Q6600 rig to i5 2500K rig - first impressions

[toyota]

So it's safe to say that 650W is a safe-bet for SLi high-end video cards, on a reliable manufacturer? I'm thinking 750W just to play it safe? I'll use the HAF 922 stock case cans - and I only have 1 SSD and 1 HDD, but I may purchase another SSD for Raid.

I was thinking of Modular PSU too.

you better go with a minimum of a 850 watt psu if you are considering SLI for high end cards. you are the type that overclocks and that can add tons more power consumption.

 

[blackened23]

So it's safe to say that 650W is a safe-bet for SLi high-end video cards, on a reliable manufacturer? I'm thinking 750W just to play it safe? I'll use the HAF 922 stock case cans - and I only have 1 SSD and 1 HDD, but I may purchase another SSD for Raid.

I was thinking of Modular PSU too.

No, its not safe. It all depends on which CPU you're using, if its overclocked, and which GPU you're using in SLI/crossfire. I can say with absolute certainty, if you're overclocking your CPU *and* your GPU that you will probably want 1000W+. If you're using stock speeds well then...maybe. You probably could get away with 750 using ATI crossfire, but with nvidia you'd probably want 850+ (with stock CPU speeds.).

Overclocking one or both of the CPU/GPU - 850+ for ATI and 1000+ for nvidia if you're using gtx 570 or higher.

 

[Kaekae]

Overclocking one or both of the CPU/GPU - go 1000+

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Thanks for your advice.

 

[toyota]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Thanks for your advice.

850 is plenty for a highly overclocked gtx560 Ti setup. if you are considering going higher end than that at some point then grab a 1000 watt psu just to have plenty of room. its overkill but a psu is something you will keep for a long time so get something that will not limit you down the road.

I only have a 520 watt psu because I knew I would always run a single card and never do any extreme overclocking. I probably should have gone with 600 watts or more though just to be safer. oh well...

 

[tweakboy]

So it's safe to say that 650W is a safe-bet for SLi high-end video cards, on a reliable manufacturer? I'm thinking 750W just to play it safe? I'll use the HAF 922 stock case cans - and I only have 1 SSD and 1 HDD, but I may purchase another SSD for Raid.

I was thinking of Modular PSU too.

600 or 650w will do just fine. But make sure there are multiple rails

Tt or Roswell or Corsair are 3 companies you can choose from.

 

[toyota]

600 or 650w will do just fine. But make sure there are multiple rails

Tt or Roswell or Corsair are 3 companies you can choose from.

NO it will not do just fine. he likes to oc and there is NO way a 650 watt psu will safely power a high end overclocked sli setup.

 

[amenx]

Even if a good 650 watter is able to power that rig, you would not want to do it. The PSU will be stressed and not have a long and happy life.

 

[jacktesterson]

I ran a 2500k @ 4.5 with 560Ti SLI'd with 16GB Ram and 6 Hard Drives..... all of a Corsair Professional HX750.

The power supplies that people recommend these days are insane. My system at full load, testing with a meter, never came close to this.

1000+ Power Supplies are for 3-4 Video card setups.

 

[toyota]

I ran a 2500k @ 4.5 with 560Ti SLI'd with 16GB Ram and 6 Hard Drives..... all of a Corsair Professional HX750.

The power supplies that people recommend these days are insane. My system at full load, testing with a meter, never came close to this.

1000+ Power Supplies are for 3-4 Video card setups.

750-850 is fine for your setup with plenty of wiggle room. you have to remember though that its is easy to add an additional 100 watts or more to each of those gpus if doing some extreme overclocking.

the 1000 watt recommendation was only if planning to use something like highly oced gtx580 sli or so down the road. and even a 1000 watt psu stands no chance of running a system with oced cpu and 4 oced gtx580 or 3 highly overclocked gtx580.

 

[Smartazz]

600 or 650w will do just fine. But make sure there are multiple rails

Tt or Roswell or Corsair are 3 companies you can choose from.

Isn't single rail supposed to be superior? I would never choose from Rosewill or Thermaltake personally, but Corsair is a solid brand.

 

[BlueBlazer]

600 or 650w will do just fine. But make sure there are multiple rails

Tt or Roswell or Corsair are 3 companies you can choose from.

Take Rosewill out of the equation (most of their PSUs come from ATNG). Go for Corsair, Seasonic, FSP, Antec, PC Power & Cooling, or Silverstone. :thumbsup:

 

[nyker96]

So it's safe to say that 650W is a safe-bet for SLi high-end video cards, on a reliable manufacturer? I'm thinking 750W just to play it safe? I'll use the HAF 922 stock case cans - and I only have 1 SSD and 1 HDD, but I may purchase another SSD for Raid.

I was thinking of Modular PSU too.

if you planning SLI using a pair of high end video card, i'd say 750W is the base, I'd even consider 850W+ if you got a pair of very power hungry card. You have to check the power consumption of ur pair of SLI card to know for certain. but I'd say just to be sure, you need to get at least a 750W. 650W is in danger zone for a pair of high powered SLI card. I recommend 650W for a single card setup. Corsair, Seasonic, some Antec models are good bets. Seasonic X series is a sure bet.

 

[Kaekae]

I'll take a look at Seasonic X series and compare pricing.

Thanks for all of your input!

 

[njdevilsfan87]

I honestly didn't notice a huge difference at first, even with the SSD, but after having ran my setup for months, there is no going back. My brother has my old Q6600 now (which is running at 3.5ghz) and the computer is still quite responsive... but let's just say he can't exactly run 3 virtual machines in the background, and game at the same time, like I can.

Sandy Bridge is freaking powerful, but for the users who just casually browse the internet and use office applications, they probably won't notice anything over the last generation quads.

 

[jacktesterson]

I honestly didn't notice a huge difference at first, even with the SSD, but after having ran my setup for months, there is no going back. My brother has my old Q6600 now (which is running at 3.5ghz) and the computer is still quite responsive... but let's just say he can't exactly run 3 virtual machines in the background, and game at the same time, like I can.

Sandy Bridge is freaking powerful, but for the users who just casually browse the internet and use office applications, they probably won't notice anything over the last generation quads.

I think a Q6600 is powerful enough for 90% of the PC Market still.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think a LLano A8-3850 is powerful enough for 90% of the PC Market still.

FTFY.

 

[coreyb]

still happy with my q6600 3.6 ghz 5870. cant believe how many years of gaming at high quality ive gotten out of this!

 

[zerocool84]

still happy with my q6600 3.6 ghz 5870. cant believe how many years of gaming at high quality ive gotten out of this!

I'm at a Q9550 @ 3.4 with a 5870 and waiting for the BF3 beta to finally come out so I can play it and see if I need to upgrade.

 

[aigomorla]

u dont appreciate the speed of an SSD until u play a FPS game and notice each time the server changes map, your like the first one to spawn in the server..

 

[greenhawk]

u dont appreciate the speed of an SSD until u play a FPS game and notice each time the server changes map, your like the first one to spawn in the server..

then you notice several others start getting in a little faster, and you relise your 3 year old hardware needs a update to help the SSD out

 

[Smartazz]

u dont appreciate the speed of an SSD until u play a FPS game and notice each time the server changes map, your like the first one to spawn in the server..

I've found that I'm among the first in even loading off a WD Caviar Black.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

I think a Q6600 is powerful enough for 90% of the PC Market still.

Even a good C2D is fast enough for general usage. The PC's at school run an E8400 and those machines are quite fast.

 

[Dadofamunky]

2 seconds to load Photoshop... nah, never going back. 2500K with an SSD and fast RAM is a low-budget no-brainer. 8400s and 6600s are on the edge of obsolescence.

I wouldn't bother SLI'ing two high-end cards though. (By high-end I mean 570 GTX and up.) We'll be seeing another new generation of cards fairly soon, and if you're running a single 1080p display there is no way you will need more than one beefy card.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I think a Q6600 is powerful enough for 90% of the PC Market still.

I can get a brand new Pentium E6600 + G41 mobo for $100. Even this is overkill for the same 90% of the market.

 

[aclim]

Not to thread jack but I just made the same jump. Parts should be in tomorrow. I am going from the rig in my sig to:

2500k
Asus P8Z68 Pro
8gb Gskill 1600