Raymond Luxury Yacht on 19/8/2011 at 02:27
I am trying to decide if I would be better off with a 600W power supply or a 650W 80+ power supply. I understand a little about what it means - 80% efficiency and all. I just wonder if I'd end up using more electricity with it than if I just got the 600W supply. Of course, my other dilemma is, that the 600W power supply is a generic one, while the 650W 80+ is a Cooler Master or Thermaltake. At the same time, the computer company has a three year warranty on parts, so I am tempted to go with the generic, and assume the warranty will cover me if it craps out early. But I know a quality power supply is paramount to my system, so I should spend the extra money up front.
Opinions? Please?
Koki on 19/8/2011 at 05:41
A 500W(There really is no reason for you to have 600 most likely, also it's easier to calculate) power supply will always supply (up to) 500W, no matter the efficiency. The efficiency only affcts how much electricity it draws from the wall. If it's 80% efficient, it will draw 600W to supply 500W.
Buying a no-name and waiting for a disaster to happen under warranty is a quite itneresting way of doing it, but there is no guarantee that the disaster will happen at all. What if you just get system instability, RAM access errors, random crashes, etc.? You'll send the PC back to the shop, they'll test everything and it will be fine and you'll get it back again. It's just a waste of time and PSUs are usually just a fraction of the price of a complete rig.
Aerothorn on 19/8/2011 at 06:11
I've lost at least two computers to generic PSUs. It's simply not worth the case.
That said, it's true - assuming you're not running dual GPUs or anything, it's unlikely you need 650w. I'm running a gaming rig on 380w, and while I don't recommend you do so (I cut it really close on my power usage) 650 is wholly unnecessary. (
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp)
Ostriig on 19/8/2011 at 08:31
Like the others said, don't skimp out on the PSU. Get a reliable branded one, something with good feedback around the net.
Regarding wattage, you should also think whether you want to make any upgrades while still on this PSU. I got a 750W Corsair with the possibility of later on adding a second GTX570 for SLI in mind. Had a look at Aero's calculator, and with my current setup it comes out to around ~500W recommended. Add in a second graphics card and it goes up to ~680W. So it's definitely worth keeping in mind what other parts you might want to add in the future, better to drop an extra £20 now on a PSU that affords you all the leeway you'd likely need than have to buy an altogether new one when you cross that bridge.
Koki on 20/8/2011 at 06:28
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
I'm running a gaming rig on 380w
whaaat
Raymond Luxury Yacht on 23/8/2011 at 01:43
I used both Aero's and Cooler Master's calculators, and both came out to around 350W required for my intended setup (Phenom II quad cores, decent video card and around 6 or 8 GB of Ram, with a Sata hard drive and 1 or 2 optical drives). I will be replacing a P4 setup from April of '04, when the day comes that it goes to the computer afterlife. I suppose I could try to replace the hard drive, but I don't know how easy it is to find an IDE hard drive, and I haven't been able to run games well since FEAR.
So, it appears that i am stuck with the generic, if I choose to configure my computer on CyberpowerPC, since they offer only generic 450W and 500W PSUs. If i want a Corsair, thermaltake or Cooler Master, I will have to add at least $80 and take a 600W or more PSU. SO I am considering just buying a 500W Cooler Master online, getting the cheapo 450W and swapping them out myself, though it seems like a waste of time and money. I had considered building my own, but was swayed toward a prebuilt, for both simplicity (already done, for about the same price) and warranty. But if a cheapo PSU is all I can get for the power requirements I will have, it seems there's only the choice of replacing the PSU immediately.
It also seemed a little odd in the configuring that a card with a power requirement 2 measly watts over a different choice made the PSU requirement jump from 500W to 600W.
Ostriig on 23/8/2011 at 14:54
Quote Posted by Raymond Luxury Yacht
I had considered building my own, but was swayed toward a prebuilt, for both simplicity (already done, for about the same price) and warranty.
You're in the States, right? Have a look on Newegg.com, 'cause unless there's a colossal difference between the US and the EU markets in this regard the bolded part shouldn't be even in the same zip code as true. I know that I made enormous savings from buying parts and doing the handywork myself, if I'd bought the same rig pre-built it would've ran me an extra 30%+ more, thereabouts I believe.
If you feel confident in your ability to assemble PCs, I'd definitely suggest you take a long hard look at the parts options. It's true that it's probably less of a hassle to have a full system warranty, when you have parts warranties the onus is still on you to figure out where the fault lies if you run into trouble, but the former isn't
entirely hassle free either - you know how customer support can get. At the end of the day it's about what's better value for you.
Raymond Luxury Yacht on 23/8/2011 at 23:31
Comparing parts on Amazon and an assebled one on CyberpowerPC (where I was initially looking) I saved around $100 (750 for the Cyberpower one, $650 on Amazon) and it seemed that there was free shipping on just about all the pieces on Amazon, where Cyberpower looked to be $75 shipping. I definitely can't sneeze at $175; I am not 100% comfortable building it myself, but having replaced just about all the hardware, save for replacing a mother board, and installing a CPU, none of it is very hard. However, that parts I haven't dome are what makes me a little nervous, since the whole rig is shot if I mess up that part.
I guess I can go with the saying 'Learn by Doing'...
Ostriig on 24/8/2011 at 08:51
From what I heard about Newegg it's really supposed to be the dog's bollocks, you might be able to make even better savings than through Amazon, I'd still suggest having a look.
Assembling a PC isn't that hard I'd say, but you know, it's up to your level of confidence, can't say whether it would work out the same way for you. The biggest issue is that if you put everything together and then it doesn't power on, then it's up to you to start going through it to decide whether it's some connector you missed or if it's a part that's DOA. If you have a friend that's reasonably familiar with this sort of thing you could also ask him to give you a hand, a second pair of eyes could help even if they don't necessarily know more than yours.
Installing a CPU is fairly easy, just pay attention to the way it's supposed to fit into the slot (they're marked on one of the corners), don't put too much force in the hinges for the thingiebob that fixes it in place, and when installing the cooler over it make sure that its shafts go all the way in until they click. Most of this should be in the processor's installation manual. I don't know about AMDs, but mainstream Intels these days don't need any extra paste, the existing thermal pad is enough if you don't overclock. Also, you should make sure that you're not charged, so preferably wear an electrostatic wristband when handling these parts or at the very least touch something metallic before you do.
Now, regarding the mainboard, I don't think there much of a chance you can ruin it, short of bending or breaking something from applying an insane amount of force, or maybe from discharging a static jolt into the chipset. I imagine that the biggest issue is that if you plug stuff into the wrong other stuff, it's either not gonna work at all, or partially (like, say, the case fans if you forget to plug them in like I did with my lastest build). But I doubt there's many ways you can put things together to turn into into an electric grill. And again, most of the process is explained in the manual, so with patience and maybe a bit of Google you should be able to get through it fine.
Matthew on 24/8/2011 at 09:33
The CPU itself is fairly straightforward; it's the cooler that you should watch out for. Some of them take enough force to fit that you become sure that you're going to snap the board (hello Core i7 stock cooler).
