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My new SFF System

F

FiZuR

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
304
I just got this thing put together the other day, havent really had much time to do some gaming on it but what i have observed thus far i am pleased with. Here are the specs.

Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H
AMD Phenom x4 9850
2GB Crucial Ballistix 1066
ATi Radeon HD4850
150GB Raptor Drive
400GB Seagate
500watt Apevia PSU
Zalman CNPS8000 CPU Cooler
LiteON DVD-RW
Apevia X-QPACK2 Silver mATX case

I have some temps i recorded. my idle temps are 43 on the 4850 and 41 on the processor. I have monitors on the hard drives and memory and they are as follows. Memory is running 35c and the raptor is at 38c. Full load on the vid card and it gets up to 62c and about 55c on the processor. Memory doesnt go up much and the hard drive gets upwards of 45c when its being used a lot. I replaced the rear 120mm fan with a papst 120mm.

I did a PSU calculator to see if that power supply could handle my system and it came up with a requirement of a 342 watt psu. Anyone else have any thoughts of this system?
 
The only major problem with your build is the Apevia PSU. GET RID OF IT IMMEDIATELY!

Apevia is well known for making shitty PSUs that are over-rated and over-speced. No way in hell is that Apevia PSU going to last long with your rig. When it dies, not if, it may take out your parts as well. Hell, it could be slowly killing your parts right now. So get rid it ASAP. In fact, remove it from your PC ASAP. Don't leave it in that system for any longer.

I recommend getting this PSU:
Corsair 450VX 450W PSU - $70

Everything else looks fine. Though do note that this 640GB drive actually outperforms the 150GB Raptor:
Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $90
 
2nd the anti-PSU sentiment. Get a major brand from a reputable line. BFG, Thermaltake, or especially the corsair given above by Danny, but for the love of GOD, get that thing out of there.

And post some pics when you are done!
 
Speaking of PSUs, I was thinking about getting a 550W xClio Greatpower one, are they any good? I heard some bad things, but the reviews on Newegg are all (except one) very good. Anyone else have input on them?
 
mrmylanman said:
Speaking of PSUs, I was thinking about getting a 550W xClio Greatpower one, are they any good? I heard some bad things, but the reviews on Newegg are all (except one) very good. Anyone else have input on them?
Click to expand...

Not much is known about it. No UL number, no real review of them, etc. For that $90, I'd stick to the well known Corsair 550VX:
Corsair 550VX 550W PSU - $89

When it comes to PSUs, stick with known quality brands/units.
 
Agree on the PSU. Stock PSU = FTL

I was going to post the Antec 650 Earthwatts for $60 (no MIR) + free shipping but the deal is dead now. Newegg has it though for $70 now I think.

But I came across this one:
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-tx-650w-atx12v-power-supply/q/loc/101/206178324.html
Corsair 650watts for $74.99 (after $20 MIR) + free shipping.

Theres also the Antec 430 earthwatts ($60 - $30MIR) + free shipping on newegg. Although I would suggest a PSU with more power than this one. But if you want to cheap out then go with this one. At least its quality then.

On the side-note: A friend told me Earthwatts are made by Seasonic or Delta.
 
Danny Bui said:
Not much is known about it. No UL number, no real review of them, etc. For that $90, I'd stick to the well known Corsair 550VX:
Corsair 550VX 550W PSU - $89

When it comes to PSUs, stick with known quality brands/units.
Click to expand...

I was looking for a unit that has modular cables and a downward facing fan (I plan on eventually switching to the NT06 cooler). I know that it suggests using the Silverstone PSUs but they are quite expensive.
 
mrmylanman said:
I was looking for a unit that has modular cables and a downward facing fan (I plan on eventually switching to the NT06 cooler). I know that it suggests using the Silverstone PSUs but they are quite expensive.
Click to expand...

This is probably the cheapest modular PSU that I can recommend:
Corsair 520HX 520W Modular PSU - $105

@ DTN107
The Delta made Earthwatts PSUs are denoted by a "D" designation. So if you see a EA500D or EA430D, that's a Delta made unit.
 
i need a PSU with really short cables. If it has long cables, it will clutter up the case and cause hotspots in it. I will post pics as soon as i can locate my camera.
 
Danny Bui said:
@ DTN107
The Delta made Earthwatts PSUs are denoted by a "D" designation. So if you see a EA500D or EA430D, that's a Delta made unit.
Click to expand...

Ah thanks for the info. I bought a few Earthwatts. Perhaps I'll have both Corsair and Delta and can do a comparison.
 
Me and a buddy of mine are going to take one of his 750 watt Antec PSU's and desolder all the cables and put custom length ones back in and use a power block to go to all my hardware to sleek out any cables.
 
tiraides said:
That's not a bad deal, as Silverstone's PSU fans are (somewhat) designed to handle the heat generated from using the NT06 heatsinks. However, the ST60F is longer than the Corsair PSUs.
Click to expand...

Hm perhaps that's not so good then. I noticed the fan is at the end of the PSU, would it still be centered over the heat sink, or is that just how it should be?

I noticed a lot of negative comments about the loudness of the fan on that PSU after a while, that's not so much a plus in my mind... lol. The reason I'd be getting the NT06 is to quiet my system down some so I'd be disappointed in that case.

Anyone here have any longterm experience with it?
 
mrmylanman said:
Hm perhaps that's not so good then. I noticed the fan is at the end of the PSU, would it still be centered over the heat sink, or is that just how it should be?

I noticed a lot of negative comments about the loudness of the fan on that PSU after a while, that's not so much a plus in my mind... lol. The reason I'd be getting the NT06 is to quiet my system down some so I'd be disappointed in that case.

Anyone here have any longterm experience with it?
Click to expand...

I'm using it with my SFF rig (listed in my signature). It does make a noticeable level of noise, so if you're really sensitive to noise in general, then you may not want it. The problem is that the quieter fans used in other power supplies won't draw the heat as well as the Silverstone power supplies -- though most power supplies aren't designed to be the main source of drawing away the heat of a hot processor.

Having said that, I've had no problems centering my NT06 LITE over the fan on the ST60F. (And I'm using the PP03 short cable kit as well, but I've heard that the PP03 was being discountinued.)
 
wow, thats the kind of PSU i really needed. thanks for the link. ill get one when i can get up the money for it.
 
i cant find that powersupply (ST600) on newegg, is there any place selling it?
 
FiZuR said:
i cant find that powersupply (ST600) on newegg, is there any place selling it?
Click to expand...

I think he meant ST60F. As for the PP03 short cable set, it appears to have been discontinued by Silverstone. I haven't been able to find one anywhere. I know sffclub lists it on their site but that site hasn't been updated in a year. I emailed them about availability but received no reply. See my post here:

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032734113&postcount=8
 
FiZuR, that's out of stock.

Tiraides, I am not incredibly sensitive to noise, but I don't want it to be incredibly loud you know? I was thinking about the 500W power supply although it's not modular, and I heard people have problems with the two hard drive bays at the bottom (mine are SATA and I heard that the SATA cable won't work so well at powering both).
 
i dont mind much noise either, i usually have headphones on and it doesnt bother me. Being that the power supply sits right over my video card, i would like it to be able to pull out the heat my card generates and have some short cables, else i am going to have to make them short myself.
 
You'll probably have to. I haven't found the PP03 cables anywhere in stock, although they are still listed on Silverstone's website.
 
I have a RaidMAX RX-420KS powersupply sitting in my closet. Is that going to be a lot better than this apevia one?
 
FiZuR said:
I have a RaidMAX RX-420KS powersupply sitting in my closet. Is that going to be a lot better than this apevia one?
Click to expand...

Little or no info on that Raidmax PSU after a google search. So can't say if it will be better. Just get rid of that Apevia ASAP. Every minute you use it you're slowly killing your PC.
 
ill put the raidmax in, atleast ive heard of them before, should be a little better.
 
Topower makes semi-decent units. However the specs aren't that impressive for a 600W PSU. I know of many other 450W PSUs that offer just as much power as that Topower on the +12V rail.

Don't cheap out on the PSU. It is one of the most important parts in a PC. Just get the Corsair PSU that I recommended earlier. It's of vastly superior quality than the Topower PSU above. And it's only $10 more than the Topower once you factor in shipping.
 
i like the 33a on the 12v rail, thats really nice. and using a 450watt PSU, would that leave me any room for potential overclocking in the future?
 
FiZuR said:
i like the 33a on the 12v rail, thats really nice. and using a 450watt PSU, would that leave me any room for potential overclocking in the future?
Click to expand...

Yes that Corsair PSU will leave you with a lot of room for potential overclocking. I can't tell if you're talking about the Corsair PSU or the Topwer 600W PSU with the 33A comment. Anyway, just note that the fact that a lower wattage PSU (Corsair) that has just about the same amount of power as a higher wattage PSU (Topower) on the +12V rail should tell you something about the quality of the higher wattage PSU: It's not good.
 
 
was really tricky getting that unit in the case. Had to be creative with the MB power cords and had to modify the backplate so that the holes for the screws would line up.
 
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