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Another I'm building a computer topic
Dud - Oct 15, 2003

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  Gallstaff Oct 26, 2003
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People have varying point son this. I bought a 500 watt no name psu for 26 dollars. It works perfect and i haven't had any problems with it... ever.

I say the psu is a minor detail not worth worrying about really.

 Dud Oct 26, 2003
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			Originally posted by Gallstaff@Oct 26, 2003 @ 07:54 PM



 People have varying point son this. I bought a 500 watt no name psu for 26 dollars. It works perfect and i haven't had any problems with it... ever.



I say the psu is a minor detail not worth worrying about really.


Good that's what I was hoping. What about molex Y-adapters? I can't seem to find them at NewEgg...

 Gallstaff Oct 26, 2003
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uh why dont you have enough? Well i'm sure newegg has em look under accesories i've seen em. If not, check directron.com

 Dud Oct 26, 2003
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			Originally posted by Gallstaff@Oct 26, 2003 @ 08:25 PM



 uh why dont you have enough? Well i'm sure newegg has em look under accesories i've seen em. If not, check directron.com


One of the reviews said the PSU didn't have enough molexes for the case fans and three devices.

 Gallstaff Oct 26, 2003
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um well havent you ever built a case? Case fans have 2 heads on them so there's always one extra left over.

 ExCyber Oct 26, 2003
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			I say the psu is a minor detail not worth worrying about really.


The PSU provides the power and reference voltages for every single component in the entire system. This is hardly a "minor detail", and the design of a stable switching supply with 500 watts output rating, five outputs, and unknown load that retails for less than $30 is nothing short of miraculous. AFAICT, the transformer and rectifier alone for this kind of supply would cost at least $15, to say nothing of the regulators, protection components, fan, case, assembly, and testing.

It is considerably more likely that someone is practicing fuzzy math (wattage rating for a multi-output supply is not exactly an intuitive process), and these "$30 500W" supplies are really more in the neighborhood of 300W.

 Dud Oct 26, 2003
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			Originally posted by Gallstaff@Oct 26, 2003 @ 09:20 PM



 um well havent you ever built a case? Case fans have 2 heads on them so there's always one extra left over.


No, never with more tham one case fan.

Even if there is one 4pin leftover you can't connect the back/side fans with the top or front fans. So I still have to have three molexes just for fans...I think :huh I don't know, that's where lack of experience comes in. I found the splitters at newegg, you have to search '4 pin splitter'.

 Gallstaff Oct 26, 2003
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if this was true than i'd be fucked cause my vid card alone needs 300 for power.

Sorry, this was in response to excyber

 ExCyber Oct 26, 2003
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What video card is that?

 Gallstaff Oct 26, 2003
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9500pro.

 ExCyber Oct 26, 2003
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I think you're confusing a recommended power supply rating with a consumption rating. I'm running a Radeon 8500 on a 300W power supply, and reports I've heard are that the original GeForceFX, notorious for its absurd power dissipation, is "only" burning 100 watts or so.

 Gallstaff Oct 26, 2003
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I probably am

 Dud Oct 26, 2003
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Everything has been revised alot so here is the current list of stuff. I'll probably get this stuff this week, yeah my bank account will only have 10 dollars left in it, but oh well.

AMD Athlon XP Baton 2600+ 333Mhz FSB

Asus A7N8X Deluxe motherboard

Aspire Turbo Alluminum Server-size Case w/420w PSU

Mushkin 512MB PC3200 DDR-RAM

ATI Radeon 9600 Pro

Samsung 52x24x52 CD-RW/ 12x DVD

Samsung 1.44 Floppy

Samsung 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer Harddrive

Samsung Syncmaster 17" CRT Monitor

Logitech Internet Keyboard + Corded Optical Mouse

Rounded IDE Cables and Molex Splitters

Plantronics .Audio 90 Stereo Headset

Grand Total: $1007.33 after $54 shipping is applied

 Alexvrb Oct 26, 2003
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Looks good to me. I wouldn't spend that much, but I'm a cheap bastard. But that'd give you a good solid rig, with all the stuff you want (like j00 fancy wireless KB+mouse). Check out the reviews newegg lists for the Alien case, I think the first one. It shows lots of cool pics. The HDD bay is awesome, leaves you with plenty of space to confortably seat up to 5 HDDs. I think I'm a bit jealous... but don't forget, one of these days you'll have to pick up another 512MB stick of memory (preferably the same model, if not then comparable one with same exact ratings) sp you can enable dual-channel. But that can wait.

ExCyber: Yes, a cheap xxx watt PSU is often not capable of performing at the same level as a more expensive one. But that doesn't mean its necessarily bad. Sometimes they rate based on near-top output and not constant. The mid-grade tends to rate more or less accurately, and the highend often (varies by manufacturer) rates their PSU rather conservatively. However, that being said, a cheaper 400 watt PSU could for instance perform on par with a more expensive 300 watt PSU. I think he'll be fine with the one in there. My friend is running much more stuff perfectly off a 330 watt Antec, and granted Antec is great, but I would say the 420 watt is still at least on par as far as constant and max output go.

Gallstaff: There's no chance a consumer graphics card consumes 300 watts on its own. Yet, haha, geez I hope that doesn't happen anytime soon. As Ex said, that's just the minimum recommended PSU they want you to have to run this card. Its to prevent people from installing it on their HP/Compaq/Gateway machines that have a PSU that is *just* enough to power the factory original components and maybe an extra drive or two. I've seen bad things happen when people overtax a weak PSU - depending on the PSU, it could just power off/reset a lot, do other weird things. Could burn out the PSU, maybe worse. Whoops, bit of a rant there...

 Dud Oct 26, 2003
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Excellent. I can be pretty cheap myself, I'm buying the cheapest keyboard and mouse, no speakers. I actually wasn't even going to buy a floppy drive, but then I saw that they were only 7.50.

What exactly is this dual channel thing I hear so much about? Does it give a significant speed boost?

 Alexvrb Oct 26, 2003
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Yes... but not as big a boost as a better CPU or GPU. Also, since you have to use 2 identical sticks, I am loath to recommend getting two 256MB sticks. That'd make upgrading memory harder if you wanted to keep dual channel. So just stick with the current rig, and if you get some extra money at a later date you could have yourself a nice 1GB of memory and dual-channel.

 ExCyber Oct 27, 2003
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BTW, don't worry too much about whether or not you'll use the extra RAM - the OS will generally soak up the

extra as tasty performance-enhancing file cache. This can lead to a serious boost in app loading speed if you're the type who leaves the computer on for long stretches.


  
	
	

		
		

			ExCyber: Yes, a cheap xxx watt PSU is often not capable of performing at the same level as a more expensive one. But that doesn't mean its necessarily bad. Sometimes they rate based on near-top output and not constant. The mid-grade tends to rate more or less accurately, and the highend often (varies by manufacturer) rates their PSU rather conservatively. However, that being said, a cheaper 400 watt PSU could for instance perform on par with a more expensive 300 watt PSU.


That's what I was saying.

 Dud Oct 27, 2003
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			Originally posted by Alexvrb@Oct 26, 2003 @ 11:58 PM



 Yes... but not as big a boost as a better CPU or GPU. Also, since you have to use 2 identical sticks, I am loath to recommend getting two 256MB sticks. That'd make upgrading memory harder if you wanted to keep dual channel. So just stick with the current rig, and if you get some extra money at a later date you could have yourself a nice 1GB of memory and dual-channel.


Yeah, I'll probably get another stick later.

Thanks for the help everyone; I'm probably going to order tommorow.

 Gallstaff Oct 27, 2003
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Hm i'm getting another stick for myself soon actually and how do i enable dual channel?

 Alexvrb Oct 27, 2003
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			Originally posted by ExCyber@Oct 27, 2003 @ 02:49 PM



 BTW, don't worry too much about whether or not you'll use the extra RAM - the OS will generally soak up the 



extra as tasty performance-enhancing file cache. This can lead to a serious boost in app loading speed if you're the type who leaves the computer on for long stretches.


Dude, where's my RAM???

Seriously, that's why I havent down- err, upgraded to WinXP yet.

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