Building a new rig, need help making sure everything is fine and choosing the correct PSU

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
C

Cirius

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
8
0
4,510
Hi!

I've been reading those forums a whole lot in the past few days while picking parts for my new system. Even tough I know some things about computers and I have built 1 or 2 in the past, it's been a really long while since I sat down and planned one from scratch.

I've picked parts that I think are good enough while staying not to expensives and I have a couple of parts that I'll harvest from the old machine when rebuilding the new one.

Here are the part that I have chosen for now and I'd like to have the opinion of those of you who have more experience than me in building systems about possible compatibility issues or any other issues you could see.

Also, I really don't know how big a PSU I really need. Different calculators are giving me really different answers. (Extreme.outervision gives me 523W, Asus 650W and partpicker 397W...) I've read some of the posts on PSU here too, but I'm not too sure if I understood everything so...


Here's what I plan to do ATM :

Motherboard : MSI Z87-G55
CPU : Intel i5-4670K
RAM : Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 2X8GB
GPU : Gigabyte GTX 760
SSD : Crucial M500 240GB

I also have 2 SATA HDD that I plan to keep (a 2TB which is pretty recent and a older 250GB, i might get rid of the 250GB one tough, not sure at that point) and a SATA DVD-RW drive that I'll keep from the old system.

At first I was going to keep my old case :
Antec Performance TX1050B
but I think I'll switch to a newer case with better airflow :
NZXT Source 530
since I probably need a stronger PSU than the 500W I already have.

Sorry for the long post, and I hope some of you can give me a hand with my questions.

Have a great day!
 
Solution
Karadjgne
Sort by date Sort by votes
T

tracebusterbuster

Reputable
Apr 19, 2014
23
0
4,520
You've done the right thing by checking a couple of calculators. Judging by the parts you've picked this is a fairly serious build so just play it safe with the PSU. 600-650W min. ASUS figure will be fairly conservative with a decent buffer
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
C

Cirius

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
8
0
4,510


Total budget is around 1200$ CAD (including shipping and taxes) so I guess for the PSU I'd have around 100$ or so.

Not planning on OC or going SLI in the neat future but out of curiosity, how much more power would that take?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Karadjgne

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Dec 26, 2012
30,740
4,559
142,790
Cases are by far the most personal choice when it comes to building a pc, simply due to taste. Do you prefer the wild looks and designs of the Apavia's or the more sedate and clean looks of nzxt source, something tough looking? Something futuristic? Do you need USB3.0 up front? Or do you plan on using a USB3.0 card reader that has 3.0 ports? Knowing things like that, a case or cases can be found that are decent quality and good airflow that meet your tastes and requirements.

You can power a gtx 760 all day long on a 500w psu, as long as it is one of some quality. I've seen 650w psu's I wouldn't trust to power a gtx 650, so knowing what you have is a good place to start.

Future plans are also a consideration. Is SLI a good possibility? 2x 760's in SLI will out perform a gtx 780 in more than a few games, for less money.The trade off being in some games SLI is worse than a single gpu. In that case, a quality 750w psu would be more advisable, then you wouldn't have that upgrade to worry about spending on.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
C

Cirius

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
8
0
4,510


For cases I'm still undecided between keeping the old tank that is my Antec and switching to the simple design of the NZXT. I like really big cases so it's gonna be a full tower.

Also, the PSU I own now is the Antec SP-500 that came with the case when I bought it 5-6 years ago. Never had any problem with it and it should be ok with the 2 6-pin PCI-E and 4 SATA connectors too...

So you guys think I could keep the 500W I have now? That would be pretty nice and if someday I decide to do SLI, I could upgrade it at that time.

Is there any way to be sure there is enough power when everything is set up if I decide to keep the 500W ? Also, what's the worst that could happen if it's not strong enough?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Karadjgne

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Dec 26, 2012
30,740
4,559
142,790
Nothing, until more amperage is demanded than the psu can provide to the gpu (that's the real power hog in any system) then right during a real heavy graphics scene with multiple demands on the CPU, something will have to give, and that's usually the gpu, and you get black screened. Also, stressing a psu's rails towards max will generate a terrific amount of heat, possibly driving the psu into thermal shutdown at best, at worst you burn up the psu.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
C

Cirius

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
8
0
4,510
So I finally decided I'm gonna spend a few more bucks to get a new PSU and keep the old one in the old rig so it'll still work and I'll try to sell it since it's still working pretty good for some mid-level gaming.

Anyway, it's bringing me to a follow-up question about PSUs...which one should I buy!

After reading some reviews on a couple of sites, I'm thinking one of these three :

Rosewill Xtreme 850W for the extra power, just in case
Rosewill Capstone 750W more energy efficient and got really nice reviews
Antec Truepower 750W energy efficient and a more known brand

From what I understood about the kinda technical reviews I've read on those three, the Capstone seems to be a great unit for a great price. Still, I wanted to have the opinions of some of you on that too.

Thanks a lot for your previous answers, they have been really helpful!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
tiny voices

tiny voices

Titan
Sep 6, 2012
34,175
5
99,965


Sorry, but this is not true. When a PSU has more than one 12v rail, certain cables don't pull form one rail or the other. All the rails work at the same time all the time. It is just a way of making PSUs differently. It is not better or worse and does not require ANY special attention. Spreading the load is 100% myth.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

tracebusterbuster

Reputable
Apr 19, 2014
23
0
4,520


Damn, I hate learning
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Karadjgne

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Dec 26, 2012
30,740
4,559
142,790
The psu is the heart of your system, its individualy the single most important component in a pc. It directly touches on every other component. So, cutting any corner on quality is most definitely ill advised.

Antec 620w semi-modular High Current Gamer.
XFX 550w pro series.
Seasonic M12ii bronze 620w semi-modular.

All 3 made by Seasonic, all 3 are tier 1 psu's, there is no better.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C

Cirius

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
8
0
4,510


Thanks for the suggestion, the problem with that XFX is that its price is almost double the one of the US up here in Canada...

Edit : Seems like NCIX have it for about the same price as the first 3 I posted...would have liked to order all the pieces at the same place, but for around 40$ less, I'll get over it. Any other opinions on the XFX?



Those are probably all great, but since I plan to maybe go SLI with 2 GTX760, I'm not sure they would be strong enough if I look at some earlier answers.

I really didn't think that part would be the hardest to chose!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Karadjgne

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Dec 26, 2012
30,740
4,559
142,790
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
C

Cirius

Reputable
Apr 20, 2014
8
0
4,510


Wow, thanks for all the options!

I think I'll go with the Antec one. It's the cheapest of those (retail for as much as the Xfx, but there is a bigger snail mail rebate I'll probably receive for next Christmas), have really great reviews and, as a bonus, is modular too.

Again, I can't thank you enough for all your help
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom