First build in 8 years. Tell me your thoughts.

[lehtv]

^ Agreed. And CX500 is just $50 after rebate

 

[nola000]

00

That's a lot better, but two issues remain with that build:
- RAM: The extra speed doesn't do anything, you're throwing your money away. The extra RAM speed won't matter for Ivy Bridge and Haswell after that will be DDR4 anyway. Good info. Responses like this are why I posted to this forum. How soon do you think DDR4 will be the standard and when will the cost compare with current DDR3? Would I be good with 8GB of DDR3 1333 until then? You have to remember that $50-$100 doesn't seem like a lot to someone like me who hasnt built since the early 2000's. Back then memory cost a fortune.
- PSU: That PSU is worse than the 430CX that has been recommended. Sure, it's got more wattage, but it's not very good quality. Youre killing me. 🙂 I spent way too much time today reviewing PSUs and settled, apprehensively, on the OCZ crap. I thought for my setup I would need at the very least 500W

 

[lehtv]

If 8GB is more than enough for your uses now, it's more than enough for your uses in 2013 (when Haswell is released). It's only if you decide to use your PC for something more RAM-intensive (HD video encoding, vmware, for instance, some heavy photoshopping).

I don't know if the OCZ is crap, it's probably alright... But it's not Corsair. You can still return it and get a Corsair CX500 V2. (Would prefer that over CX430. Offers a bit of upgrade room. CX430 only has 336W on the 12V rail which, CX500 has 408.)

Another option is Antec Neo Eco 520W for $55 which has a whopping 480W on the 12V rail (yeah, Seasonic 😉). Would've recommended the XFX Core 550W (better efficiency, longer warranty) which was on a $55 after rebate deal but it's out of stock (

 

[nola000]

00

^ Agreed. And CX500 is just $50 after rebate I looked at that one but it had 408W on the 12v rails compared to 450W for the OCZ. I thought I was already pushing it under 500W for this build, especially now with the 95W CPU, so I just took the highest power in the 12V. The only one higher that was under $60 was the Antec NEO ECO 520C at 480W. But that one only had one PCI-e power connector. Do I, or will I, need that much power and is there some way around powering two PCI-e devices with only one PCI-e power connector or, again, do I even need to worry about two PCI-e(Crossfire/SLI) capability?

 

[lehtv]

^ 95W CPU + 150W video card + ~75W for the rest, that's in an absolute 100% load scenario. Doable on the CX430, perfect on the CX500, easy for the neo eco.

edit: wait, what? Neo Eco 520C comes with 2 PCi-E connectors. 2 PCI-E = one 6870. You wouldn't be able to run two 6870's this size PSU anyway, you'd need a 650W PSU to be safe.

 

[nola000]

If 8GB is more than enough for your uses now, it's more than enough for your uses in 2013 (when Haswell is released). It's only if you decide to use your PC for something more RAM-intensive (HD video encoding, vmware, for instance, some heavy photoshopping).

I don't know if the OCZ is crap, it's probably alright... But it's not Corsair. You can still return it and get a Corsair CX500 V2. (Would prefer that over CX430. Offers a bit of upgrade room. CX430 only has 336W on the 12V rail which, CX500 has 408.)

Another option is Antec Neo Eco 520W for $55 which has a whopping 480W on the 12V rail (yeah, Seasonic 😉). Would've recommended the XFX Core 550W (better efficiency, longer warranty) which was on a $55 after rebate deal but it's out of stock (

DAMN! You beat me to it! 🙂

 

[nola000]

00

^ 95W CPU + 150W video card + ~75W for the rest, that's in an absolute 100% load scenario. Doable on the CX430, perfect on the CX500, easy for the neo eco.

edit: wait, what? Neo Eco 520C comes with 2 PCi-E connectors. 2 PCI-E = one 6870. You wouldn't be able to run two 6870's this size PSU anyway, you'd need a 650W PSU to be safe. I need two PCI-e connectors to run one 6870?!!

 

[lehtv]

Yes. It needs two 6-pin connectors. One 6-pin connector can supply a maximum of 75W according to the PCI-E specification, if I'm not mistaken

 

[R4in]

I agree with mfenn, and you really did bite the bullet lol.

If you want quality get the XFX Core PSU for $15 more than that OCZ

 

[nola000]

So if one wanted to run Crossfire/SLI you would have to have a PSU with 4 PCI-e connectors?

 

[lehtv]

Yes. But how many watts the PSU needs to have depends on what GPU's your getting two of, obviously. 6870 crossfire can be handled on a 650W PSU easily, but for GTX 580 SLI a 1000W PSU is recommended. Both options require four power connectors (4x6 pin for 6870's, 4x8pin for 580's)

 

[nola000]

Picking a PSU has been the hardest decision, by far. Who would have thought?

 

[nola000]

Here are the choices Ive found for PSUs (XFX Core is out of stock, as well as a few others that should be in this list)...

Antec NEO ECO 520C

Antec BP550 Plus

OCZ Fatal1ty 550W

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W

PC Power and Cooling Silencer MkII 500W

 

[R4in]

i know its a lil overkill but like i said the xfx 650 is still a good choice, im sure lehtv and mfenn can confirm

 

[lehtv]

Well, if we forget the part that it's a bit overkill for the current system, it does offer 80+ bronze efficiency, 5-year warranty and ultra stable voltage regulation for just $60 after rebate. You could easily reuse that PSU in a more powerful future build 2-3+ years from now. Its resale value is better too (given that its original price was $100.)

But CX500 V2 and Antec Neo ECO 520C are both perfectly good for your system at a bit lower price. You won't go wrong either way

 

[GoStumpy]

Think long and hard about the PSU, it's the heart of the system 🙂 D:

 

[nola000]

Is this long and hard enough? 🙂
Although its not modular the PC Power and Cooling looks like the winner. What do yall think?

Here are the choices Ive found for PSUs (XFX Core is out of stock, as well as a few others that should be in this list)...

Antec NEO ECO 520C - 80+ Cert., Ver.2.3, OCP, OVP, OPP, SCP, PFC, 8 Safety approvals, 3 year warr., non-modular, 12V = 40A/480W

Antec BP550 Plus - 80+ Cert., Ver.2.2, OCP, OVP, OPP, SCP, PFC, 7 safety approvals, 3 year warr., modular, 12V = 36A/444W

OCZ Fatal1ty 550W - 80+ Cert., Ver.2.2, OVP, OPP, SCP, OTP, PFC, ? Safety approvals, 3 year warr., modular, 12V = ?A/450W

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W - 80+ Cert., Ver.2.2, OVP, UVP, OPP, SCP, OTP, PFC, ? Safety approvals, 3 year warr., 12V = ?A/432W

PC Power and Cooling Silencer MkII 500W - 80+Bronze Cert., Ver.2.2, OVP, UVP, OCP, SCP, OTP, PFC, 7 Safety approvals, 5 year warr., non-modular, 12V = 36A/432W

 

[lehtv]

12V rail rated for 432W, good power quality even in very high temperature, and overspecced to output 670W before shutdown (review), $40 after rebate and promo code discount... Yep, can't argue with that. 🙂

 

[nola000]

12V rail rated for 432W, good power quality even in very high temperature, and overspecced to output 670W before shutdown (review), $40 after rebate and promo code discount... Yep, can't argue with that. 🙂

Cool beans. Here I go. My once a decade geek plunge.

 

[nola000]

Done.

Thank yall for chattin out with me.

 

[lehtv]

Awesome :thumbsup:

If u run into problems when assembling the stuff just post here

 

[mfenn]

12V rail rated for 432W, good power quality even in very high temperature, and overspecced to output 670W before shutdown (review), $40 after rebate and promo code discount... Yep, can't argue with that. 🙂

$40 is definitely a steal for that PSU. Good find!

i know its a lil overkill but like i said the xfx 650 is still a good choice, im sure lehtv and mfenn can confirm

It is definitely good, but way overkill.