Gaming build

[VirtualLarry]

I wouldn't touch a Diablotek PSU... IIRC, jonnyguru did a review on a 1000W unit and it was pretty sad.

Here it is.

Thank God someone posted that.

DiabloTek sucks!

 

[mfenn]

anything wrong with this?

Or would it be worth the money going to said posted items above?

Sparkle PSU? Hell no, stay far away.

 

[Puffncough]

I can't decide if saving the extra $100 bucks is worth it or not. I"m not paying the full amount, $300 of it is covered. So my question is should I just put it together from newegg? (I like mnewshams build) or this barebone. I REALLY dont want to wait for shipping and all that bull. Debating if I should walk into compusa and just get the parts my self and build it today

 

[Texashiker]

Bigger isn't better, efficiency is greatest around 70% load, a 750 watt would be way too much and highly ineffificient.

I dont which one is right, your statement about 70% load, or this statement on hardocp.com claiming that most power supplies are most efficient at 50% load.

Diablotek 650 watt power supply review - which failed the testing.

One of the things you see with most power supplies is a peak of efficiency around 50% load and a decline after that.

The 520watt psu should be good up to a gtx 570 even,

The GTX 470 has a minimum recommended system power supply of 550 Watts, there is NO way a 520 is going to carry the load and be efficient at it.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_470_us.html

 

[mnewsham]

I dont which one is right, your statement about 70% load, or this statement on hardocp.com claiming that most power supplies are most efficient at 50% load.

Diablotek 650 watt power supply review - which failed the testing.






The GTX 470 has a minimum recommended system power supply of 550 Watts, there is NO way a 520 is going to carry the load and be efficient at it.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_470_us.html

Efficiency is usually in the 50-70% range depends on the psu, and "recommended" minimum PSU is to cover their arse, you will almost never draw full power from a gpu unless you are running furmark (very unrealistic) and will usually pull 150-200 watts while gaming, the new SB cpu's have a 95 watt tdp, lets say we are pulling 250 from the gpu (very unlikely) and 95 from cpu, that's 345, HDD and SSD, lets call that 20 total, so 365, DVD drive is 6, 371, RAM 35, that is 406 everything else like fans and such should be single digit, lets be nice and call it 445 at FULL power draw (everyday use will be much less) that is about 85% load, not the best efficiency, BUT most games will not tax the system that much and will only use say 300 watts or 325 normal usage falls in the 200-250 area, that is around your 50% load, which tends to be the most efficient



If I missed something, I apologize, I just woke up and still have no power so im typing this on my cell phone.

 

[mnewsham]

I can't decide if saving the extra $100 bucks is worth it or not. I"m not paying the full amount, $300 of it is covered. So my question is should I just put it together from newegg? (I like mnewshams build) or this barebone. I REALLY dont want to wait for shipping and all that bull. Debating if I should walk into compusa and just get the parts my self and build it today

Well if you are worried about shipping newegg is fairly quick about it I get most of my stuff in two days. For me saving the 100 bucks is important but if might not be for you.

 

[fffblackmage]

I dont which one is right, your statement about 70% load, or this statement on hardocp.com claiming that most power supplies are most efficient at 50% load.

Typically, the PSU's efficiency "peaks" at about 50%. With 80 plus certification, they are pretty efficient from 20-100% load though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_PLUS

The GTX 470 has a minimum recommended system power supply of 550 Watts, there is NO way a 520 is going to carry the load and be efficient at it.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_470_us.html

That's just a guideline, not a rule you absolutely must follow. Majority of PSUs out there aren't high quality and don't deliver most of their power through the all-important 12V rail. Cheap PSUs tend to boost their power output rating with beefy 5V and 3.3V rails.

Cheapy Diablotek PHD550 $40
12V rail power output: 30A * 12V = 360W

Seasonic S12II 520W $60
12V rail power output: 480W

 

[mfenn]

I can't decide if saving the extra $100 bucks is worth it or not. I"m not paying the full amount, $300 of it is covered. So my question is should I just put it together from newegg? (I like mnewshams build) or this barebone. I REALLY dont want to wait for shipping and all that bull. Debating if I should walk into compusa and just get the parts my self and build it today

Do not buy that Tigerdirect barebones. The Sparkle PSU is trash and is not worth $5, much less $25. The $100 "discount" on the barebones is a false economy because you will end up spending around $50 on a decent PSU.

 

[Puffncough]

After changing my mind about 100 different times, I feel good about this order i'll be putting in tonight. I took a lot of your guys advice and looked into some other posts, I appreciate all the responses.

CPU

MB

RAM

PSU

HD

Case

 

[mfenn]

Looks good to me!

 

[Puffncough]

So i've been doing some reading on the SB chip issue, it looks like they took my MB off the newegg web site, and they already shipped it out as of this morning. Of course the two pieces I ordered was the CPU and MB.

Seems like the issue is with 3 GB/s drives, would it be wise to say I should change my HDD to a 6 GB/s before i place the order tonight, or scratch the build?

 

[mnewsham]

The 3gb interface works on 6gb ports and if you have problems intel will replace your board.

 

[mfenn]

The 3gb interface works on 6gb ports and if you have problems intel will replace your board.

:thumbsup:

This, I think they are overreacting by pulling everything. :\

 

[mnewsham]

:thumbsup:

This, I think they are overreacting by pulling everything. :\

A slim chance over 3 years for a port to fail doesn't seem like the huge failing others are making it out to be.

 

[Vinwiesel]

Just wanted to post my experience with a Diablotek 750 PSU. It was 100% functional and voltages seemed fine, but it had its problems. The fan was thermal adjusting, which should be a good thing, but it had 2 speeds where it made this annoying whistle. One was at idle, so it would boot up, sound fine, and then after 5 minutes on to forever it made this annoying whistle at idle. Then, at part load it was quiet again, but when gaming, here is where it got awful. The fan would speed up under load for about 10 seconds making a high pitched scream. It would cool off a little, and be only moderately annoying for 20 seconds, and then repeat.

I got this supply on clearance, but you may still find it on Ebay or Amazon. Fortunately I paid less that $50 for it on a Shell Shocker. The above advice is very true, buy a lower rated name brand before a higher rated generic. I just didn't realize Diablotek was in the generic realm since I'd seen a few good reviews.

Efficiency was terrible as well. Using a Kill-A-Watt at the plug, My p8p67pro/2500k/570gtx was drawing 115w idle, and 260W gaming in LOTRO. After replacing it with a Thermaltake 850, my system draws 92W idle, and 230W gaming in Lotro. (Plus it is silent). Oh well, now I have a spare supply just in case.