Will Seasonic S12-430 work with a PCI-e video card?

[purplescarf]

Hi all, this topic might have been visited in other threads previous, but I couldn't find any specifics on my question after reading through a couple of other related threads.
My trusted Athlon XP 2000+ system finally gave in last weekend after almost 4 years, and I needed to build a replacement fast. I'm shooting to order everything by today so that I can put it together this weekend. Rearching since Monday on many trusted sites and I've picked the majority of the components but I'm still very stumped on Power Supply. Here are what I've picked.

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 939 socket
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
eVGA 6600GT PCI express x16
Corsair XMS twin 512MB DDR400
WD WD800JD 80GB 7200 rpm HD

I'm going to salvage the Lian Li case, 2 more HD, 1 DVD-rom, 1 DVD-RW rom, and the SB Audigy sound card from the old computer. (I suspect the old Asus MB is what's broken)

My question is since I plan to use the pci-e video card, can I use the seasonic S12-430? I've read some posts that says people didn't mind not having the 6 pin connector, because they can just use a adaptor or 2 HDD connectors. I guess not having done this in a while and don't have all the parts in front of me, I want to make sure that it is in fact doable. And is so, what is this connector/adaptor and where can I get it?

The seasonic website says that they don't ship the 430 with the connector because pci-e vid card are going to show up mainly in SLI rigs which will require a power supply at least 450W. I don't plan to do a SLI set up since my days of playing WarCraft are no longer here, but I want to stick with a pci-e video card to keep that game playing option open.

I really don't want to go up to the S12-500, because it's way more expensive ($120 on newegg), my original budget for power supply was around $60-80, I rather spend the extra bucks on upgrading the CPU to a 3500+ or 3700+, or getting more memory.

Or should I get one of the Antec TP II 450W or SP 2.0 450W, which are in the $60-80 range? My hesitation here is all these reviews about Antec being unreliable lately. Besides the Seasonic S12 has much better reviews accross the board both on noise level and efficiency.

Thanks!

 

[dawza]

The S12-430 will be more than enough for a 6600GT, and then some.

You can get molex-to-6-pin PCIe adaptors from many vendors. Jab-tech sells them for $4, and their service is excellent (they are out of stock right now, but you can google for other sources). You will not need this for the 6600GT, but more powerful cards will require some form of additional power, usually a 6-pin PCIe plug.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Like dawza said, the 6600GT will not need the 6-pin, but if you plan on bying a beefier card in the future, they nearly all include an adapter that converts two Molexes into a 6-pin connector... If not, separate ones can be bought in nearly every shop...

The Seasonic is more than powerful enough for your rig... What are you going to use it for BTW?

Welcome to the forums to both of you!

 

[zest]

You might to consider a Tagan or Evermax ....Cheaper and pretty god PSU's for budget.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Originally posted by: zest
You might to consider a Tagan or Enermax ....Cheaper and pretty god PSU's for budget.

Fixed and QFT...

 

[purplescarf]

Thank you guys this is great information. I am going to order TONIGHT!
This is mostly used for web surfing, some photo editing, ripping music burning dvd, and maybe once in a while a game of WarCraft or Sims.

Someone had suggested that I look into the Asus A8N-E and use the money to upgrade to 2GB memory and maybe consider dual core, any thoughts? For what I'm planning to do it with, the Sli Deluxe seems like overkill, I'm mostly buying it because of good reviews. I know I wont' be doing a Sli set up with it.

 

[purplescarf]

Hmm just realize I can't do 64 X2, it's out of my price range.
Here is my new questions, should I just get the following instead of my original picks.

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 939 socket
Asus A8N-E
eVGA 6600GT PCI express x16
2X Corsair XMS twin 512MB DDR400 (2GB total)
WD WD800JD 80GB 7200 rpm HD

 

[dawza]

SLI is really only practical if you plan to either (a) buy two top-end video cards at the same time (as in right now), or (b) wait for a long time (>6 months) for prices to drop before you purchase a second card. From what you have written, I would say that the 6600GT will be fine for your gaming needs (you could go for a 6800GS if you want to spend a little more). Along those lines, a non-SLI motherboard will suffice. If you do decide on the A8N-E, you may want to look at the thread dedicated to that mobo in the motherboards forum for some known quirks/tips. I have an Asus A8N-SLI board (did not know any better at the time- will probably never use SLI), and it has been rock-solid- the only thing I would do differently today if I were building from scratch would be to replace the stock chipset fan/HS with an aftermarket model, as it is quite loud. I was too lazy to take the whole thing apart to change the fan after getting everything instaled, so I just attached a Zalman Fanmate to it and lowered the RPMs from 5K to 3.5 (which is inaudible with a closed case, at least to my ears).

I would personally go for a less expensive processor (3200+), as it does not seem that you are doing much processor-heavy work that would justify the extra cost. Also, perhaps consider buying value ram instead of the high-end stuff; unless you are an overclocking fiend, you will not be able to tell a difference. Use the funds you save to buy a larger hard drive (I know you are already bringing two from a previous build, but you know how it is with disk space), upgrade your video card, future upgrades, etc.

As far as 1GB vs. 2GB, the choice is yours. I would probably go for 2GB of value ram if I were putting a system together today. You could always buy 1GB now and another 512/1GB stick later on if you feel you need it. 1.5GB seems to be a sweet spot for ram currently.

The above is JMO, of course. Good luck!

 

[purplescarf]

hmm on second thought maybe i'll stick with the SLI Deluxe since I really must order tonight. Put it together with what I originally started with and see if I need more memory. I'm sure as long as it works it'll be a HUGE improvement over my old Athlon XP, and I won't notice the difference either way. Just hope this set up will last me maybe not 4 but at least 2-3 years.

P.S. my old 80GB HD is hardly 50% full after 4 years.

 

[Howard]

Chances are you'll be able to hit 3700+ speeds or higher with a 3200+, if you get decent memory.

 

[purplescarf]

Another question, what's the difference between the A8N SLI Deluxe and the SLI Prevmium? What one is the better choice?

 

[Operandi]

The 430 watt S12 has enough power for any non-SLI system you could manage to put together and probably any SLI/Crossfire system as well, more power is not necessary.

If it was my system I would make the jump to the A8N-Premium; the HS/F on the Deluxe is known to loud and prone to failure. Or a 2nd option would be to replace the HS/F from the Deluxe with a large passive Zalman heatsink.

 

[purplescarf]

hmm, i just read the Anadtech "nForce4 Ultra Roundup: Charting the Mainstream" from last July, and they gave the Epox 9NPA+ Ultra Gold Editor Award, since I'm not planning to do SLI or overclocking, would you say the epox will work fine for my setup? It is $60 less than the Asus A8N SLI Premium/Deluxe.

 

[Operandi]

I'm sure it would work but there are few things that kill the board; at least for me. The Active cooling on the Northbridge (loud and unreliable and the very poor placement of the ATX and 4 pin 12v power connectors.

 

[purplescarf]

Do you mean I should stick with the Asus, and preferably the Premium rather than the Deluxe?
Is there another good/reliable non SLI board that would work with my setup, I really want to see if I could keep the cost down, considering I won't really benefit from the SLI anyway.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: purplescarf
Do you mean I should stick with the Asus, and preferably the Premium rather than the Deluxe?
Is there another good/reliable non SLI board that would work with my setup, I really want to see if I could keep the cost down, considering I won't really benefit from the SLI anyway.

Yes, I would stick with the Asus; preferably the Premium over the Deluxe. As an alternative you could still go with the Deluxe and swap the stock northbridge cooler with the passive Zalman I linked to above.

As far as different boards I've used this Aopen board for a few systems. Aside from the CPU temp being read 15-20c too high it's a great board, near perfect layout, along with a high quality HS/F on the northbridge although I swapped it out for a passive Zalman.

 

[purplescarf]

I just placed my order. Hopefully everything will arrive on Friday. I did go to with 18N Premium instead of the deluxe plus all the other original choices. Going to set it up first with 1GB memory, maybe when the price drop to get the other gig.

Thank you all for your help!

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: purplescarf
I just placed my order. Hopefully everything will arrive on Friday. I did go to with 18N Premium instead of the deluxe plus all the other original choices. Going to set it up first with 1GB memory, maybe when the price drop to get the other gig.

Thank you all for your help!

Should be an excellent system, good luck.