Power Supply Wattage

[thedragn1]

Well, its that time again to build a new pc. I ran the numbers and now I'm excited. Here's my current build. Yes I'm going with AMD and I realize amd sucks right now and yes I'm low on money, don't try and persuade me to switch to intel. If I had the money I would.

Case: Thermaltake Matrix VX w/ 2 120mm case fans, 1 in front and back
Power Supply: Antec True Power II 430W
Motherboard: Asus A8V32-SLI Deluxe
CPU: AMD S939 90nm 4800+ 2.4ghz - overclocked to 2.6ghz w/ stock cooler (yes bad)
Ram: Corsair Twinx2048-3200C2 - overclocked w/ cpu of course (2GB)
Video Card: XFX 8800GT XXX Edition PCI-E 2.0
Hard Drives: (2) Hitachi Raid-0 sata-2 80gb
(1) Maxtor ATA133 160GB for backup purposes only
Optical: DVD+-RW LG ATA
OS: Vista Ultimate

The original reason for getting a new computer was that my video card was PCI-e 2.0 compliant but my motherboard was not so that's like a waste of money.

Here's the computer I will be purchasing on newegg.

Power Supply: Antec NeoPower 500w - $70 + 20% off until 10/12 making it $54
Motherboard: Asus m3a32-mvp deluxe Open Box - $133
CPU: AMD Phenom 9950 Black Edition - $174
Fan: Zalman 9700- $70
Ram: Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5D 2GB - $25 After $40 Mail In Rebate until the 15th

So that comes up to $457, pretty reasonably priced in my mind

But the kicker is that if I sell my ps, mobo, cpu, and ram on ebay, I came up with $400, believe it or not. That's what everybody has been getting for my exact same components.

My question for you guys is the power supply. In the asus manual for the motherboard, it recommends a 600w power supply. For what processor it doesn't say. I'm getting the best processor you can put in it. My Video card alone recommends 500w in non-sli form. I do plan to overclock the phenom as far as I can safely with fan cooling so I was also looking at the antec neopower 650w which was $95 after the 20% off, quite a bit more, which I would rather not spend obviously. I do not have any extra money. Do you guys have any other suggestions maybe on any other brands of power supplies? This motherboard has to have the 8 pin 12v connector which most do not have until you get above 500w. Thanks for all your help.

O yea, and I have to make a decision by tomorrow, the 12th by midnight because the 20% off the power supplies ends then.

 

[Proximon]

Do you really believe you are going to SLI that 8800GT? given your budget I think you won't, and that makes your choices all bad.

You don't actually need a 600W for that build, but I would recommend one anyway... I happen to know of a quality PSU that is being replaced with a newer model, and you can get it for cheap right now... link below.

Open box is always a bad plan.

You do not have to spend $70 on a CPU cooler, especially one that does not do an excellent job.

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131329
P43 MB NEW $85

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115018
Intel Q6600 $180

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211188
4Gb good RAM $60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010
OCZ 600W $75 (-$25.00 MIR = $50)

Xigmatek CPU cooler + bracket + thermal paste = ~$50.00


So, for about the same total after shipping and tax, you get a better system.

 

[ZOldDude]

Never buy "open box"...it is -used- and already another persons problem he sent back.

Get a PC Power & Cooling PSU.

 

[zenmaster]

Your current PSU is perfect fine for that build.
No need to upgrade at this point in time.
Especially considering your tight budget.

The 9950 is on sale at Frys.

 

[ragsters]

The zalman 9700 is awesome what are you talking about Proximon?

 

[thedragn1]

Let me clear up some things, I'm not going to sli and my current Power supply won't work because it doesn't have the 8 pin connector for the motherboard. Mine only has the 4 pin 12v. I understand the open box thing but it certainly is cheaper. Ill look over some other brands later tonight. And by the way zenmaster, NICE FIND! I've had AMD all my life but who knows, in a week I may not!

 

[Proximon]

The zalman 9700 is awesome what are you talking about Proximon?

Zalman: 764G weight, $65.00 at newegg today, about 3 degrees Celsius less cooling under load then the Xigmatek.

Xigmatek: 600G weight, $44 with bracket, 3 degrees cooler under load then the Zalman CNPS9700 LED, a bit quieter.

 

[thedragn1]

Proximon, I don't think it matters, but I was referring to the Zalman 9700NT, the nickel uh, colored one... I think the only difference is fan control on it. Thanks for all the help guys, because of you all, I have saved a lot! I'm going with the OCZ 600w power supply for $50 and the 9950 at frys for $140. I'm going to spend most of the night tonight looking over some cooler charts deciding on a cooler. I basically chose the 9700 because of all my friends have always talked about it, and it looks cool...

 

[Proximon]

The 9700NT is about 1C hotter than the one I was thinking of...

They aren't bad, just overpriced and heavy.

 

[thedragn1]

I appreciate all the help proximon.