Upgrade help?

hossdaddy

hossdaddy

2[H]4U
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Mar 1, 2007
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hey guys I am having a tough time picking a psu for my buddy. Will the Corsair 400w do the job? Its got 30 amps on the 12v rail, but he may overclock the cpu. This is what I am looking at for him, He already has a hd and dvd drive. Hes trying to keep it around $400 and is gaming on a 19" lcd @ 1280x1020. Its a gaming machine but he does some video encoding hence the tri core vs dual core.

SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB $99.99 + fs
CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W $59.99 - $20 mir + fs
Antec Three Hundred + G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 $89.94
AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black + ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX $208.99

Total: $458.91

What do you think? Enough psu?
 
Yup, no problem man. It may only be 400 watt PSU but with 30A on the +12V, how many 400W psu put out 30A on the +12V rail? You know, for a little more, you can pickup the BFG LS-550 with 40A on the +12V rail for $60 at Provantage.com
 
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but how many amps do you really need on the 12v rails for a 4850?

What do you think of this psu
 
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fromeo85 said:
AMD Phenom 8750 Toliman 2.4GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Triple-Core Processor & ASUS M3N78-EM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8300 - $159.98

Antec BP550 Plus 550W & Antec Three Hundred - 109.94

OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB & EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ - 164.98

Total w/o s+h = $434.90
Click to expand...

x3 8750 is not good cpu for gaming... I would suggest getting the dual core if he really wants to keep it under $400 mark. x2 250 or 550 is good budget CPU for the price. x2 250 will get to 3.6 GHz @ 1.4v (240 fsb x 15) Cool 'n' quite enable.
 
I will go Intel Build on this one. Yeah, a Phenom II X3 720 or X2 550 will beat this Intel Pentium E6300 cpu at stock speeds but, the Intel cpu has the edge in o/c with better power efficiency. Also, this meets the $400.00 budget. I'm sure your friend is currently running something alot slower than this.

CASE - Rosewill R230-P-BK ATX Mid Tower for $29.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075

MOBO - GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L for $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380

CPU - Intel Pentium E6300 Wolfdale 2.8ghz for $82.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116091

VIDEO CARD - Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB for $99.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

PSU/RAM - Antec Earthwatts 430W + G. Skill 4GB DDR2 1066 both for $94.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.204214

Total: $387.94 before shipping & taxes


Or, you go with this


CASE - Rosewill R230-P-BK ATX Mid Tower for $29.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075

CPU/MOBO - AMD Phenom II X2 550 + Asus M4A78 Plus both for $184.98 ($10 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.211674

VIDEO CARD - Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB for $99.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

PSU/RAM - Antec Earthwatts 430W + G. Skill 4GB DDR2 1066 both for $94.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.204214

Total: $409.94 before shipping & taxes
 
Another build to consider also:

CASE - Rosewill R230-P-BK ATX Mid Tower for $29.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075

CPU/MOBO - AMD Phenom II X2 250 + Asus M4A78 Plus both for $156.99 ($10 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.211678

VIDEO CARD - Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB for $99.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

PSU/RAM - Antec Earthwatts 430W + G. Skill 4GB DDR2 1066 both for $94.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.204214

Total: $381.95 before shipping & taxes
 
wow thanks for all the build suggestions HardwareGuru. One thing you might have missed is that he will be doing some video work, converting demos to avi or something so he was thinking more than 2 cores. How much faster are the tri-cores that these dual cores you are showing here?
 
What he wants and what his budget can do ain't the samething, he needs another $100 for good video editing pc.
 
This X3 710 won't O/C as well as the BE X2 550 or X3 720, but, this is pretty decent for the price while keeping it close to $400 budget.

CASE - Rosewill R230-BK for $29.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075

MOBO - ASRock A780GMH/128M for $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157154

VIDEO CARD - Sapphire Radeon HD4850 for $99.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX For $59.99 w/free shipping ($20 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

CPU/RAM - AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6ghz + Corsair XMS2 4GB DDR2 1066 both for $154.99 ($15 MIR on Ram)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.203459

Total: $414.95 before shipping & taxes.


But, this build for $400 looks pretty damn sweet

CASE - Rosewill R230-BK for $29.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075

MOBO - ASRock A780GMH/128M for $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157154

PSU/RAM - Antec Earthwatts 430W + G. Skill 4GB DDR2 1066 both for $94.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.204214

CPU/VIDEO CARD - AMD Phenom II X2 550 + Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 both for $204.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.206769

Total: $399.94 before shipping & taxes.
 
ASRock 780G has SB710, which might unlock other 2 cores of the 550. Good find hardwareguru...
 
I have always thought of Asrock boards as a lower quality board. Have they got better in recent years?
 
ok thanks again for all the input guys! My buddy has an Antec Earth watts 500w psu now, its 1 yr old. He is passing on his current rig to a buddy to help him out, its an amd x2 4400 with a vsiontek 3850 512mb. So what im thinking is the following build, but keep the antec 500w and pass the psu in the combo deal on to his buddy. Coincidently his buddy will be building his own system in a few months so the system will be a backup system or more than likely he will sell it off. Anyway heres the build,

SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB $99.99 + fs
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 $49.99 + fs
Antec Three Hundred + Rosewill RG430-2 430W 80Plus Certified $79.94
AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHz Socket AM3 + ASUS M2A74-AM AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 740G Micro ATX $178.99

Total: $408.91 + a little shipping.

thoughts?
 
Looks ok. I'm not sure how much OC'ing that lower end board could handle, and I can't find any reviews on it.

The HD4850 alone will need around 9A on the +12V rail, so something with at least 25A total, 30A to be safe. AsRock is still the lower end of Asus, but they make decent stuff - I'd choose them over ECS and many other brands, lol. That $400 budget is tough to work with, lol. At least that rosewill is 80+. ;)
 
ok HG I thinks thats the best blend of quality and power without totally blowing the budget.

Thnx guys I will tell you how it goes!
 
I agree, the 780G would be a better choice for $10 more. btw, Pics!
 
btw what benefits are there in that 780g board? what about un-locking the 4th core? Is that exclusive to a 790gx mobo?
 
hossdaddy said:
btw what benefits are there in that 780g board? what about un-locking the 4th core? Is that exclusive to a 790gx mobo?
Click to expand...

Too unlock cores you need southbridge feature called Advanced Clock Calibration, which SB710/SB750 support.
 
ok I like this build a lot but am unsure of the mobo. Input pls,

SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB + BIOSTAR TA790GX XE AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX $179.98
Antec Three Hundred + Rosewill RG430-2 430W 80Plus Certified $79.94
AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core + G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 $153.99
Total: $413.91

That mobo should be able to unlock the 4th core right? The Biostar site says it supports that cpu but doesnt show with version of the bios is required, meaning will it recognise the cpu without a bios update?
 
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Yup, that board should be able to unlock the 4th core (now, whether your chip can or not is up to the chip, of course, hehe). Not sure bout the BIOS version, though.
 
he has an older x2 4400 or somthing now, so worse case he can to the build with that and update the bios, then swap out the cpu. Do you like this build enginurd? Or anyone else for that matter?

Also the Biostar site says the following about teh ram

MEMORY
# Support Dual Channel DDR2 533/667/800/1066(1066 by AM2+ CPU) MHz
# 4 x DDR2 DIMM Memory Slot
# Max. Supports up to 16GB Memory

Now technically the cpu is an am3, so will that matter for the 1066mhz ram?
 
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The AM3 CPU supports both DDR2 and DDR3, so you're good. Build looks good, go for it.
 
I suggest the following:
$210 ($20MIR) - AMD Phenom II X4 940 Processor
____________ - BIOSTAR TA790GXB 790GX Motherboard
$45 ($10MIR) - OCZ 2X2GB Reaper HPC Edition DDR2-800 RAM
$111 (Coupon FIREWORKS15) - Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 512MB Video Card
$25 (Coupon EMCLVLN47) - Rosewill R220-P-BK Computer Case
$44 - XClio GoodPower 500W PSU
-------------------------------------------
Total: $435 - $30MIR = $405
-------------------------------------------
 
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Hey, the goodpower is back! or has it always been available? lol.

Thats a nice deal on the HD4870.
 
ok he missed out on a couple deals so we had to re-work it. Here are 2 builds hes looking at today,

Build #1:

Antec Three Hundred + Rosewill RG430-2 430W 80Plus Certified $79.94
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 + SAPPHIRE 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB $134.98 - $10 mir
AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black + ASUS M4A78-EM AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX $193.99
Total: $408.91
Note: he will be re-using a 1 yr old Antec Earthwatts 500w psu with the system and using the rosewill in a lower system as a back up.

Build #2:

Antec Three Hundred + Rosewill RG430-2 430W 80Plus Ce rtified $79.94
AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black + ASUS M4A78-EM AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX $193.99
EVGA 512-P3-1150-TR GeForce GTS 250 512MB + OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $154.98 I just noticed they have the wrong pic up for this ram, should I be worried?
Total: $428.91

Thoughts?

TIA!
 
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I don't think the GTS250 is worth the extra $20.

TheInfernal's build above isn't bad either, and has a better vidcard for around the same price... assuming those codes and combos still work.
 
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