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System Build

F

frechley

n00b
Joined
Jul 9, 2004
Messages
12
Hi everyone,

I am looking to build a new box and am looking for input. I have answered the sticky questions, but wanted to add one additional thing. In my current box I get some speaker hum. I have had the same case for many years, but have put a few new PSUs in it and always have the hum. I have also tried soundcards and onboard sound and had the hum in both cases. The only constant factor as far as power goes, is the power strip. I don't know if this info will play into any advice, but would a new power strip possibly remove the hum?

Thanks for any help/input!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
and Windows 7, Web Browsing, server to store movies for streaming to PS3, Video Conversion, Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$400 including tax/shipping (will spend more to replace gpu around Christmas)
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Sacramento, CA, USA
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.
Mobo, CPU, RAM
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Case - Antec Sonata 1
PSU - Thermaltake Purepower 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply (W0100RU)
GPU - EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB PCIx16 (512-P3-N873-AR)
HDD1 - Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 GB/s (WD6400AAKS)
HDD2 - Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 GB/s (ST3500418AS)
HDD3 - Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 GB/s (WD6400AAKS)
NIC - D-Link AirPlus G Wireless Network adapter (DWL-G5100) (maybe, but using wired right now)
6) Will you be overclocking?
Possibly, but never have before and it is not a priority. (Have always had AMD and didn't care to OC)
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1080, 21.3"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next week or so
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.
Onboard sound. Gigabyte and Z68 chipset. Prefer ATX, not mATX. Anything else is a bonus.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 (64bit)
 
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You'll want to replace that PSU, especially when you get a new GPU. Which vidcard do you plan on upgrading to?

Are you ever in the Santa Clara area, near MicroCenter? Though, unless they bring their deal back ($40 off any intel board w/ CPU purchase), then it's probably not worth the drive for you. An i5 2400, Z68-DS3, and 8GB DDR3-1333 would be around $325. You could use the rest for a decent PSU.

Any particular reason you want Z68 and Gigabyte specifically?
 
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Why do you suggest replacing the PSU? I had thought I would need to before I started looking at builds, but I swear I have seen people using a 500W psu with an i5 and even a geforce 460.

I want to get a Gigabyte board because, from my reading, they are the easiest boards to use for ********** builds. Z68 I wanted to use more just b/c it allows overclocking and the virtu GPU virtualization feature. As for the vidcard, I am currently thinking of this: EVGA GeForce GTX 460.
 
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frechley said:
Why do you suggest replacing the PSU? I had thought I would need to before I started looking at builds, but I swear I have seen people using a 500W psu with an i5 and even a geforce 460.

I want to get a Gigabyte board because, from my reading, they are the easiest boards to use for hackintosh builds. Z68 I wanted to use more just b/c it allows overclocking and the virtu GPU virtualization feature. As for the vidcard, I am currently thinking of this: EVGA GeForce GTX 460
Click to expand...

Also, the reason why you want to replace that PSU is that it's an older design that's ill-suited to anything modern. Besides, PSUs of similar quality to that Purepower degrade in performance after being used for several years. As a result, that PSU might not be able to deliver anywhere near its full "500W" rating. In fact, the PurePower 500W was introduced at a time when Thermaltake rated basically all of its PSUs with false ratings - ratings that are higher than what their PSUs can actually provide. You see, that Purepower 500W is really an old CWT design that's in the same generation as the notorious Antec SmartPower 2.0 line of PSUs. The W0100RU really cannot handle anywhere near 29A on the +12V rail. But the GTX 460 requires a PSU with 34A or more on the +12V rail just to even work at all. So, this is how older 500W PSUs are not really 500W at all - but only 350W at best.
 
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Thank you for the detailed response about the PSU. I don't know anything about PSUs, so I appreciate the detailed response. At the very least, I now have a few things to go research and try to learn about in regards to PSUs.

Also, based on what you said and some reading I just did, I am thinking my PSU isn't even powerful enough for my current system (with an Athlon64 x2 3000+ and the 9800GTX+) given the decrease in performance over time. Am I right about that?

This is what I am thinking of getting as a PSU: OCZ Fatal1ty 550W Modular Gaming Power Supply. Does that seem appropriate? If so, I am planning on ordering that specifically today.

On another note, I could probably bump my budget to 450 and the PSU will run me 35 plus tax, if I order today.
 
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frechley said:
Also, based on what you said and some reading I just did, I am thinking my PSU isn't even powerful enough for my current system (with an Athlon64 x2 3000+ and the 9800GTX+) given the decrease in performance over time. Am I right about that?
Click to expand...
It's barely handling it.
frechley said:
This is what I am thinking of getting as a PSU: OCZ Fatal1ty 550W Modular Gaming Power Supply. Does that seem appropriate? If so, I am planning on ordering that specifically today.
Click to expand...
No. Fairly low quality PSU. It is better than your current PSU but still not worth buying.

Prelim recommendation:
$190 - Intel Core i5-2400 CPU
$114 - Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
$52 - Kingston Hyper KHX1600C9D3K2/8G 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$64 - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-520 520W PSU
---
Total: $420 shipped.

A little over your budget but totally worth every penny. I went with Amazon.com because they do not charge CA residents tax.
 
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Thank you Danny Bui!

I know it would raise the price about $30, but is there any point in me going with the 2500k instead? I was wondering if getting the slightly faster cpu might help my system still perform decently 3 years out. I'm not sure what the performance difference might feel like now )or 3 years from now)...
 
The 2500K is only worth it if you're planning on overclocking past 3.6Ghz and/or you need the faster onboard video for some reason. Besides that, the 2500K isn't worth it over the 2400.
 
Perfect. Thanks for the help. Amazon Prime might get this all to me tomorrow! What's up now?!

On another note, you recommended the board I had my eye on at Newegg and the RAM is slightly better than what I had thought of getting.

So, thanks again.
 
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