Thank you for your help! I will go ahead and copy/paste from his Sticky thread to assist him (should have done that earlier!)

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
A: Gaming/casual/Web Browsing

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
A: No higher than $600; most of the stuff I have my eyes on have free shipping or VERY minimum shipping charge.

3) Where do you live?
A: Pennsylvania

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
A: New Motherboard (preferably the P67 or Z68 / LGA-1155 or 1156), New CPU (Core-i5; preferably Core-i7 2600K) New RAM and new Power Supply (750W +).

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
A: - EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470
- LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
- OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
- WD 10,000 RPM Raptor Drive (Secondary)
- WD 7200 RPM (Backup, MISC.)

6) Will you be overclocking?
A: Not quite sure yet - but probably not.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
A: Samsung 24" Series 30

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
A: Asap - within a week or two.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
A: No SLI/Crossfire support, USB 3.0 would be nice, SATA 6GB/s would be nice as well - eSATA doesn't matter. No onboard video; will be using GTX 470.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
A: Yes - Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

--------

And just for the sake of it - what I am coming from is a Q6600, Kingston HyperX 8GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400), CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V, GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard.

Here is what I am currently looking at; albeit it slightly exceeds what I'm looking for price wise but if it's a justifiable upgrade then I can do it:

RAM: G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR2
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
MOBO: (changed my mind from the Asus I've mentioned earlier in my post) MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W --OR-- Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W

I'm somewhat stuck on which motherboard to actually purchase. The rest I've pretty much got narrowed down. Reviews don't do a whole lot of justice due to the vast array of configurations people are running. Thank you!

 

[hossdaddy]

this should fit the bill, although I feel that the 650w psu you have now should be fine as long as it isn't 5 yrs old. I added that psu deal anyway;

Combo: Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz Quad core + MSI H67MA-E35 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 $277.98 - $10 gift card

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $79.99 + free shipping

Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W $89.99 + free shipping

Total: $447.96 - $10 mir.

I changed the cpu since you dont plan on overclocking. The only other difference is 6mb vs 8mb cache, which will make no dicernable difference in gaming.

 

[goombatommy]

Wow hossdaddy thank you so much!! So that is basically the only difference between the i5-2500 and i5-2500k is the 6MB / 8MB cache difference?

 

[hossdaddy]

Wow hossdaddy thank you so much!! So that is basically the only difference between the i5-2500 and i5-2500k is the 6MB / 8MB cache difference?

you listed the i7 not the i5 in your post so that's what I was comparing to.

 

[goombatommy]

you listed the i7 not the i5 in your post so that's what I was comparing to.

Oh okay, thank you! I like the setup you had suggested and I think I be going with that :O). Thanks!

 

[hossdaddy]

cool gl with the build. Post some pics if you can of the finished product!

 

[mechapilot]

I asked this question just 2 weeks ago goom. I checked the forums, poked around a online configurator and ended up doing it the proper way. Counting up my wattage from components on idle and load. I eventually reached the same conclusion you did, but I got a added glint of hope.

A 650 watt psu can SLI a 2500k cpu and (x2) 560 ti cards..... I can't speak for the 460 though.

Definitely go 2500k or 2600k and you won't regret a thing. I waited on my Q6600 and wondered if the difference was big..... and it is. My 2500k is awesome and I never doubted or got cold feet. It was definitely the way to go. I even scored a 100 dollar SSD for my win 7 boot drive and I haven't looked back.

If you want a ssd check the hot deals section, they had a ssd on there today for 80 bucks after the coupon. Thats new SATA III tech too, not some first gen SSD with junky firmware.

 

[goombatommy]

I asked this question just 2 weeks ago goom. I checked the forums, poked around a online configurator and ended up doing it the proper way. Counting up my wattage from components on idle and load. I eventually reached the same conclusion you did, but I got a added glint of hope.

A 650 watt psu can SLI a 2500k cpu and (x2) 560 ti cards..... I can't speak for the 460 though.

Definitely go 2500k or 2600k and you won't regret a thing. I waited on my Q6600 and wondered if the difference was big..... and it is. My 2500k is awesome and I never doubted or got cold feet. It was definitely the way to go. I even scored a 100 dollar SSD for my win 7 boot drive and I haven't looked back.

If you want a ssd check the hot deals section, they had a ssd on there today for 80 bucks after the coupon. Thats new SATA III tech too, not some first gen SSD with junky firmware.

Thanks Mecha! I never knew you could SLI an i5 with 2 x 560ti cards. Thats crazy! I think I'm going to keep my 650W PSU and see how it goes. Worst case scenario I'll simply purchase a 750W or if I can find one on sale an 850W. I also have a GTX 260 laying around which I may at some point pop it in and use it as a dedicated PhysX card. However - I don't really see a whole lot of games taking full functionality of PhysX so I'm not sure it's worth the extra stress on my system. We'll see.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and tips! Greatly appreciated and once I get this thing built I will post pictures!

 

[goombatommy]

Hey folks! I just got done ordering and after a lot of thinking I changed things up a tad yet remained within my budget. They are as follow:

Motherborad: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 - $144. From what I gather this is a brand new board. I really haven't come across any reviews for this board. I've usually preferred Gigabyte motherboards so I'm continuing to hope this won't let me down!

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W - $224.99

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - $94.99

Came with a free 2GB Flash Drive, and I also ordered some more Thermal Paste for $5. Total - $478.55. I decided to continue using my Corsair Enthusiast 650W PSU, since I will not be doing any real overclocking (very minor at best).