[beamthegreat]

thanks for the replies. I'll build one before halloween.

 

[mattering]

Have fun with that build...and i love your profile pic

...Ikaros with k701? 

 

[beamthegreat]

Quote:

Have fun with that build...and i love your profile pic

...Ikaros with k701? 

Close, its actually Ikaros wearing an HD 800

 

[mattering]

Ahhh woops...I didn't see them properly muahaha  

 

[Jodiuh]

Quote:

Help guys!! I need to know how many watts I need to have to power my PC and a budget motherboard (hopefully under 100$). Here are the things that I have in mind. 
CPU AMD PHENOM x4 945 3.0 GHZ
GPU ATI 5870
Harddrive 1 tb 7400
ram 4gb
motherboard ???
psu ???
thanks. 

This is your new power supply. If anyone disagrees, they are wrong. Use $30 off promo code EMCZYZR42 to bring price down to $109.99. I believe this code will expire today, so hurry. As for motherboard, you're going with AMD, so I cannot in good faith recommend anything.

 

[NomadicAce]

I cannot disagree with anything Seasonic...but his system would do fine with the 550w i suggested...
 
edit:
 
http://www.excaliberpc.com/588588/seasonic-s12-energy-plus-ss-550ht.html
 
cheaper is cheaper

 

[mattering]

i'd always go 750watts just in case i wanna do something in the future haha

 

[zombiefreak]

CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600  @ 2.40GHz  
    Kentsfield 65nm Technology
RAM
    8.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 400MHz (5-5-5-18)
Motherboard
    ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5K-E (LGA775)
Graphics
    ATI Radeon HD 5850
Hard Drives
    977GB Western Digital WDC WD10EACS-00ZJB0 ATA  (IDE)    42 °C
Optical Drives
    ELBY CLONEDRIVE SCSI CdRom
    ASUS DRW-24B1ST ATA
    LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163 ATA
Audio
    ASUS Xonar DS
Monitors
    VA2223wm @ 1920x1080
    W2353 @ 1920x1080

 

[ccbass]

At this point, 750W is a minimum for any decent PC.  PSU prices have dropped significantly and there isn't really any reason not to have enough power just in case you want to upgrade.
 
So.  I'm thinking about building a new PC.  I've been pretty bored lately and as much as I love my Macbook Pro, I miss having a PC too.
 
Grrrr.
 
So much new tech has been coming out since I built my last PC for a friend when C2D/C2Q were still king. 
 
Any suggestions? 

 

[mattering]

For CPU, get like an i5 or i7 or 6 core AMD. For GPU, get like a 5770 or better...nVidia isnt really worth the price haha..and like 6GB of DDR3 1600MHz ram

and for PSU u can decide on that haha
 

 

[Jodiuh]

At this point, 750W is a minimum for any decent PC....Any suggestions? 

If you mean a clocked i7/x58/470 SLI setup, then yes that would be the minimum for a "decent" PSU.



Tech Report's system guide would be a good place to start.

 

[Nebby]

Was going to comment on that....power supply efficiencies change depending on the load. If you massively oversize the power supply there's a decent chance your system will use more power than with a smaller power supply that's more efficient at the given load.

 

[mralexosborn]

Quote:

At this point, 750W is a minimum for any decent PC.  PSU prices have dropped significantly and there isn't really any reason not to have enough power just in case you want to upgrade.
 
So.  I'm thinking about building a new PC.  I've been pretty bored lately and as much as I love my Macbook Pro, I miss having a PC too.
 
Grrrr.
 
So much new tech has been coming out since I built my last PC for a friend when C2D/C2Q were still king. 
 
Any suggestions? 

I am pretty sure a decent 650w PSU will run most single card solutions...
If you plan on upgrading to a dual GPU solution then sure.

 
Quote:

For CPU, get like an i5 or i7 or 6 core AMD. For GPU, get like a 5770 or better...nVidia isnt really worth the price haha..and like 6GB of DDR3 1600MHz ram

and for PSU u can decide on that haha
 

That's like saying Intel isn't worth the price. Sure it is more expensive but if you look at the benches then it is well worth it. I would have bought the GTX460 over my darned 5770 if it was out when I was buying parts.
Definitely 5770 or better though. My 5770 (OC'ed) runs most new games on high with a little (2x or 4x usually) AA without it getting too hot. 
 

 

[ccbass]

Quote:

For CPU, get like an i5 or i7 or 6 core AMD. For GPU, get like a 5770 or better...nVidia isnt really worth the price haha..and like 6GB of DDR3 1600MHz ram

and for PSU u can decide on that haha
 

I'm looking at the I7 Lynnfield based chip.  Nvidia has fallen behind a bit.  But holy balls batman, these double slot GPU coolers are massive. 

 
Quote:

If you mean a clocked i7/x58/470 SLI setup, then yes that would be the minimum for a "decent" PSU.



Tech Report's system guide would be a good place to start.

Maybe it's just me.  Some single card GPUs can suck up 250-300W at full bore.  300 ****ing Watts.  I think it was a AMD gpu.

 
Quote:

Was going to comment on that....power supply efficiencies change depending on the load. If you massively oversize the power supply there's a decent chance your system will use more power than with a smaller power supply that's more efficient at the given load.

There are a fair number of 80%+ efficiency 750W PSUs last time I checked.

 
Quote:

I am pretty sure a decent 650w PSU will run most single card solutions...
If you plan on upgrading to a dual GPU solution then sure.

 
That's like saying Intel isn't worth the price. Sure it is more expensive but if you look at the benches then it is well worth it. I would have bought the GTX460 over my darned 5770 if it was out when I was buying parts.
Definitely 5770 or better though. My 5770 (OC'ed) runs most new games on high with a little (2x or 4x usually) AA without it getting too hot. 
 

Intel procs are well worth it.  They dominate on all fronts, budget, moderate, and ultra expensive.  The phenoms aren't bad, but they really can't compete.
 
About the whole Nvidia and AMD battle, I thought AMD's latest offerings were raping the crap out of Nvidia offerings?

 

[NomadicAce]

Yeah a 750w psu is not required for a "decent" system. An efficient psu is always required and seasonic, corsair, silverstone, enermax all make great psus.
 
The link jodiuh gave has a good/decent  set of system suggestions, but the prices are a bit out of date. The mobo is great for the AMD build(s).

 
Most single card solutions + quad core systems can run on anything between 550-650w. I am basically only excluding the gtx 480 and the 5970, you probably can run them if you go with 650w.
 
If you do go with a multi-card setup i would go with Nvidia, as they scale a hell of a lot better than the ATI cards. Single cards I would go with 5770,       gtx 460 (1 gb version), 5850, gtx 470.
 
Instead of the 5870 I would suggest looking into 2x gtx 460 (1 gb). Past that I do not think it is worth the price of admission.
 
Edit: The gpu that sucks 300w was probably the Asus ARES 5870x2 or the 5970 which are both actually two gpus on a single pci card.