Computer build help

[Matts1]

I am building a computer for my friend. Unfortunately, he is on a tight budget, but wanted something reasonable. I was going to go i3 3.2GHz, until I found the AMD phenom II x4 925 (2.8 GHz), which would save $80 off the motherboard. I wanted to know, however if the cooling would be sufficient and how much the PSU should be. I checked the antec PSU calculator, and it says 331w. I'm wondering how accurate this would be, given that we were planning to have a high end CPU. The specs are:

coolermaster elite 334 (1 120mm rear, 1 120mm front)
AMD phenom X2 925 2.8Ghz, using stock heatsink
AMD Phenom

Gigabyte MA78LMT-S2
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3 - GA-MA78LMT-S2 (rev. 3.x)

Antec BP430 (is it enough?)
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NzI3

Seagate barracuda 500GB 7200RPM HDD
wireless is a TP-link (not sure exactly what yet, probably N)
RAM - Elixier 1333MHz (I think generic)
samsung DVD drive
microsoft wireless keyboard + mouse
no graphics card (intergrated into motherboard)

 

[Dzomlija]

I am building a computer for my friend. Unfortunately, he is on a tight budget, but wanted something reasonable. I was going to go i3 3.2GHz, until I found the AMD phenom II x4 925 (2.8 GHz), which would save $80 off the motherboard. I wanted to know, however if the cooling would be sufficient and how much the PSU should be. I checked the antec PSU calculator, and it says 331w. I'm wondering how accurate this would be, given that we were planning to have a high end CPU. The specs are:

coolermaster elite 334 (1 120mm rear, 1 120mm front)
AMD phenom X2 925 2.8Ghz, using stock heatsink
AMD Phenom

Gigabyte MA78LMT-S2
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3 - GA-MA78LMT-S2 (rev. 3.x)

Antec BP430 (is it enough?)
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NzI3

Seagate barracuda 500GB 7200RPM HDD
wireless is a TP-link (not sure exactly what yet, probably N)
RAM - Elixier 1333MHz (I think generic)
samsung DVD drive
microsoft wireless keyboard + mouse
no graphics card (intergrated into motherboard)

Motherboard looks good. SATA ports that won't get in the way of all but the most high-end graphics cards. PCI-E 1x about the PCI-E 16x slot is always a good design choice. Unless the memory slots support 4GB modules, you won't be able to install more than 4GB ram, which is a minus.

You might be able to get away with a 450W or 500W PSU, but long term you'll just end up spending more money than you should.

When choosing a power supply, don't get one large enough for what you need now. Get one that will accomodate any upgrades that you'll add later. So if you plan on getting a 450W, you should rather get a 750W, so that 6 months from now when you friend puts in a graphics card, then you'll know of the bat that it'll have enough power, without having to also worry about "will the current PSU be enough??"

EDIT:
I just had a closer look at the motherboard specs, and it does indeed support up to 8GB memory. Just remember that to do this, you'll need to use 2x 4GB modules, which are notoriously expensive and hard to come by. Perhaps you should consider a similar board that has 3, 4 or 6 memory slots. (3 or 6 slots will allow for DDR3 triple channel mode on the memory)

 

[Matts1]

If you plan on getting a 450W, you should rather get a 750W, so that 6 months from now when you friend puts in a graphics card, then you'll know of the bat that it'll have enough power, without having to also worry about "will the current PSU be enough??"

Yes, I know I'd be better off getting a higher wattage, but I can guaruntee we won't need over 600w because 4GB is plenty for him and the only thing which we might upgrade is a second HDD.
We have decided to get a graphics card, but have decided on an entry level one ($59 ATI 5570)

 

[Dzomlija]

If you plan on getting a 450W, you should rather get a 750W, so that 6 months from now when you friend puts in a graphics card, then you'll know of the bat that it'll have enough power, without having to also worry about "will the current PSU be enough??"

Yes, I know I'd be better off getting a higher wattage, but I can guaruntee we won't need over 600w because 4GB is plenty for him and the only thing which we might upgrade is a second HDD.
We have decided to get a graphics card, but have decided on an entry level one ($59 ATI 5570)

Then it would appear as though you're building him quite a nice system. Smart move going for a dedicated graphics card - don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but onboard graphics cards never perform as well as their dedicated counterparts!

 

[pparks1]

Generally speaking, people tend to way over purchase on their power supplies. With that said, I'm not suggesting that you get a cheap brand.....but a quality brand at a lower wattage may be completely and totally sufficient. For example, I have a quad core intel, with 8gb of ram, 2 hard drives, and currently an nvidia 9800gtx+....and I'm running a Corsair HX 620 and it's WAY more than enough. My current configuration would easily run on 400. This gives me plenty of juice to upgrade my video card to something like an ATI Radeon 5850 or 6870 with absolutely no problem whatsoever.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Like mentioned I would switch to a higher power PSU and go with 650-750 minimum. If you need to save money then go for non-modular and the PSU will be cheap enough. Also I'm not a Seagate guy, I would go WD or Hitachi and make sure it's non-green and has 32 min. cache and spins at 7200 rpm.

 

[Matts1]

I know to go with a well known brand, so I went for an antec BP500.
Seagate works fine for me (or at least the last 5 drives have). And they're 7200RPM with 32MB cache.

 

[sygnus21]

While I agree with getting a quality power supply, for the system you're building, you don't need anything higher than a 550, maybe a 650. I personally felt like a 750 was way overkill for what you're putting together.

To get an understanding.... if you look at my system specs, it ran rather well on my old Antec 550watt PS. Yeah I now have an 850 now, but honestly I bought it more for the build, quality, and reviews rather than pure power needs. Sure it's future proof, but I doubt I'll ever push it to its max.

Anyways I see you went with a 500 watt model so that debate is over. Good choice, and good luck.

As for hard drives, Seagate is good, though I'm a Western Digital guy myself.

Good luck with your build.

Peace

 

[Dzomlija]

I know to go with a well known brand, so I went for an antec BP500.
Seagate works fine for me (or at least the last 5 drives have). And they're 7200RPM with 32MB cache.

Seagate all the way! Just take a look at my system specs - All 10 of my hard drives are Seagate, of which the 80GB is the oldest, at around maybe 7 years or so, I forget...