I've been trying to build a custom PC for a while now, any help?

TwoCables · 21 Mar 2013

Executable Beep said:

TwoCables said:

Executable Beep said:

and yes, i can use newegg

I just noticed this addition but I forgot to ask: can you afford $89.99 shipped for a PSU? If not, then can you afford $63.98 after shipping?

Yeah, i can afford 90 dollars for a psu, that would be fine n-n

I just want 'enough' power to be able to overclock it

If you can afford $89.99 shipped, then get this and you'll never have to worry ever again:

The 550W SeaSonic G Series (for $89.99 shipped)

I mean, here's what I said before:

GeForce GTX 670 2 and 3-way SLI review - Power Consumption

With one GTX 670 under full load in their system, their PSU pulled 279W from the wall outlet. Their CPU was idling during this test, so I have to add 77W for the 3770K under full load (at stock). That makes the PSU pulling 356W from the wall outlet. So if the PSU is 85% efficient while pulling 356W from the wall outlet, then that means the system is only pulling 303W from the PSU. However, this is an unrealistically high power draw because I'm saying that both the 670 and the 3770K are under full load at the same time in Guru3D's power-hungry system. The actual gaming power draw will be closer to about 250 to 275W at the most. Not only that, but I'm talking about the GTX 670 here when he's looking at the GTX 660 Ti.

So yeah, this means that even a quality-made 350W power supply is enough because the maximum power draw will only be reached when playing the most intense and demanding video games. This will result in the maximum efficiency for the PSU because again, the maximum power draw will only ever get up to 250-275W.

For future upgrades, well each new generation of GPUs and CPUs requires less power than the previous, so it's not really enough of a concern which is why I can say that a quality-made 400W PSU would be plenty for any system like his that has one video card in it. If he were to overclock his 3770K and also upgrade to a single HD 7970, then I would recommend a quality-made 450W power supply, but that's still not the minimum. The idea is to stay in the sweet spot for the sake of efficiency.

So yeah, I could recommend a quality-made PSU with a much smaller capacity, but the prices on such PSUs just aren't low enough in comparison to this to really justify it. I mean, I'm recommending a high-end 550W modular PSU and it's only $89.99 shipped.

jimbo45 · 21 Mar 2013

Hi there
You might find the PSU's available in Mexico still have most of the Power connectors the 4 Pin IDE type.
A modern Mobo will have most if not all the connectors as SATA type. I'm sure you will be using SATA / eSATA / SSD drives and not IDE any more.

No problem though - just get cheap IDE==>SATA adapters -- pic enclosed.

It's a couple of years since I was in Mexico -- worked for a while at PE MEX. You could get decent components quite cheaply but they weren't always the latest available.

Remember also if you get a higher power PSU - heat becomes an issue -- in Mexico that's going to be a problem anyway -- also if you have the machine on most of the time power costs might be an issue too.

Cheers
jimbo

TwoCables · 21 Mar 2013

Just in case there's any confusion while shopping, the 4-pin power connector in question here is known as "Molex". So this is a "Molex to SATA" power adapter.

Erick Aguilar · 21 Mar 2013

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
You might find the PSU's available in Mexico still have most of the Power connectors the 4 Pin IDE type.
A modern Mobo will have most if not all the connectors as SATA type. I'm sure you will be using SATA / eSATA / SSD drives and not IDE any more.

No problem though - just get cheap IDE==>SATA adapters -- pic enclosed.

It's a couple of years since I was in Mexico -- worked for a while at PE MEX. You could get decent components quite cheaply but they weren't always the latest available.

Remember also if you get a higher power PSU - heat becomes an issue -- in Mexico that's going to be a problem anyway -- also if you have the machine on most of the time power costs might be an issue too.

Cheers
jimbo

That seems like a bit of an unfair assumption..

Tijuana is pretty cool.

Hell, I live in Nuevo Leon and it gets substiancially hotter, but we do have A/C's... you know?

Thorsen · 21 Mar 2013

Only thing I would debate at this point is the 64GB SSD for OS and games. If you can afford it, go up higher to 90 or to a 128GB SSD.

I have a 60GB SSD in my laptop and it is enough for the OS and some games, but not many. I have to prioritize and pick which game I want on the SSD. I would say 128GB would be better if you are intending to put your games on the SSD.

Thorsen · 21 Mar 2013

Also on the SSD, the Crucial m4 64GB 2.5-Inch looks like it is slower than newer versions:

Crucial m4 CT064M4SSD1 Solid State Drive - Newegg.com

Cost on newegg: $84.99
Sustained Sequential Read ..... Up to 500 MB/s (SATA 6Gb/s)
Sustained Sequential Write .... Up to 95 MB/s (SATA 6Gb/s)
4KB Random Read ................ Up to 45,000 IOPS
4KB Random Write ............... Up to 20,000 IOPS

the OCZ Vertex 4 128GB is much better:

OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-128G Solid State Drive - Newegg.com

Cost on newegg: $124.99 + 10% off w/ promo code SSD32127, ends 3/27
Sustained Sequential Read .... Up to 560 MB/s
Sustained Sequential Write ... Up to 430 MB/s
4KB Random Read ............... Up to 90,000 IOPS
4KB Random Write ............... Up to 120,000 IOPS

Higher sustained read/write speeds, higher random/read write speeds, 2x more system space and only $45 more....

Layback Bear · 21 Mar 2013

Executable Beep I will try to explain this question about power supplies very simple.

1. Always buy a quality power supply. Examples are Corsair and Seasonic.
2. Always buy a bigger power supply than needed.
A. It will run cooler because it doesn't have to work as hard doing the job requested by the computer hardware.
B. It will not produce more power than the computer hardware request no matter how much power it could produce if requested. Example: A computer that request 300W will get 300W from a 450W or a 850W power supply, no more.
3. Always get a 80+ Gold or better efficiently rated power supply. A 80+ Gold 450W or 850W power supply will draw the same power from the wall outlet doing the same work (Producing 300W for the computer)
4. A bigger than need power supply give room to grow if you ever in the future want to add hardware.
5. Normally the price difference between a power supply that meet minimum specs and one that exceeds the minimum by 200W is small.

DeaconFrost · 21 Mar 2013

I'm surprised it took until the second page, but I agree...you definitely want a larger SSD. You can find 240-256 GB models at some very good prices now.

Executable Beep · 21 Mar 2013

TwoCables said:

Executable Beep said:

TwoCables said:

I just noticed this addition but I forgot to ask: can you afford $89.99 shipped for a PSU? If not, then can you afford $63.98 after shipping?

Yeah, i can afford 90 dollars for a psu, that would be fine n-n

I just want 'enough' power to be able to overclock it

If you can afford $89.99 shipped, then get this and you'll never have to worry ever again:

The 550W SeaSonic G Series (for $89.99 shipped)

I mean, here's what I said before:

GeForce GTX 670 2 and 3-way SLI review - Power Consumption

With one GTX 670 under full load in their system, their PSU pulled 279W from the wall outlet. Their CPU was idling during this test, so I have to add 77W for the 3770K under full load (at stock). That makes the PSU pulling 356W from the wall outlet. So if the PSU is 85% efficient while pulling 356W from the wall outlet, then that means the system is only pulling 303W from the PSU. However, this is an unrealistically high power draw because I'm saying that both the 670 and the 3770K are under full load at the same time in Guru3D's power-hungry system. The actual gaming power draw will be closer to about 250 to 275W at the most. Not only that, but I'm talking about the GTX 670 here when he's looking at the GTX 660 Ti.

So yeah, this means that even a quality-made 350W power supply is enough because the maximum power draw will only be reached when playing the most intense and demanding video games. This will result in the maximum efficiency for the PSU because again, the maximum power draw will only ever get up to 250-275W.

For future upgrades, well each new generation of GPUs and CPUs requires less power than the previous, so it's not really enough of a concern which is why I can say that a quality-made 400W PSU would be plenty for any system like his that has one video card in it. If he were to overclock his 3770K and also upgrade to a single HD 7970, then I would recommend a quality-made 450W power supply, but that's still not the minimum. The idea is to stay in the sweet spot for the sake of efficiency.

So yeah, I could recommend a quality-made PSU with a much smaller capacity, but the prices on such PSUs just aren't low enough in comparison to this to really justify it. I mean, I'm recommending a high-end 550W modular PSU and it's only $89.99 shipped.

I think ill give it a shot on that PSU-- it seems like a good option, BUT-- what do you think about this?

Amazon.com: Cooler Master Elite 460W ATX +12V V2.31 SATA, PCI-E Power Supply RS460-PSARI3-US: Electronics

You said the max power draw of those 2 components was 303W, right? that PSU should do enough-- and its WAY cheaper

Britton30 · 21 Mar 2013

I have only looked at you first post of the possible build. You have selected some mid to high end part, don't cripple it with a very low end PSU. Sure it's rated high enough but the cheap PSU are not very robust in my opinion. The CoolerMaster doesn't seen to have any sort of Plus rating. I have read some PSU tear-down reviews where some 500W ones would make great 200W PSUs.
I would definitely buy the Seasonic a very robust and respected brand of PSU. Don't "cheap out" on the PSU, everything else depends on it working well.