New builder, 1st build, need GPU advice.

[godsizesnakeyes]

Got interested in building over a year ago and have been researching ever since, finnaly building a budget comp for the first time. Comp will be use as a media/gamer PC on a tight budget. Keep in mind I am currently on a 5 year old gateway so even a budget build is a huge upgrade for me. I also love building and modding just about anything so its turning out to be a really fun project.


Case is a Rosewill with good airflow and cooling with the stock setup but I'm in the process of modding it for even better cooling since I plan to OC the CPU.

CPU 64x2 Brisbane 4000 2.1ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681910377

Board GIGABYTE GA-MA69G-S3H
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128052

For HD I plan on going with a WD SE16 series, not sure if I'm going with 250 or 320 gig yet, waiting for one to go on sale or pop in a promo email from the egg. Heres a link to the 250gb.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822144701

PSU Antec Earthwatts 380w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005
I know It's a low wattage PSU and cant handle a top end GPU but with rebates and sales I was able to pick it up for a grand total of 19.99. Seems to be a good little PSU from reviews and can handle more than alot of 500w PSUs
out there.

For memory I still havn't chose between these two so mabey someone can help me out. I plan on going with Vista 64bit and upgrading to a total of 4gb of memory. Starting with 2gb to keep within budget.
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231098
or
Transcend AxeRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820208329



I'm pretty confident I have a good set up going in this type of budget. I'm not expecting to get a top notch gamer PC but something that will last me thru a year or two of games coming out. To get the PC up and going I plan on using the onboard graphics and then getting a card as soon as i can. I figured If I was able to play WoW on my 5 year old comps onboard GPU (I did upgrade to a 9600pro before TBC launched) that this one on the gigabyte will be just fine for wow for a month or two, well I'm hoping so anyway.

Now heres where I'm totaly lost. I have no idea what GPU would be a good one for this comp I'm building. I dont want my system to be the bottle neck and over due it on a card that i wont get full potential out of but I dont want the card to be a bottle neck either. I'd like to go with ATI and keep it an AMD based system.

One card that really has my attention is a SAPPHIRE 100226L Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814102715

I think my 380w earthwatts may be able to power it even thou on sapphires site it says it requires a 450w PSU. On PSU calculators I'm under 200w without a GPU but with all adittional upgrades I'd ever add like HDs, fan controllers or whatever. So that leaves me with an estimated 180w to spare for my GPU considering my amps are good???

Is this video card about right for the system I'm building or is it overkill for my budget processor and low wattage PSU? Also any advice to correct flaws in my build would be appreciated. Thank you for reading and for any advice or comments.

 

[raven_87]

I understand your component selection based on price; so i'm wont argue with it. That PSU should handle your system pretty decently; I'm not sure about tossing in a raid array or multiple fan controllers - but its not a stretch to say it will suffice with the GPU you've chosen.

 

[Kamrooz]

I understand your situation completely. But honestly, I don't think your psu would handle a 3850. It will be cutting it EXTREMELY close, to the point it can restart during/starting games. Take a look at this power supply instead.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104037



Fortron Source (FSP Group) is known to make really great budget PSU's in the tier 3 range. Honestly, you can't beat it for it's price. It also has 36 amps combined on the two 12 rails. It should be able to do the job just fine for you. It's also within the same price range. Besides that, your rig looks good for a budget pc.

Honestly though, If you want to OC to the limits, you would get a LOT more for your money out of a Intel rig, Like nabbing a Allendale processor and a Gigabyte P35-DS3L.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059&Tpk=p35-ds3l

I haven't seen any of these in action. But I've heard many good things about OC'ing them to pretty much a 100% oc...around 3 ghz. Let someone else comment on this since I've not attempted a allendale 2xxx/4xxx OC. So if someone could comment to help him out that'd be great. Stock wise, that AMD x2 is perfect. But if you plan to oc, you might be better off with a budget intel rig.

Hopefully this can help you out a bit, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Whether you go intel or AMD, make sure you nab that Fortron psu!..it's a great Tier 3 value PSU for the price. Of course it doesn't have a mail in rebate. But I don't think a 380 watt PSU will cut it for your rig..You will be pretty much right at the limit. Also keep in mind, as a PSU ages, it begins to lose some of it's potential and slightly drops on its output. You'll end up having to buy another psu. May as well nab that Fortron PSU to stop that from happening. Ask away if you have any comments/concerns/questions.

 

[rockyjohn]

The Antec Earthwatts 380 PSU is currently $29.99 at newegg rather than $19.99. For just $20 more, you can step up the the Earhtwatts 500 which I would strongly suggest you do - to ensure you have ample power for current requirements (and meet GPU minimum requirements) and to keep option open for modifications in the future.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

 

[godsizesnakeyes]

Thanks for the replys.

I did get the EA380 for $19.99 cause of $10 instant savings that newegg had the first few days of the $30 rebate offer. I almost wish I held off cause of the rebate now on the 500w. The FPS looks like a good PSU and I've heard good things about that brand but it has the 120 fan on top. With the case I have the straight thru air design works out alittle better with the PSU air flow design of the case so I'm going to stick with the earthwatts series.

Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147086 PSU in front and sideways so air passes into the case thru the PSU and right out the other side.

I dont really have any plans for raid, fan controlers, muiltifunction panels, or anything like that and I'm just using a single DVD burner so I think I can get by with the EA380 and a "decent" GPU. If it comes to needing a bigger PSU then I'll do it but for now I'm going to see if I can get by cause I'm curious if my $20 PSU is gona hold up before I dish out more $$.

But lets say the EA380 will power a 3850 card or I upgraded to a 500w PSU. Is the performance of a 3850 in line with the rest of my system or is it overkill?

 

[raven_87]

Yes, the performance is in line with your system. But I can guarantee now a raid 0 setup, fan controllers etc will stress that PSU to its max. If not you'll find out real quick on boot =)