Help in finalizing my rig

[andrewcutter]

HI
I have almost finalized my config for my new system. They are
Core i7 860
P55 mobo ( not decided which company prob asus or gigabyte)
Graphics saphire 4890
Hard disk seagate 320 Gb
logitech keyboard mouse
memory DDR 3 1333 8 GB (4Gb x 2 gskil or corsir need 8 GB this way so that i can put another 8 GB later)
The case i am going for is HAF 922 ( my options are limited 922 or 932. antec is not available where i live)
My problem is that which power supply should i go for here also options are limited
cooler master silent pro 600
cooler master real 850
corsair 850 (which brand i do not know)
which one will be okay will 600 do or should i go for 850.
I will not be adding a second graphics card to this setup.
Unfortunatly i cannot wait till dx 11 comes out.
One more thing i would like to know is that how much will the rig actually consume.

thanks for all you comments in advance.

PS: I will not be overclocking my cpu in the near future neither will be opting for a second graphics card. Hence i decided that i will not get i 7 920. I need the 8 cores to as i do work in 3ds max. hence phII is out.

Andrew

 

[wathman]

Only a few suggestions to make: You'd probably want to get a better hard drive. If you can't budget in an SSD large enough, get a Seagate 7200.12 1TB, Samsung F3 1TB, or a Caviar Black 1TB. All those have 32MB cache, and have larger platter sizes, you'll have much better drive performance than an older 320GB drive.

the Corsair 850 is a great PSU, though probably bigger than what you need. Since you don't plan on doing dual GPUs, a Corsair 650 will give you plenty of power.

As for how much power your computer will use, it really comes down to how often and how long you keep your cores maxed out. If you are rendering nearly 24/7, you'll be using lots of power. If you let the system idle most of the day, it's not going to consume much more than a light bulb.

 

[andrewcutter]

thanks for the inputs watchman. I opted not to go for 1 TB as i alrady have one external. Also i was concerened about its lifetime. Some of my frends mentioed that 1 TB would not last long. Also i might chage to a 5850 when it is released.
My dealer mentioned that he does not have stock or corsir 650. So would a cooler master silent pro be enogh
Once again thanks for your inputs

 

[andrewcutter]

just one more thing.
Though i do not plan on getting a secong gpu now i might later on.......
also by comsumption i ment wht % of the psu is going to be comsumed.
Thanks

 

[wathman]

If you are concerned about drive longevity, there are enterprise class drives that perform just as well as current 1 TB drives, though have better mechanicals designed for 24/7 operation. They tend to be about 50% more expensive, though have much better MTBF ratings, and are usually covered by warranty for a longer period of time. Otherwise, there's no endurance advantage in going with a smaller drive, and if you keep the drive at a high percentage utilization, fragmentation gets worse, and can actually reduce the drive's lifespan.

As for % of the PSU output consumed, ideally you want to be at 50% since PSUs are more efficient at this load. A rough guess as to how much you'll actually use, I'd say 400 watts. If you really want a better estimate, do a search for PSU calculator, there's a number of them out there. Plug in your components, and it will estimate power draw for you.

 

[andrewcutter]

checked says 306 watts app. Just want to know one thing will a 650 W supprt 2 graphics card and what abt the amperage on the 12 v rails. Generically How much should i look out for.
lastly should i opt for corsir HX or TX......
and the unanswered ques, is silent pro(single rail 50 A) good enough if that is all i get

 

[wathman]

depending on the the graphics card, you may not be able to use two of them with a 650 W PSU. The newer, more powerful cards require 2 6 pin PCI-e power connectors, and as most 650 W PSUs only give you 2, you will only be able to use one card. Corsair's 750 W PSU comes with 4 6 pin PCI-e connectors, and will supply plenty of power for most configurations.

Actually, single 12v Rails with high amperage are a better design, when the 12v rail gets split so many times, it's possible to "trap" power on a split rail, making a portion unavailable to other devices. PCPowerandCooling.com has a nice FAQ on PSU myths: http://www.pcpower.com/technology/myths/

As for Corsair HX vs TX, the HX is more expensive because it's modular, and the TX isn't, however the TX is more power efficient because of this. that FAQ explains why modular PSUs aren't so great if you care more about performance than how your computer looks like on the inside. The newest modular ones are efficient, but that's part of why they are more expensive. Also, most people who do use dual card setups end up using just about all their power cables, so going modular doesn't improve cable crowding.

 

[andrewcutter]

okay thanks for all the inputs ill settle for the corsir 750 TX ( a bit of future prrofing in case i go for dual in 3 years) . thanks once more.......
Final config
Core i7 860
P55 mobo ( not decided which company prob asus or gigabyte)
Graphics saphire 4890 (5850 if i can get it)
Hard disk seagate 500 Gb
logitech keyboard mouse
memory DDR 3 1333 8 GB (4Gb x 2 gskil or corsir need 8 GB this way so that i can put another 8 GB later)
The case i am going for is HAF 922
pSu corsair 750 TX
thanks

 

[wathman]

Looks good, I'd just make sure you get a single platter Seagate 500GB. I'm pretty sure the 7200.12 Baracudas use single platter design, the older 7200.11 and 7200.10 have the same capacity, but use 2 platters. Some shady places will price them the same way because of the capacity, but the newer drives are way better.

 

[andrewcutter]

Thanks.... ill keep an eye out for that.

 

[andrewcutter]

hi
had to change my configuration as the 860 is not available in my place for at least 1 month more and i cannot wait that long this is my new config.
i7 920
msi x58 pro e sli
corsair 2GBx3 9 timing
500 GB seagate 7200.12
haf 922
HD 4890
650 W corsair PSU

this config itself has stretched my budget.
about the psu. i thought ill stick to one graphics card. However i reasoned out that since even 2 graphics requires less than 600 watts plus the psu gives 52 amps i can use an adpter in case i want 2 cards in future. My main grudge is graphics card. since i cant wait im confused between the 4890 and 4870. nvidia is more costly where i live. ill probably keep it for 1 year and then get a dx 11 card then. So should i go for the 4890 or 4870. ( I think these cards give more performance over 4850 to justifyy extra cost. But cant decide between them)
Second doubt i have is wether to go for cm 690 instead of haf 922. (only available options).
Any help would be appreciated 20 times over
thanks in advance
will be buying this tommorrow....

 

[wathman]

the 4890 would be the way to go if you're on a budget. ATI just released the 5000 series cards today, and they are better than anything on the market, problem is that you can't really find them anywhere yet. Newegg had some that went on sale this morning, but sold out within a matter of minutes I think. The 4890 "should" be priced around $150-$190, but if you are buying locally, it will take longer for those cards to reach that price point.

Personally, I like the haf 922, and is my current desktop case. The 690 isn't bad by any means, I just like the designof the haf 922 more.