PSU wattage

[heyYou44]

Hi, whats the psu wattage recommended 4 this rig:

Motherboard Asus M5A97 Evo
AMD fx 8350
geForce 8600 GT
maxtor 250 hd
cd/dvd

My current psu is a lc-8500btx.

Also i'm thinking about updating the hd to a 500Gb soon.

Thank you

 

[lehtv]

Welcome to AT!

300-400W is plenty for that. Where are you buying from (assuming you are)?

Hard disk power consumption is irrelevant, they only take a couple of watts each. And since your upgrading it instead of adding, chances are the new drive will actually consume a watt or two less. If you're buying a brand new hard disk, I don't see any point in 500GB because it's typically a very small step up in price to double the capacity to 1TB.

 

[bononos]

After googling the model of your psu, it looks like it isn't a proper 500W psu. Better get something from a reputable manufacturer.
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=20168

 

[heyYou44]

Thank you lehtv, bononos thank you for the link. I guess i'll buy one. Will a 400W be enough then or a 500W?

 

[lehtv]

400W will be enough. Your graphics card doesn't even require a PCIe power connector, and 400W is fine for almost any build that does require one. However, if you want to have support for higher end cards that require two PCIe connectors (e.g. 270x, gtx 760), you'll want a 500W-600W unit.

Where is it that you're buying from?

 

[heyYou44]

I'm from portugal lehtv, i'll buy it on a store here in lisbon. Maybe a corsair one.

 

[lehtv]

Ah, you're buying locally?

Lisbon is awesome by the way, visited it last May. Got the best pizza ever from the pizza shack on Avenida de Liberdade

If you can avoid it, don't buy the cheapest Corsair unit (VS series). CX series a bit better, with actual 80+ bronze efficiency certification and probably not so many corners cut in build quality.

Other good units: Seasonic S12II/M12II, XFX 450W/550W, Antec Earthwatts, EVGA units (e.g. 500B), Antec VP series. In that order. (CX series roughly equal to EVGA and Antec VP).

 

[heyYou44]

I'll go for the CORSAIR CX500M MODULAR 80 PLUS altough the SEASONIC S12II 520W price is very similar.

 

[lehtv]

S12II 520W is definitely worth it over CX500M. In a unit this size, modularity is a gimmick, but what you will like on the Seasonic unit is 5 year warranty as opposed to 3, and that it uses only high quality, durable Japanese capacitors. The S12II is also rated for higher operating temperatures.

 

[BertolomeoDiaz]

i love lisbon, too
i´ve been there three times over the last 5 years for work from germany

see, my name is based on Bartolomeu Dias, the sailor
(my actual name is herBERT --> BERTolomeo)

the avatar picture is from an escudo banknote

 

[heyYou44]

Everybody loves Lisbon

I just bought the psu. The corsair CS550M is the one they had in stock on the store so i bought that one. Now i need help since this is my first build i just put together with a help of some tutorials i found on youtube.
I have:
Motherboard Asus M5A97 Evo
AMD fx 8350
geForce 8600 GT
maxtor 250 hd
cd/dvd
The case is a coolermaster k280. It comes with a frontal fan and the arrow is pointing inside i connected it to the psu. I need some advice on the ventilation, on full load the cpu goes up to 60º and the stock fan round up to a max of 6000 RPM and is very very noisy. Should i install a back case fan, a new cpu fan?? I've been browsing the store site and the cpu coolers are a little expensive for me now.
Also i had some trouble applying the cpu cooler so i lifted it 3 or 4 times, does this matter for the efficiency of the thermal paste?

Heres some pics:

 

[BertolomeoDiaz]

maybe get this one, seems to be very good for its price
http://www.testfreaks.com/pc-cooling/arctic-cooling-freezer-a30/
http://www.kuantokusta.pt/1/214218/Arctic-Freezer-A30-UCACO-FA30001-GB

or this
http://www.eteknix.com/cooler-master-hyper-212-evo-cpu-cooler-review/
http://www.kuantokusta.pt/1/200708/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-Evo

i think the second is even better and cheaper
for some reason, i like cooler master anyway and you already have the cm case
i have also two cm cases and one psu, all of them nice products
they are a nice brand for value for money stuff

 

[heyYou44]

Thank you for the suggestions, will it make a difference over the stock one? What if i install a side intake fan and a rear exhaust one while keeping the stock cpu cooler would it help or should i buy one of those cpu coolers?

 

[BertolomeoDiaz]

those will be much better, i would get one
they are much bigger than the stock cooler, more surface
you should also get a rear exhaust fan, fx8350 is a cpu that produces a massive amount of heat, that should be pushed out of the case
good airflow is very important with a cpu like that

and portuguese summer is coming, when it´s hot outside, that can be stressfull on the hardware, too

side fan can be good, can be bad, it depends, i wouldn´t get one right now

 

[mfenn]

I need some advice on the ventilation, on full load the cpu goes up to 60º and the stock fan round up to a max of 6000 RPM and is very very noisy.

A new CPU fan will definitely help to keep the noise down, but I should point out that 60*C is not terribly hot for a CPU. You don't have to worry until it gets up to 85 or so.

 

[heyYou44]

Thank you all for the help, i'll buy a cpu cooler and install a rear exhaust fan aswell just to be safe. Thank you again bertolomeo for the recommendations on the cpu cooler, i'll get the cooler master evo : ) it's cheaper and has good reviews.

 

[lehtv]

Just curious, did you try adjusting the fan profile for the stock fan in the BIOS?

 

[heyYou44]

Hello lehtv, i haven't messed around with the bios yet, its all by default (voltages,...).
I also have the asus ai suite installed i'll be posting some screens soon on the voltages and others.

 

[BertolomeoDiaz]

glad to be helpful

 

[VirtualLarry]

A new CPU fan will definitely help to keep the noise down, but I should point out that 60*C is not terribly hot for a CPU. You don't have to worry until it gets up to 85 or so.

I don't know about the FX CPUs, but prior-gen AMD CPUs (Athlon II / Phenom II) would start to error and crash once temps hit around 65C or so.

My C-70 APU, like most Brazos-family CPUs can apparently take 80C or more.

 

[mfenn]

I don't know about the FX CPUs, but prior-gen AMD CPUs (Athlon II / Phenom II) would start to error and crash once temps hit around 65C or so.

My C-70 APU, like most Brazos-family CPUs can apparently take 80C or more.

Tjmax is 90C on an FX series CPU. So anything above 85 and you should be pretty concerned.

 

[heyYou44]

Hey guys, i finally bought the cpu cooler and the exhaust case fan. I'm very happy with the temps. I get around 19º on idle and a maximum of 44 on full load
I'll be using this computer for rendering purposes so it will be constantly demanding on the cpu.

I don't know if i used too much thermal paste. It's sliding a little from the sides. Will there be a problem?

---

Thank you all for the help! :biggrin:

 

[BertolomeoDiaz]

looks nice


i don´t think the paste issue is a problem
just be carefull,
should you ever remove the cpu from the socket it might be stuck because of it (like glue between socket and cpu)
if so, don´t lever it out with a knife, happened to me -> 4 pins cut off

 

[mfenn]

Since you can see some paste leaking out from the sides, that means that you did use too much. It shouldn't be a problem though since it's not dripping down into the socket.

 

[heyYou44]

should you ever remove the cpu from the socket it might be stuck because of it (like glue between socket and cpu)
if so, don´t lever it out with a knife, happened to me -> 4 pins cut off

I'm sorry to hear that i don't intend to remove mine any time soon. I was so nervous installing it the first time and the second time . The rendering times on this machine are like a breeze. Love it!