Hello,

I need some assistance building a new system. In particular, what PSU I should go for.

So far, this is what I've decided on:

CPU: AMD Phenom 9950 BE
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen
Mainboard: Upcoming 790GX chipset board
Memory: Mushkin Redline XP DDR2 PC8000/1000MHz CL5 2x2GB
Graphics Card: Radeon HD4870 1GB or (if finances permit) 2xRadeon HD4850 1GB
Case: Antec Nine Hundred

Add to that a Razer Lycosa gaming keyboard and a Razer Diamondback 3G.

Now, I intend to overclock the CPU (which should be made considerably easy with the 790GX mainboard and included SB750) to as high a setting it can run stable on air. If I get a HD4870 card I will attempt to overclock that as well (in a more modest fashion).

So, what Wattage should I consider? Furthermore, any examples of good PSUs to come with that explanation would be most appreciated.

thank you

-Fey

My first choice: PCP&C 750 @ $130 after MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817703009
Second choice: Corsair 750TX @ $110 after MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817139006

Both are very solid units and have power to spare.

Are you sure that motherboard would work for CF? Sounds like a Nvidia chipset to me...

I have 2 of these they never give me an issue. I have had several thermaltakes and never had failure and have always performed well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817153043
Nice rebate right now
Crossfire certified. I agree with crazy. That board sounds like nvidia which means no crossfire. Go with INTEL. Intel is back on top.

Lol, you intend to overclock? how far, like 100mhz? GO INTEL, a Q6600 is far quicker than the phenoms, and will overclock far further. Combine it with a gigabyte P35 DS4 or greater and you are sorted

The PC P&C psu's are a solid buy (the thermaltake is a bit pricey imo, even good brands sell 1kW psu's for that money)

I would agree thermaltake is a little pricey. I just go with them because I have had no issues and that's all I have ever owned. I see a lot of people with PC P&C. I always see good reviews but I am a creature of habit with PC components. It took several weeks for me to convince myself to get away from ASUS to go with gigabyte. I also bought some OCZ memory and that failed in days. I always had kingston so I went back to that. Of course I have no problems even though I paid a lot more for the kingston.

I would recommend the PC P&C Silencer 750W PSU. It is very reliable and will power that monster machine.

One note though, if that is an NVIDIA 790 board you're talking about, it won't handle Crossfire. You need an Intel board for Crossfire capabilities. The reason I recommend the high wattage PSU is because the 48xx series draws a lot of power. If you load up on dual 48xxs and a quad-core with a few hard drives and an optical drive or two, you might draw close to 500-600W.

Lol, incrysis, that X48 DQ6 is an awsome board, i wouldnt hesitate to trust gigabyte regarding it

Btw, if you get a Q6600 on the board i recommended (the intel chipset are the best really) you will be able to do cross-fire no problem

Well after running this board its awesome. I love it. For me change is tough. Crossfire works flawlessly on this board.

You said it bro, you have no idea how hard it was for to convince myself to go Intel, the overclocking really helped
ATM though im still stuck with corsair, i might go with Enermax later on though, there a fine brand as well. But Corsair has the best MIR's in the business no doubt.

Look at some of these and choose, you don't nee more then 700w for that build.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....amp;x=0&y=0

This would be my second choice.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817151031

Also just a thought you could buy the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 instead much better then the mugen cooler.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835233003

Thank you all for the responses. This PSU issue has really been bugging me since I read the stickied posts about power consumption and how much of it I would actually use.

I will definetly take a look at the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 cooler as well.

As for other components, is there a site with similar characteristics to Hardware.info around here? I find that site very helpful, and the comparisons and price/performance ratios great. Unfortunately, they don't update often enough with new hardware.

As for the motherboard, the 790GX chipset is from AMD (I believe most of you are thinking of the nVidia 790i series) and it comes with greatly improved support of overclocking.

With the new southbridge of this chipset (SB750) it should be quite easy to overclock Phenoms and to a lesser extent the X2's. Current reports of the new chipset here:

Overclocking Made Easy (790GX)
Fudzilla reports Phenom overclocked to 3.4GHz on air

This is done using only AMDs OverDrive utility, and the cooling is air. The articles should be an interesting read for you overclockers

The reason I want a Phenom is that its very cheap, and the board it sits on usually is as well. Compared to an intel setup I can save a lot of money that I can instead put on other parts. I'm a firm believer in the AMD GAME! theory, and as such I don't think that a kickass cpu will get me anywhere if I don't have the graphics card, ram, mobo etc to back it up. I therefor prefer to buy all components at a similar level of performance, rather than one or two extreme components and the rest below average.

Aye, that is what worries me as well. Not to mention that overclocking a Phenom (already powerhungry) will use up alot of gas. The 9950BE has a TDP of 125W on AMDs site, but has been reported at 140 by some articles. Coupled with the Radeon cards, I don't know where it will all end up, though I surmise it will be high.

Some information that maybe of interest, I have just purchased an Enermax PRO82+ 385W PSU to power my folding rig. I read some good reviews about the new Enermax range, launched in March. They are claimed to be very energy efficient and silent. I like Corsair normally, but wanted maximum power efficiency for my folding rig, as it normally runs 24/7. This new PSU is totally silent on the folding rig and replaced a Silverstone 460W PSU. At the wall with the rig in my signature, the Silverstone was drawing 95-96W with peaks to 99W. The same rig at the wall with the Enermax is now drawing 80-82W with peaks to 85W. A drop of around 15W which over time can make a good saving and running silently is also something I require.

The Enermax's come in modular format as well, with various power levels. MOD82+ range (modular) and PRO82+ range (hard wired).

Modu82+ 625 Power Supply Review

Enermax Range

Just something to maybe consider if silence and power consumption are important factors?

OCZ 1000watt PSU 99.99 after MIR

you just cant get any better than that...!

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetai...ductCode=316510

Must have changed the price...it's now $120 after MIR

Yes.....

yesterday morning when I first got the link it was 139.00 and 79.00 after MIR...

went up 40.00 so far...

still a good price but getting less attractive as time goes on..

Dont worry about it. If you decide to go with just 1 ATI 4870 along with your other components, even overclocked, your system wont use much over 600w (of a quality power supply)
Same goes with 4850 (x2). I recommend the Corsair TX750W very cheap after MIR.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817139006

I myself will be running 1 4870, 2 hard drives in Raid 0, an E7200 and plan to overclock it like theirs no tomorrow and maybe stay at 4GHz stable 24/7 and i will be running all that on my corsair VX550W power supply. I have no doubt that my power supply can hold up and still have room in it.

If you want to read up on power supplies, and have good reviews on them visit this site.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/

If your budget will stand it then I agree with dr_bowtie. OCZ make great power supplies.

Most, including myself, would argue that this much power is not really needed but the power supply is the most important part of your system especially if you are considering overclocking. Treat yourself to a monster and have peace of mind that it won't let you down, won't be stressed and give you lots of room for future upgrades.

For a few dollars more, why not!

I agree one of these psu's are fine. And for the record the 790GX is an amd board. Hes planning on getting the 9950 BE. I can't believe you guys no nothing about it. That 790GX would be able to do all you want it do and more. And don't talk about the difference. While playing games you really won't notice the difference. I say go for it.

Thank you all for the help.

No-one here mentioned the Antec Earthwatts 650W. Is this model not good enough?

Regarding the Xigmatek S1283 cpu cooler, what is it that makes it the best? From the reviews I have seen at hardware.info, this cooler is beaten on all points by the Scythe Mugen. Is there something more to it that doesn't show on the comparisons?

here is the link to the comparison
HDT-S1283 vs Scythe Mugen vs Scythe Orochi


Are there any great trans-national European stores that sell these PSUs? Unfortunately for this purpose, I live in Sweden. That means no Newegg

And last, as Xly15 says, the 790GX chipset is from AMD, and should be available in late July. The overclocking potential of the SB750 southbridge should be considerable.

Thank you
-Fey

As for us not knowing about it, that's because Intel is better for extreme overclocking. AMD can't keep up with Intel into the 3.6+ GHz range. Intel's Penryn quad-cores are pushing 3.6+ GHz. And AMD is what, 3.4 GHz? We know Intel and only Intel because they offer better overclocking ability.



For the Antec, they are generally not as highly regarded as say Corsair and PC P&C PSUs; therefore, they received no mention. I don't know of any stores, but there should be some European ones. Good luck finding them, I know they're out there.

While i havn't seen much reviews comparing the two coolers, i couldn't say i agree with that review, I have seen one review where Frosty-tech reviewed dozens of coolers and they had the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 and the Scythe Mugen cooler, the Scythe cooler won by 1C more....but they tested the Xigmatek cooler with the Fan on low speed but they didn't specify what the fan speed was on the scythe cooler probably passive cooled.
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?...2233&page=5

The reason what makes the Xigmatek cooler so amazing is the HDT which stands for Heatpipe direct touch meaning the heat pipes come in direct contact with the CPU itself for even better cooling. Plus its quite large.

And you should probably consider going with Intel if you plan on overclocking. Even though you say the 790GX has improved in overclocking compared to the 790x and 790FX chip sets the improvement is minimal. 3.4GHz is probably the limit, considering the 9850 is supposidely the most overclocking friendly AMD processor which is sad to say if those are the results.

But if you go with Intel you can be looking at an E7200, E8200, E8400, E8500, and possibly some older 65nm processors reaching 4Ghz stable, the 65nm I'd say 3.8(ish) stable. And delivers much better performance, and speed compared to overclocked AMD processors. It would also be a bit cheaper.