Need help completing my first budget build - $500

[tinpanalley]

Hey everybody. Reviving this thread for a quick question.

This build is still running super well, thanks to all of you. My question is, is there any way to know how many devices in this thing will start to weigh too heavily on the PSU? I am needing to put a third disc drive in it but I want to make sure I won't cause problems. There are already also HDDs and the video card. Does the PSU get drawn from too heavily just having the devices plugged in but not in use all the time?

Thanks!

 

[lehtv]

Hard disks don't consume much power, if your PSU is enough now, it will be enough with a few hard disks added =). If it wasn't you'd already be pushing limits.

 

[tinpanalley]

Yeah, but it's a 3rd disk drive I wanna add.

 

[lehtv]

As I said, if the PSU is enough for your current setup, it is enough if you add another hard disk.

 

[tinpanalley]

Sorry, should have been more precise. DVD disk drive not hard disk drive.

 

[lehtv]

Ok, the same applies to that.

 

[tinpanalley]

Ok, cool.
Just concerned cause I think I have a 650W PSU and 2 hard drives and I now am about to put in my 3rd dvd drive. Do they not draw power when not in use?

 

[richaron]

Ok, cool.
Just concerned cause I think I have a 650W PSU and 2 hard drives and I now am about to put in my 3rd dvd drive. Do they not draw power when not in use?

They will draw a TINY amount when not in use. They draw most power when spinning up (same as hard drives), but thankfully they will not all spike at the same time.

 

[tinpanalley]

Ok, so there's no need to worry about having 3 of them physically installed. Good to know.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

youll only have to start worrying when you add ANOTHER graphics card

 

[tinpanalley]

Can't imagine why I would do that if I don't play games but never say never.

 

[mfenn]

Can't imagine why I would do that if I don't play games but never say never.

If you don't have a GPU, 650W is enough for you to pack your case to the gills with HDDs.

 

[tinpanalley]

I must really not be being very clear. I said I do have a video card. But I don't have two video cards as the other person said.
And it's dvd and blu-ray drives I'm talking about not hdds.
So are you saying that with even ONE gpu I'm pushing it on 650?

 

[mfenn]

I must really not be being very clear. I said I do have a video card. But I don't have two video cards as the other person said.
And it's dvd and blu-ray drives I'm talking about not hdds.
So are you saying that with even ONE gpu I'm pushing it on 650?

I looked back through the thread and see that you have a GTX 470, I stand corrected. Hard drives draw more power than optical drives, so HDDs are a worst case. Short answer, 650W is a lot, you are fine.

Longer answer, let's use mathematics and avoid fear-based decision making:

i5 2400 = 95W
GTX 470 = 215W
4 DIMMs = 20W
10 HDD/ODDs = 150W
Everything else = 50W
Total = 530W

 

[tinpanalley]

That is awesome mfenn. Thank you for always being so helpful. Adding it all like that is exactly what I needed to see. I just get paranoid. This is my first build. I've only had regular consumer mini, cramped, overheating cases before where an extra harddrive spun the fans out of control.

 

[mfenn]

That is awesome mfenn. Thank you for always being so helpful. Adding it all like that is exactly what I needed to see. I just get paranoid. This is my first build. I've only had regular consumer mini, cramped, overheating cases before where an extra harddrive spun the fans out of control.

No problem.

 

[tinpanalley]

Hmmm... how about a new twist... haven't been here in a while.
I'm moving to Europe. I notice the PSU I bought is fine for 110-240V and for either 50/60 Hz. So I know i won't blow up my computer. But what cable will I need then to go from my tower to the wall (aside from the obvious different plug on the end)?

I shouldn't have to be concerned about any other internal components right? Cause they all feed off of the PSU.

 

[mnewsham]

Hmmm... how about a new twist... haven't been here in a while.
I'm moving to Europe. I notice the PSU I bought is fine for 110-240V and for either 50/60 Hz. So I know i won't blow up my computer. But what cable will I need then to go from my tower to the wall (aside from the obvious different plug on the end)?

I shouldn't have to be concerned about any other internal components right? Cause they all feed off of the PSU.

Depends on where in europe, you will find countries in europe will use types C, E, F, G, J, K, L, and M, find out where you will be and then we can help you locate either an adapter or a plug. (or both if you will be moving around)

 

[tinpanalley]

Woops, sorry, should have been more specific. I'm moving to France and the PSU is an Antec TruePower 650.

 

[mnewsham]

Woops, sorry, should have been more specific. I'm moving to France and the PSU is an Antec TruePower 650.

In that case I believe france uses a type E socket which I THINK works with C or E plugs (C ungrounded E grounded). not entirely sure, but i THINK that is how it is set up.

something like this
http://www.amazon.fr/Dexlan-Cordon-...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1336593641&sr=1-1

 

[tinpanalley]

something like this
http://www.amazon.fr/Dexlan-Cordon-%C3%A9lectrique-secteur-standard/dp/B0009M14YK/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1336593641&sr=1-1

Ok, but apart from having the right plug on the other end of the cable and the 3-pin female computer end on the other side, nothing else would be necessary for the components of my PC, because they all run off the PSU, correct?

And there isn't some weird thing about a 650W power supply in apartments in France? Just being overly safe.

 

[sm625]

Mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157230

Memory:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314

Together they are about $152 shipped.

I would get the i5-3550 which brings the cost up to $360. It is not a k version but imo that is fine because you can still overclock this well enough. You probably wont be able to take any cpu much beyond 4.2 GHz with your budget.

The motherboard has 3 pci slots, and is surely the best choice on newegg for those that need or want the slots. That leaves plenty for a case and firewire card. You will be able to have your choice of pci or pciE for the firewire card.

 

[mnewsham]

Mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157230

Memory:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314

Together they are about $152 shipped.

I would get the i5-3550 which brings the cost up to $360. It is not a k version but imo that is fine because you can still overclock this well enough. You probably wont be able to take any cpu much beyond 4.2 GHz with your budget.

The motherboard has 3 pci slots, and is surely the best choice on newegg for those that need or want the slots. That leaves plenty for a case and firewire card. You will be able to have your choice of pci or pciE for the firewire card.

A little bit late to the thread

 

[mnewsham]

Ok, but apart from having the right plug on the other end of the cable and the 3-pin female computer end on the other side, nothing else would be necessary for the components of my PC, because they all run off the PSU, correct?

And there isn't some weird thing about a 650W power supply in apartments in France? Just being overly safe.

That should be it, older PSU's had switches to switchit over to 220v, yours SHOULD be automatic, but check just in case. Can't think of anything else that would be a problem really.

 

[tinpanalley]

A little bit late to the thread

Haha. True, but it answers another question I've always had which is how do I (now that I have this great rig I assembled) keep up to date with newer versions of all my components going forward... new mobos, best new memory manufacturers, best hdd brands, which psu to upgrade to, etc?