Lower power computer help

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onetwenty8k

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Nov 24, 2006
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I want to possibly revamp my computer. The main things I am looking for is to lower power consumption and run cooler, less heat output. I will list what I currently have. Please tell me what I should keep for the new build and what should go.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
-Some gaming. L4D, TF2, GTA:SA. I play at 1920x1200 resolution.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Cheap as possible.
3) Where do you live?
NJ
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, I love to overclock, this is a must.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Dell 2407FPW
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Now.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
No extra features, standard. Though I want it to be a stable motherboard.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes.

Now that you have that, here is what I am currently running.

Case: Lian-Li PC-60B (I could go for a new case though)
Optical: Samsung DVD+-RW SATA
HDDs: 300GB Maxtor Drive, 320GB Seagate drive: Both SATA
Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3L Rev 2.0
CPU: Intel E2160 @ 3.0Ghz Stock VCore
Graphics: eVGA 8800GTS 320MB
Sound: Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS
RAM: 4GB OCZ PC2 6400 (I think it's that speed)

Tell me if I left something out. Thank you very much and I look forward to your help.

An extra note. I am not at all opposed to the idea of a Micro ATX build.
 
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onetwenty8k said:
... Tell me if I left something out. ...
Click to expand...

onetwenty8k said:
... 2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Cheap as possible. ...
Click to expand...

We need a number. Low power consumption/cooler running and gaming at 1900x1200 isn't exactly an easy combination. Lowering your power consumption is easy, just change the vidcard to something like the HD4770, undervolt/underclock your CPU, and remove the Audigy2ZS (use onboard HD Audio). Oh, also consolidate your drives into a single 1TB WD Green HDD. ;)
 
X2 Kuma 7750 has a TDP of 95W (65nm process)
E8200 Wolfdale has a TDP of 65W (45nm process)
Phenom II X3 720 BE has a TDP of 95W (45nm process)

HD4770 has TDP of 75W at full load Probably the most powerful card with a low thermal footprint. HD4770 doesn't perform well above 1680x1050 @ full settings for most new games.

Running GTAIV @ 1920x1200 with "low power" is pretty much unreasonable.
You need to tell us what you consider to be low power. Why do you want a low power system? Less heat? The E2160 is inefficient in the heat department due to it's 65nm process. A 45nm processor at the same clock speed will perform better at lower voltages, thus more efficient. If you're worried about heat generation, get a third party HSF for the CPU. The lowest model Wolfdale probably outperforms both in performance and power the E2160 by a considerable margin. Also the 4770 should outperform your 8800GTS by a bit, however 4470s are hard to find since the 45nm yields are terrible.

Preliminary upgrade:
E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2: $69.99
Asus HD4770: $99
?WD Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB: $67.99
total: $238

Please provide more information so we can assist you. (including PSU information)
 
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Forget the GTA4 thing. I'm just looking for general less heat output for my computer.

Maybe I'll keep the HDDs that I have. What PSU is energy efficient and fairly quiet?
 
To be honest, I really don't remember what PSU I have but it's probably four or five years old. It's the same PSU that powered my AMD 939 setup, before the dual core 939s so it's pretty old. I believe though that it's an Antec TruePower 550w PSU. It does however run hot and is quite noisy so that is something I want to upgrade.
 
onetwenty8k said:
I believe though that it's an Antec TruePower 550w PSU. It does however run hot and is quite noisy so that is something I want to upgrade.
Click to expand...

Yeah definitely get a new PSU.

The Truepower I and II series as well as the Smartpower series were well known for their above average death rates due to a poor choice in caps and cooling design. In more specific terms, Antec/CWT specified/used caps that did not respond well to heat. Unfortunately, Antec made the decision to have the PSU fan only ramp at really high temps in an effort to keep the PSU quiet. However, just medium to high temps were enough to screw up the caps so really high temps were murderous. Over time, this degraded the quality and performance of those PSU series.

So I recommend replacing the PSU, especially if you hear a squeal, whine, or any odd noise coming from the PSU.

Please answer Enginurds and Yossarian22's questions so that we can help you better
 
To answer Enginurds question: For now I am happy with my drives, I'm going disconnect one of them and only have one active. Depending on which CPU I get, I might try to undervolt, but more likely, I will overclock and not raise any voltage.

@Yossarian22: I consider low power to be low heat, I want cool and quiet and a PSU that is efficient in its power consumption.

I hope this helps and I'm very grateful to all of you for helping. Thank you.
 
You missed this vital question:
enginurd said:
We need a number.
Click to expand...

Please proivde a budget range. Cheap as possible doesn't work as $500 is pretty cheap to me while to some that's too much. See the issue there? So we need a set number to get an idea of what you consider cheap.

But so far Yossarian22's prelim CPU and GPU upgrades are the best choice. PSU wise,
 
PSU wise, the following have been shown to be quiet and efficient PSUs:
$69 - BFG Tech LS-550 550W PSU
$95 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU

If you want modular, the following are very quiet and efficient PSUs:
$110 - Corsair 520HX 520W Modular PSU
$130 - Corsair 620HX 620W Modular PSU

CPU wise, the E5200, E7400, or E8400 would be good choices for your setup.

GPU wise, the HD4770 is a bit faster than the 8800GTS 320MB you have now but uses significantly less power.
 
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If you live near a Microcenter, check out their prices for CPUs. The E8400 is $120 right now, and you can undervolt/clock it to save even more power.
 
enginurd said:
If you live near a Microcenter, check out their prices for CPUs. The E8400 is $120 right now, and you can undervolt/clock it to save even more power.
Click to expand...

$120 for an E8400 which is $160 at newegg is an extremely good deal. E8400s are very cool at stock volt & frequency so no need to worry about that.

The Lian-Li PC-60B has dual 80mm intakes and a 120mm exhaust and that is passable. If you want to reduce fan noise you might want to reconsider replacing all of the case fans. Check out SPCR.

In regards to PSUs, get an 80+ rated PSU. Anything said by Danny Bui is music to the ears. The man knows his PSUs. :)

If you can find the HD4770 and are really concerned about your thermal and electrical footprint, it is the best choice. However, if you're just concerned about system performance first and TDP/electricity second, the HD4770 while a very good card might not be for you. As a point of reference, the HD4770 is roughly equivalent to Nvidia's GT250/9800GTX+. If GTA IV is one of your goto games, I would probably recommend against the HD4770. Since you game at 1920x1200, again, I'd probably recommend against the HD4770. In the GPU department you're probably looking at a HD4870 1 GB or a 260 core 216, possibly better, but keep in mind these cards generate a lot of heat and noise (not that your case and system cannot handle it, just that you initially posted you wanted a quieter/cooler rig).

So roughly, your upgrade path might look like this:

PSU:Corsair 520HX 520W Modular PSU @ Amazon: $110
CPU:E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz @ Newegg : $165
GPU:XFX HD4870 1GB @ Newegg : $190

Nvidia option:
XFX GeForce GTX 260 Core Edition Core 216 896MB @ Newegg: $180
 
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