My computer upgrade problem - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Herk · 10-16-2007, 12:41 PM

So, my current pc died.
<ul>
<li>AMD 1800+</li>
<li>ti4600</li>
<li>350W Enermax</li>
<li>2 x 512 DDR</li>
<li>30G ATA133 HD</li>
<li>... blah blah(was good... now crap)</li>
</ul>
The video card fan failed. I have no interest in repairing it. Time to upgrade.
Replacements are
<ul>
<li>ASUS M2N-X</li>
<li>AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Brisbane 65W EE</li>
<li>mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2</li>
<li>Seagate Barracuda 250G (Perpendicular Recording)</li>
<li>MSI Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3</li>
</ul>
I think I covered all the upgrades there.

Anyway, to the point. I've been scouting around trying to get good, reliable information about power consumption. As far as I can tell, my power supply listed at the top should be fully effective for my new parts, but I can't be sure of this until it passes inspection by the TFP smarties. Is 350W ok, or should I go bigger?

BTW, I welcome all input here, but I should note, I'm getting all the upgrade components for a total of $368.46, which as far as I can tell is a sweet deal, but if you can point me to a better one, please do.

Lasereth · 10-16-2007, 02:42 PM

The power supply will most likely be fine. One warning: that videocard is PCI-E and will probably require a PCI-E power connector. Your Enermax is probably older before PCI-E power connectors were out. The videocard may come with a PCI-E power adapter so it works with older PSUs, but it might not -- make sure it does.

BTW you're not getting ripped off. That is a decent deal.

Herk · 10-16-2007, 05:11 PM

Wow, awesome. Thanks for the response. I had stopped to ponder about the pci-e thing because I read they require some sort of 6 pin connector, but just assumed there would be an adapter. I certainly glad you pointed that out. I'll look into it.

biznatch · 10-16-2007, 11:40 PM

Either way, PSUs are not incredibly expensive. Check Geeks.com, or Newegg for pretty good deals.
Like 450W for under 15 bucks, i think.
Also, justdeals.com has shipping for 1.95 on their merchandise.

Lasereth · 10-17-2007, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biznatch

Either way, PSUs are not incredibly expensive. Check Geeks.com, or Newegg for pretty good deals.
Like 450W for under 15 bucks, i think.
Also, justdeals.com has shipping for 1.95 on their merchandise.

A 450w PSU for $15 won't run his system. It will boot up and struggle for a couple of months and then die. The wattage of a PSU doesn't mean a whole lot -- it's the quality of the PSU, the current supplied to each rail, and the heat sinks in the box. A 350w Enermax will outperform a 1,000w Raidmax PSU for said reasons.

Herk · 10-17-2007, 05:25 AM

Yeah, I may just have to do that, but I'm going to try and avoid it. Not because of the expense. I really just hate to have extra crap lying around.

The components that I'm buying are all coming OEM. I should be able to put them together just fine, as I've worked on a few computers, but since everything is coming without accessories or software, I'm sure I will run into some challenges.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lasereth

A 450w PSU for $15 won't run his system. It will boot up and struggle for a couple of months and then die. The wattage of a PSU doesn't mean a whole lot -- it's the quality of the PSU, the current supplied to each rail, and the heat sinks in the box. A 350w Enermax will outperform a 1,000w Raidmax PSU for said reasons.

Wow, awesome info. I knew that Enermax was a good brand but I didn't know that would make such a difference. That makes me feel a lot more confident.

10-16-2007, 12:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
Herk Insane Location: Kansas City, MO	My computer upgrade problem So, my current pc died. <ul> <li>AMD 1800+</li> <li>ti4600</li> <li>350W Enermax</li> <li>2 x 512 DDR</li> <li>30G ATA133 HD</li> <li>... blah blah(was good... now crap)</li> </ul> The video card fan failed. I have no interest in repairing it. Time to upgrade. Replacements are <ul> <li>ASUS M2N-X</li> <li>AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Brisbane 65W EE</li> <li>mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2</li> <li>Seagate Barracuda 250G (Perpendicular Recording)</li> <li>MSI Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3</li> </ul> I think I covered all the upgrades there. Anyway, to the point. I've been scouting around trying to get good, reliable information about power consumption. As far as I can tell, my power supply listed at the top should be fully effective for my new parts, but I can't be sure of this until it passes inspection by the TFP smarties. Is 350W ok, or should I go bigger? BTW, I welcome all input here, but I should note, I'm getting all the upgrade components for a total of $368.46, which as far as I can tell is a sweet deal, but if you can point me to a better one, please do. __________________ -Blind faith runs into things!-

10-16-2007, 05:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
Herk Insane Location: Kansas City, MO	Wow, awesome. Thanks for the response. I had stopped to ponder about the pci-e thing because I read they require some sort of 6 pin connector, but just assumed there would be an adapter. I certainly glad you pointed that out. I'll look into it. __________________ -Blind faith runs into things!-

10-16-2007, 11:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
biznatch Junkie Location: France	Either way, PSUs are not incredibly expensive. Check Geeks.com, or Newegg for pretty good deals. Like 450W for under 15 bucks, i think. Also, justdeals.com has shipping for 1.95 on their merchandise. __________________ Check it out: The Open Source/Freeware/Gratis Software Thread

10-16-2007, 02:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	The power supply will most likely be fine. One warning: that videocard is PCI-E and will probably require a PCI-E power connector. Your Enermax is probably older before PCI-E power connectors were out. The videocard may come with a PCI-E power adapter so it works with older PSUs, but it might not -- make sure it does. BTW you're not getting ripped off. That is a decent deal.