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Building New Machine

Ishtvan

By Ishtvan
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Ishtvan

Ishtvan

Posted
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I'm in the early stages of planning out a new machine, but I realized I have no idea what the requirements on power supplies are these days. Supposing I had this:

 

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI ATX

CPU: Intel Core i7 920

GFX: 2x Sapphire Radeon HD4870 512 (Crossfire config)

 

What wattage power supply would be appropriate for that? I've seen some "crossfire ready" stamped on anywhere from 535-850 W. Maybe they are just talking about the connectors?

 

There's a good combo deal on a case (HEC 6C28BSX585) that includes a 585W power supply, but I'm not sure if that will do it? Uh-oh, some reviews said that PS is not really putting out 585W either. Maybe better to go with a more established one.

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Komag

Komag

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I think you'll want to have a very strong brand name power supply so you can rely on it not being cheap crap that will snap crackle and pop, ruining not only itself but potentially frying your motherboard, memory, or even worse. In my experience (learning the hard way) that is almost more important than having a really high W number.

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brethren

brethren

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According to bikerdude over on TTLG (who really seems to know his stuff), he highly recommends the PC Power & Cooling brand. I just did a system with 500w version, and it's great so far (only been a month though).

 

Also, usually the cards website will have recommended configs based on your processor, mobo, etc.

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HappyCheeze

HappyCheeze

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I use this PSU wattage calculator

 

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html

 

That should give you a good estimation for power reqs

 

that is almost more important than having a really high W number.

Yes, you can go over, which is nice when you want to play it safe and if you need to add more hardware

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Moddb

 

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Ishtvan

Ishtvan

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Thanks for the info. I'm still open to options, but trying to decide between Corsair CMPSU 750W ($100) or 850W ($140). That Newegg PSU calculator didn't seem to include the most up to date hardware, no i7 or Radeon HD4870, it seems. I will check the recs on that hardware though. Of course the GFX card might not be accurate since I would be using two of them. :)

 

EDIT: Based on this person's newegg review, there's a high chance 750 would be enough. This is a bit more than I'm planning. If I need to buy a new PSU years later for upgrades then so be it.

Other Thoughts: Motherboard = Asus P6T Dekuxe OC Palm

CPU = Intel Core i7 160x133 = 3.2ghz

RAM = Corsair XMS Dominator 3x2GB 9-9-9-24

Hard Drive(s) = 2 x WD Caviar sata 500GB Raid 0

Video Display = 2 x Asus EAH 4890 Crossfire X

PSU = Corsair 750W

Ram Cooling = AIR Corsair CMXAF1 Ram fans

CPU Cooling = AIR XIGMATEK 120mm Rifle

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Ishtvan

Ishtvan

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Okay, preliminary build #1 : Please tell me if I'm doing anything stupid. The OCZ RAM I chose for being relatively cheap and having good reviews. The case I chose due to a combo deal, should probably take a closer look at it and make sure it will work for everything. The SLI version of that mobo is $10 extra, figure it's worth it if I upgrade later and go switch to Nvidia.

 

I'm curious about games not supporting crossfire. But it started in 2005 so you'd think most recent ones would?

 

Case:	GMC X-7 Black ABS Mid Tower
PSU:	CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
Mobo:	Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI ATX
CPU:	Intel Core i7 920 2.7 GHz
GFX:	2x Sapphire HD4870 512 (crossfire)	 
RAM:	OCZ Gold 6 GB  DDR3 2000 PC3 1600
HDD:	Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB
Disc:	LG 6x BD-ROM 16X DVD RW

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HappyCheeze

HappyCheeze

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Killer!

Although I don't know ATI cards that much, looks pretty badass.

 

One thing to note. The mobo has onboard audio. If you want top of the line sound, you'll need a soundcard for that... if you want that.

 

Oh and what OS are you using?

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happycheeze.deviantart.com

 

Moddb

 

Gamers Outreach, a nonprofit that uses videogames to raise money for chairty.

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Ishtvan

Ishtvan

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Although I don't know ATI cards that much...

I'm pretty much just following Tom's Hardware on that one. I was looking at their "best deals for GFX cards $200-300", and they pointed out that 2 HD4870's can give insane performance for ~$330. Just have to make sure they would physically fit.

 

One thing to note. The mobo has onboard audio. If you want top of the line sound, you'll need a soundcard for that... if you want that.

I decided to sacrifice that for a while, a bit too expensive to add it at this point.

 

Oh and what OS are you using?

Don't know yet. Can the i7's still run XP? I'm really not looking forward to Vista. Maybe it will be Win 7 beta for a while. :)

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HappyCheeze

HappyCheeze

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Don't know yet. Can the i7's still run XP? I'm really not looking forward to Vista. Maybe it will be Win 7 beta for a while. :)

 

i7's probably can, but I wouldn't recommend that. XP is older and 32 bit, so a.) it won't be the best for multicore cpus and B.) can only see and utilize about 4 gigs of ram.

 

Vista Ultimate I heard FLIES and is badass with a good setup. With that CPU and 6 gigs of RAM it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

I highly recommend the windows 7 beta. I have it right now and it is AWESOME. Microsoft also is reissuing it so you can grab it again. It is a beta afterall and can be buggy. The only real issues I've run into is a soundcard driver not installing correctly, but that doesn't matter because its an older card and I only had it in for the midi port.

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happycheeze.deviantart.com

 

Moddb

 

Gamers Outreach, a nonprofit that uses videogames to raise money for chairty.

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Mortem Desino

Mortem Desino

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I took a look at that Mobo, and I'm a little jealous. I love the sheer space between the video card slots: You'll probably need it for the ATI Sapphire Cards.

 

Another thing to note: my Antec 900 case came with special steel clips for oversized video cards. You just may want to find something similar in case two of those GPUs start to put a little too much weight on your motherboard.

yay seuss crease touss dome in ouss nose tair

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  • 5 weeks later...
Ishtvan

Ishtvan

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Finally ordered this. Made some slight modifications due to out of stock case and the SLI version of the Gigabyte EX58-UD3R mobo apparently not offered by Newegg anymore (had to go to more expensive mobo).

 

Case:	Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower (argh LEDs :()
PSU:	CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
Mobo:	Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P
CPU:	Intel Core i7 920 2.7 GHz
GFX:	2x Sapphire HD4870 512 (crossfire)	 
RAM:	OCZ Gold 6 GB  DDR3 2000 PC3 1600
HDD:	Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB
Disc:	LG 6x BD-ROM 16X DVD RW

 

If I have issues building it I'll post in here. :) Btw, does anyone have experience with games being/not being ATI crossfire-compatible?

 

For the OS, I still have a crazy plan to just install Win 7 beta (and pay for it in a year) rather than pay good money for Vista.

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