Hey. My query is regarding which Power Supply I should use with my setup. As it is, I'm over budget so I'm trying to save as much as I can without losing performance.

This is what I'm planning to purchase within a couple of days:

Intel E8400 3.0Ghz
Intel DQ35JOE
BFG Tech 9800 GTX
Corsair 2x4096 Dominator 800Mhz DDR II
Segate SATA 160GB 7200 RPM
Casing: CHASSIS CM 690
WRT-54G Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router
(I'll run another SATA HD and a DVR RW as well)

So my question is, which one of the following power supplies would be sufficient to run the PC mentioned above?

- Cooler Master (Real Power Pro) 750watts
- Cooler Master Extreme Power 600watts

The Extreme Power 600 is less than half the price of the 750watt PSU here. If the 600 is good enough, I'll save a lot of money but I don't wanna end up with a PSU that can't handle the load.

Advice here would be appreciated. Also, any advice on the rig itself would be appreciated as well.

coolermaster is a junk line of power supplies. i recommend you look at PC Power and Cooling, Corsair, Seasonic, or Zalman. Ditch that motherboard too.

I see. Would a Corsair 620 WATTS SLI READY (HX620W) do the job then?

About the motherboard, I just needed one that would support the rest of the stuff (DDR II RAM @ 800Mz + the processor's 1333Mhz FSB). If there's any other at the same price, I'd take that.

Instead of Intel DQ35JOE take a look at
ASUS P5K Pro/Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R/GA-EP35-DS3R

That Dominator RAM is probably very expensive. Check for Corsair DHX modules. Unless you are goint to run Vista/XP 64bit I'd recommend getting 4GB RAM for now (2 sticks of 2048MB) if you need more you can always upgrade later when you have some extra money.

For the PSU I agree with boonality.
I'd also ditch the 160GB disk and take at least a 320GB drive (160GB models are getting old by design). From Seagate make sure it's a 7200.11 drive.
Make sure your DVD-RW is SATA also.

EDIT : Corsair HX 620W is a great choice.

CoolerMaster iGreen line are quality PSUs. Real Power Pro line is acceptable quality but avoid the Extreme Power series.
For a 9800GTX and a powerful system the Evga website suggests you'll want a 550W PSU with at least 30amps of +12v power, and 2 PCI-e power connectors.
Corsair 550VS $90 will easily power that system. Check this link for more background on Quality PSUs
With a powerful GPU avoid motherboards with build in graphics chips like the Intel DQ35JOE
Gigabyte P35 DS3L $90 is very popular with good reason.
8GB of RAM is where you can most easily save without sacrificing any performance. 4GB of DDR2 800 RAM is what you want to look for.

Ok...... looks like Corsair Dominator DDR2 800 RAM is less expensive that I'd guessed. 2GB @ $40 after rebate for those of us that can shop @ NewEgg.
The 2x2GB version is $140 after rebate. Thats a pretty big difference.

WR2 hit the nail on thye head, coolermaster PSU are not Junk line, especially if you do not want to spend as much on the PSU as you did on your Graphics card, while still being in a very nice tier of PSU's. i have recently used a modular PSU from coolermaster as it is superb, and you could argue for the price.

although i agree that a gigabit or Asus motherboard would be a better choice, the probelm is that Intel keep to much the the recommended spec of the chipset, so not always great OC'ers.

go with the real power pro, as the X-power series are a little under nurissed.

i like your choice of ram now is great time to buy High spec ram, but have you thought about using a q9300? although if you intend to OC i would stick with the e8 but if your only OC'ing a little and the future of computing being in multiple core then maybe you could consider a q9300. but like i said you cant go wrong with either of them.

i would stick with the 8Gb and getting vista x64, consider that some program are now x64 based, and there are more to come, it mean you wont have to upgrade in the future, potenially when DDR2 may higher in price, as DDR3 become the norm.

like andrius the HX620 is also a good PSU. and get at least 320Gb as the 160 are aging a bit now, WD make some very good mid range HDDs.

4x 2048MB Corsair Dominator 1066MHz C5 $278 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145197

4 x 2048MB Corsair DHX 800MHz C4 $208 after reabate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145194

4 x 2048MB Corsair DHX 800MHz C5 $168 after reabate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145176

The difference is quite large for marginal (1-3% if any) performance gains. Seriously not worth it in my opinion.

Hmm, why is that?

How's this motherboard for my current setup:

XFX Nforce 680iLT (775PINS - SND+Dual GIGA LAN) PCX SLOT Supports 2 Way SLi

Or this one?

Intel DP35DPM (775PINS - SND+GIGA LAN -1333MHZ FSB) PCX SLOT


Gigabyte isn't available with my computer dealer and I'm not planning to buy online ....


About the PSU's, I think I'll finally settle with a Corsair 620 WATTS SLI READY (HX620W).


@dobby, thanks for the informative post, man. The Q9300 isn't available in Pakistan yet - my initial choice was a Q9450, which isn't available either. I'm not much of an overclocker, I just need a PC that'd run all the new games.

About the RAM, I guess I'll stick with the Corsair Dominator (DDR II) then.

About the HD, what difference would it make if I stick with the older model? I can't really stretch my budget any further ...

If you're sure you won't want to try overclocking a bit its not so much an issue then.
With the boards available to you I'd rank them this way as for suitability for gaming:
Intel DQ35JOE = OK - limits most of your options for future overclocking
Intel DP35DPM = Good - less limiting for OC'ing, but BIOS options not optimized OC'ing
XFX Nforce 680iLT = Best option for gaming. 2nd video card optional, and OC'ing if you ever decide to try.
XFX 680i LT review @ Bjorn3D You'll want to be sure the BIOS version is P07 or higher.

If you go with the Intel motherboards they have a reputation for being fussy about RAM voltages. 1.8v RAM is usually best for those MBs.
4GB of RAM is plenty for gaming. 8GB more has almost no performance boost beyond 4GB.
HX620 is plenty of PSU for this system with 1 9800GTX. For the options 2nd 9800GTX in SLI you'd want the Corsair 750TX or better PSU.

Alright then!

Thanks a lot for your time and help, WR2! Indebted!

Not at all! Let us know how things go. And enjoy your new kick-ass system.