nametaken said:
I ended up with an ASUS M4A87TD EVO m/b,AM3 Phenom II X4 955 BE , 16GB RIPJAWS DDR3 1333mhz , ASUS HD6950 2GB . Crucial 64GB C300 SSD bootdrive and a WD 1.5 TB 7200rpm hdd. . Still waiting to pick out a good PSU. I want at least an 850 to 1000WATT Modular-all this fits in an NZXT M59 case. Also...advice on this...do I absolutely need a fan controller ? I have two 140mm on top, 1 120 or 140 in the clear door and a 120mm in front and the 120 rear top.. Top fans all are exhaust with the lower fans intake. 5 fans not counting CPU cooler and PSU fan , so , Controller necessary ? Thanks for all the help !
nametaken
Take a look at top tier PSU's, like Corsair AX series, Silverstone, Enermax, Thermaltake, Antec, Cooler Master and other better quality units. I'd stick with the 80+ rated PSU's, preferably the gold rated ones. Good ones have great cooling as well. I have a Corsair AX-850 and it is so quiet I wonder sometimes if it is working. A good PSU might extend the life of your board/cpu and will last a long time, thanks to its' quality parts. A cheap PSU is just that. Use the PSU wizards on various PSU maker sites to determine the minimum size you need for your setup. The sweet spot these days is 750 watts. I got a bigger one to future proof it some in case I go with two GPU's.
As for fans, you do not need a controller, but it can make the job easier. I don't use one. I run 7 fans (including CPU & PSU) in my case and some are connected to power via the mobo fan connections and some via molex 12v connections. It depends where the fans are, how loud they are, how big they are, how the thermals are in your case, etc as to what you should do. Experiment with different setups and see what does the job best. Even try turning some off and see the results. You may not need as many. Also, I would suggest you use the front fan as an intake and all the others as exhaust. That creates a negative pressure inside the case and draws the heat out fast and effectively. I have found the fans do not need to running full out....700 rpm on a 140mm 1000 rpm fan does the job without sounding like a plane taking off. I connect my back and top big fans to the board and let the boards' thermal control adjust the speeds. Of course always run the CPU fan from the CPU connector and adjust the speed via the BIOS power settings. You can download a trial version of "Hardware Monitor Pro" off the web and watch your thermals and adjust your fans accordingly. It will also show you the rpm of the fans connected to the board.
All the best.