Opinions? Asus A7N8X Deluxe, what memory & power supply?

[AKA]

Im helping a friend choose the 3 most important things for his computer as I feel are important for reliability & stability.

Motherboard
Memory
Powersupply

We've already decided on the Asus A7N8X Deluxe motherboard.

And for memory it looks like we are going to choose:

Corsair 256mb XMS PC3200 DDR 400mhz Memory Model# CMX256A-3200C2 (he does alot of video editing)

Any thoughts on the memory?

For powersupply we haven't been able to determine whats adequate enough.. figured might as well be 450 watts and probably enermax but i've been out of the loop too long and Im not finding any clear answers here.


Anyone have any opinions on what is the best memory & power supply to get?
Also anyone have their consumer reports version of best value for the money on memory & powersupply?

I appreciate all replies and thanks.

 

[KidChaos]

For a workstation such as this one, I would go for 1GB of memory. If you're not going to conduct a serious overclock, Samsung Original PC2700 is fine. For the price of two 256MB Corsair XMS PC3200 CAS2 memory modules you could almost get 1GB of Samsung Original PC2700 memory.

My Recommendation:

ENERMAX EG465P-VE(FMA). 431W Power supply $91
*Two* Samsung Original DDR333 PC-2700 512mb memory modules $103x2 = $206

 

[rwalterk]

AKA:

I just purchased this motherboard, an Athlon XP 2100, and (1) 512MB Corsair XMS PC2700 DDR333 (silver heat spreader). I used my existing power supply, the Antec 300W that came with my Antec case.

The memory sounds like a good choice. Just keep in mind that you should run the memory bus at the same speed as the FSB. I benchmarked my system to prove this point. FSB@266 + RAM@266 was faster than FSB@266+ RAM@333 on 3DMark2001SE.

I was certainly paranoid about the 300W being enough, but surprisingly I have seen no issues at all. In fact, the manual says minimum power should be 230W and a fully configured system should be 300W. I know people like to go overboard with power supplies, but I personally don't because of the extra heat and the added electricity bills.

What I have in my system:
Athlon XP 2100 (thoroughbred core)
Vantec VA4-C7040 HSF (by the way I highly recommend this very quiet HSF - link to Tom's Hardware article - they loved it)
1x 512MB DDR333 RAM
Gainward Geforce 4 4200
Creative Audigy 2 sound card
30GB hard drive
6 GB hard drive
DVD-ROM
CDRW
56K modem
USB Printer
USB Scanner

So as you can see there is no shortage of peripherals in my system yet the 300W power supply is doing dandy. As far as brands go I recommend you check out the True Power line from Antec. Go to newegg.com and look at the reviews those units have received. I can personally vouch that my Antec power supply is quiet and provides very clean power.

 

[Tominator]

Originally posted by: A.K.A.
Im helping a friend choose the 3 most important things for his computer as I feel are important for reliability & stability.

Motherboard
Memory
Powersupply

We've already decided on the Asus A7N8X Deluxe motherboard.

And for memory it looks like we are going to choose:

Corsair 256mb XMS PC3200 DDR 400mhz Memory Model# CMX256A-3200C2 (he does alot of video editing)

Any thoughts on the memory?

For powersupply we haven't been able to determine whats adequate enough.. figured might as well be 450 watts and probably enermax but i've been out of the loop too long and Im not finding any clear answers here.


Anyone have any opinions on what is the best memory & power supply to get?
Also anyone have their consumer reports version of best value for the money on memory & powersupply?

I appreciate all replies and thanks.

I already had an Enermax 350 watt PS. I bought the combo you refer to includeing the memory and bought it on the Anandtech review recomendations.

As far as the PS goes, I'd opt for quality over wattage. Most of our rigs would do just fine with a 250 watt PS, but more watts is the current fad.

 

[AKA]

Cool.. thanks for the replies.

 

[rch4001]

PSU --- my favorites are Antec TruPower or Enermax. and get at least 330 watts. Antecs are very quiet

 

[klein297]

Some more info on your memory choice here.
About the seventh question down.

 

[Insane3D]

I just snagged one of these new Enlight 420W Dual Fan and Fan Controller PSU's for $46 shipped @ Newegg. It's specs are almost identical to the the much more expensive 480W Antec Tru-Power unit.

Enlight 420W

+5V - 40A
+3.3V - 30A
+12v - 18A
Maximum Output (+3.3, +5v, +12v) - 436W

Antec 480W Tru-Power

+5V - 38A
+3.3V - 30A
+12v - 22A
Maximum Output (+3.3, +5v, +12v) - 460W