PSU with on board monitoring!

[Jorlain]

I agree with the others in regard to the CPU. As you can see in my rig, I'm running an i7 860 from the LGA 1156 platform.

8 threads and most of them sit idle unless I'm doing some major rendering. 12 would just be overkill. More power, more heat, and not much to utilize the power.

If it's just a gaming rig plus every day application use, go with a i7 920 or 930, or whatever. You honestly don't need 12 threads. That extra $700 you could put into more GPU horsepower, faster RAM with tighter timings, Solid State Drives, et cetera, things that will return real world performance.

Also, I don't think I'd be dropping that kind of cash on a motherboard unless you knew for sure that you were going to be using 3+ graphics cards, overclocking to the max, or a combination of the two. You would do just as well with something like an ASUS P6X58D or a Gigabyte UD5 (The ASUS looks pretty awesome, by the way! I want one!) Both of those offer USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0 if those are interests (would allow more "future proofing").

Just some food for thought.

 

[djddrop]

I agree with the others in regard to the CPU. As you can see in my rig, I'm running an i7 860 from the LGA 1156 platform.

8 threads and most of them sit idle unless I'm doing some major rendering. 12 would just be overkill. More power, more heat, and not much to utilize the power.

If it's just a gaming rig plus every day application use, go with a i7 920 or 930, or whatever. You honestly don't need 12 threads. That extra $700 you could put into more GPU horsepower, faster RAM with tighter timings, Solid State Drives, et cetera, things that will return real world performance.

Also, I don't think I'd be dropping that kind of cash on a motherboard unless you knew for sure that you were going to be using 3+ graphics cards, overclocking to the max, or a combination of the two. You would do just as well with something like an ASUS P6X58D or a Gigabyte UD5 (The ASUS looks pretty awesome, by the way! I want one!) Both of those offer USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0 if those are interests (would allow more "future proofing").

Just some food for thought.

I will keep that CPU and MoBo in mind. Thanks for the heads up!

Oh, how much RAM would be sufficient 4Gb?


*EDIT*

Ok, here is my new revised setup:

Cooler Master HAF 932 Case

Corsair 1000HX PSU (Sticking with it for future expansion)

ASUS P6X58D-E MoBo

Intel i7 930 2.8GHz

Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2x2Gb Blue LED

Thermalright U120 Extreme HS/Fan

Saphire Vapor-X 5850 2Gb PCIe 2.0 x16

(2) Western Digital Caviar Black 500Gb SATA Drives in a RAID 0 config.

LG BD-R Optical Drive

Any other input you guys could give me?
Is the 5850 GPU going to be enough or should I ramp it up to something else? Keep in mind that I'm using a 52" Sony Bravia as my monitor.
Also, since the ASUS P6X58D doesn't have an IDE interface how would I get my files off my two IDE drives and transfer them to the RAID array?

 

[djddrop]

bump ^^^^^What are your opinions on the above setup?^^^^

 

[EarthDog]

Well, I wouldnt get such a powerful PSU. Unless you are running 2 dual gpu cards, you wont come close to using 1kw. And if someone chimes in here with some efficiency BS, they need their head pulled out of their dirty place and look at some PSU reviews (sorry, Im tired of seeing that comment posted here by a few misinformed people making people that dont know pay too much for ZERO reason).

Your monitor, regardless if its 52 or 80" is 1920x1080 or less (if 1080p its that. If 720p, its 1366x768). With that said, even if you get 2 5850's and water cooling (which is no more than 30-40W with say 6 fans and a pump), you may barely break 500W. So, again, to save yourself some money and still leave an ample amount of headroom, get a 850TX/HX.

 

[CompuTamer]

Honestly, my 4850 will take 1080p just fine. So i would imagine any single card set up should be able to handle it.

I haven't looked at the newer cards though, but the 5xxx equivalent of the 4870 should be fine... that'd be the 5770, right?

As for the PSU, just get a good 650 or 750 and you should be good to go. Haven't seen many problems with Corsair PSUs.

Since you're building a new system, i'd spring for 6GB of RAM so you can triple channel it. Not a huge performance boost, but why not? You'll thank yourself a few years down the road when 4GB isn't enough, or you need that extra bit of performance from the RAM. (I think that Triple channel is like a 3% gain over dual)

The Tracers also had a bad spell with being unreliable a while back. Not sure if they ever got that worked out, but i'm trying to stay away from them.

For the file recovery... maybe get a cheap PCI card to plug them into for data recovery, then throw the card in the closet? Seems to be the simple way to do it... you could set up a network between the PCs and transfer it that way... slowely. Lol. Are you willing to spring for say an 80GB SSD for the OS? Those things scream, and they're faster than a platter based RAID. Then get say a 250GB WD black for the programs, and then two 500GB drives for a RAID 1 storage array. Though i suppose you could just RAID 0 the drives you're thinking of now, and that would be okay... big risk of loosing data though.

I think the U120 is kinda outdated now... there should be better heatsinks out there. Look at some reviews and see what you can get. The Corsair H50 used to be the same as high end air, but i think high end air has gotten further a long now. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018 here's a good one... it's a BEAST in size, but it cools pretty well. I read some awesome reviews about it. I'll let the cooling guys chime in there though, cause i'm not too up to date there...

 

[WonderingSoul]

And if someone chimes in here with some efficiency BS, they need their head pulled out of their dirty place and look at some PSU reviews (sorry, Im tired of seeing that comment posted here by a few misinformed people making people that dont know pay too much for ZERO reason).

I call BS here.

So you're telling me there is no difference between a 75% efficient unit and a 90% efficient unit?

Not like they dump less heat and save more electricity? Show me where these two things mean nothing.

 

[psionic98]

i dont think ED was referring to the actual PSU efficiency.. its more the people that come and claim that a 1K psu running at less than 1/2 load is more efficient than a 650w psu running in its effecient zone of 80% give or take.

 

[petteyg359]

FrozenCPU, JabTech, Petra's, Xoxide, SVC, etc. often have better prices on cooling gear than NewEgg. Before you buy, check that you're not spending unnecessary cash on the HSF

 

[djddrop]

FrozenCPU, JabTech, Petra's, Xoxide, SVC, etc. often have better prices on cooling gear than NewEgg. Before you buy, check that you're not spending unnecessary cash on the HSF

I wanted the HAF just for looks. I like it. It's Simple, it's Black and has plenty of room for extras.

 

[tharepairguy]

Heres my 2centz...

depending upon where your live.

Microcenter i7 930 @ 199

Keep an eye out for frys combo's. Last week they had a i7 930 + Asus P6T SE for around 300 After Rebate.

I say go for the classified if you like it, even if you dont do 3x SLI. I got the 760 classified and couldnt be happier. Oh and eVGA customer service is easiely worth the extra in my opinion to be able to talk to someone that speaks english. Oh and i dont know if i have ever had to spend more than a couple minutes on hold. Had to call them about a damaged stepup shipment. Asus on the other hand, i gave up on them after they couldnt get drivers out for the p6t6 ws long after win7 retailed, they do make good products tho...

I think the Megalahams are king of Air coolers ATM. or maybe the therm rev. C took back the crown? To much to keep up with.

As far as video cards. Look for a manufacter that offers a lifetime warranty. i think both sides of the table have said option. Not sure which to recommend but as far as price vs. performance. ATI is the king ATM. Fermi might dominate on the tesselation side but they also dominate in the heater dept. A friends 5770 i think or 5850 gets more fps in BFBC2 than my quad sli setup if that means anything and loads maps faster

Corsair Dominator Tri-Channel 3x2gb set around $150-$200

The 2nd Gen intel 80gb SSD is around $200 right now, i think. An SSD is pretty much a standard now in any performance driven system.

I cant say enough good things about my Enermax 1050w Revolution. DC-DC and efficiency is off the charts whether your using 100w or 800w. I just ordered the new Seasonic X750 Gold , from the reviews, efficiency should be better than my Enermax. Personally i think the PSU is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle. Efficiency being top priority since wasted power is wasted $$.

Please keep in mind all data above might not be 100% accurate as i havnt had time to keep up like i usually do as of late...

 

[cyberfish]

I call BS here.

So you're telling me there is no difference between a 75% efficient unit and a 90% efficient unit?

Not like they dump less heat and save more electricity? Show me where these two things mean nothing.

The problem is, differences in efficiency are more like 80% vs 82%, not 75% vs 90%.

You can estimate the electricity money saved by
electricity price per kWh * how many kilowatts your computer will use on average (NOT PSU RATING, and much lower than maximum load) * how many hours you estimate your PSU will run until it retires * 0.01 * difference in efficiency (%)

and compare it with the extra $ you will have to pay for a higher efficiency PSU.

Usually, the extra $ is much higher.

It's dangerous to talk about this kind of things qualitatively, without looking at real numbers.

 

[WonderingSoul]

The problem is, differences in efficiency are more like 80% vs 82%, not 75% vs 90%.

You can estimate the electricity money saved by
electricity price per kWh * how many kilowatts your computer will use on average (NOT PSU RATING, and much lower than maximum load) * how many hours you estimate your PSU will run until it retires * 0.01 * difference in efficiency (%)

and compare it with the extra $ you will have to pay for a higher efficiency PSU.

Usually, the extra $ is much higher.

It's dangerous to talk about this kind of things qualitatively, without looking at real numbers.

I think you are severely under estimating PSU efficiency. When I was looking for a PSU unit for my folding rig I KNOW I needed something at least 80 plus. That rig was run 100% at pretty much 24/7.

I went from a ZT56ZF which was ~75%, to a Hiper Type M 880W ~85%.

10% efficiency is pretty big deal in my opinion for a rig running almost 24/7. I had bought this unit almost two years ago as well. So running this long is pretty good

I seriously doubt your alleged "80% vs 82%" I don't even know of units 80-82% or let alone even under 85%. So if anything, I was wrong, it's more like 83-87, 90 for 80 Plus Gold Standard. Or if you are upgrading from an older unit even from 80 to 90 efficient.


It's also not just the monetary things you can talk about, there is also fan noise, heat dumped, quality of the unit so many other variables when dropping more money on a PSU.

 

[EarthDog]

I call BS here.

So you're telling me there is no difference between a 75% efficient unit and a 90% efficient unit?

Not like they dump less heat and save more electricity? Show me where these two things mean nothing.

i dont think ED was referring to the actual PSU efficiency.. its more the people that come and claim that a 1K psu running at less than 1/2 load is more efficient than a 650w psu running in its effecient zone of 80% give or take.

Exactly. I have seen a couple times people mention its better to buy a 1kw PSU and run it at 50% b/c its more efficient. When in reality the difference is, like was mentioned, a mere couple of percent. Of
course, you have to keep in mind upgrades and such, but running a 500W load first of all is a feat. With my GTX 470 I managed to pull under 400W from the wall multiply that by .8 to be conservative and you can see that I have plenty of headroom on a 750W PSU to add another without even flinching.

I assure you, when one actually does the math, you will see that buying a $239 PSU vs $149 PSU and run 400W on it, the difference in cost ($90) wont be made up over its lifetime via PSU efficiency difference b/c of the load on each PSU. Though I have never worked out the math of that thing running full load 24/7. Thats about the only way it could come close I would imagine. If it was idle most of the 24/7 the story would still be the same.

 

[WonderingSoul]

Exactly. I have seen a couple times people mention its better to buy a 1kw PSU and run it at 50% b/c its more efficient. When in reality the difference is, like was mentioned, a mere couple of percent. Of
course, you have to keep in mind upgrades and such, but running a 500W load first of all is a feat. With my GTX 470 I managed to pull under 400W from the wall multiply that by .8 to be conservative and you can see that I have plenty of headroom on a 750W PSU to add another without even flinching.

I assure you, when one actually does the math, you will see that buying a $239 PSU vs $149 PSU and run 400W on it, the difference in cost ($90) wont be made up over its lifetime via PSU efficiency difference b/c of the load on each PSU. Though I have never worked out the math of that thing running full load 24/7. Thats about the only way it could come close I would imagine. If it was idle most of the 24/7 the story would still be the same.

Ok, I thought you meant there would be no difference in buying say, a PSU that isn't even 80Plus standard vs an 80 Plus Gold PSU

I agree that getting a 1KW unit to run at 400w is just plain ol' silly.

 

[tharepairguy]

I assure you, when one actually does the math, you will see that buying a $239 PSU vs $149 PSU and run 400W on it, the difference in cost ($90) wont be made up over its lifetime via PSU efficiency difference b/c of the load on each PSU. Though I have never worked out the math of that thing running full load 24/7. Thats about the only way it could come close I would imagine. If it was idle most of the 24/7 the story would still be the same.

Less coal being burned * x = a difference