Stuff for my bro-in law

[kendellrt]

My bro-in law is looking to buy a new rig. he is still on an AXP 2200+ with an ATi 9000. He like to game, so you see the problem. He is on a tight income and is asking a lot of questions about new hardware having been out of the scene lately. He only does web design and doesn't mess with PC hardware anymore. I don't really know what to tell him. I told him to make sure his PSU is good quality whether he is overclocking or not, and posted a link to the guide to PSUs here on OCC. He wants to look for one under $100. I told him that I think that it would be junk, even for a low or mid range PC at that price. Does anyone have any suggestions for me to pass onto him? I do have an Ultra X-Connect with the 12v fan mod and the newer flex cables with 20+4-pin 12v and one Pie 6-pin connector. It is a 500W. I don't know if that will work for low res low eye candy gaming rig even. I guess anything is better than what he has now. I also told him to get a DX10 capable video card, ATi or NVIDIA, just for the ability to play newer games and better Vista prettiness in the future.

 

Any suggestions?

[iKillSteal]

My suggestion is to just scrap his entire rig and sell it for as much as he can. He can get a decent dual-core AMD system with a 1950PRO for around 600(maybe even less) dollars. I'm gonna throw together a part list real quick and I'll edit it back into this post when I'm done.

 

X2 4000+ : $79.00

BIOSTAR NF520-A2 : $49.99

GeIL 2GB : $82.99(and a $10 MIR)

X1950PRO : $136.99

FSP Group AX500-A : $86.99

Assuming he has an HD, case and a CD?DVD drive the total is: $435.96 w/o shipping.

 

That leaves plenty of cash for a hard drive and all that other stuff if he doesn't want to reuse his parts.

Edited July 9, 2007 by iKillSteal

[coolcat97]

You need a PSU like that? ah.... L O L .... have you people completely forgotten what a PSU can handle? he probobly dose not even need a new one.

[kendellrt]

You need a PSU like that? ah.... L O L .... have you people completely forgotten what a PSU can handle? he probobly dose not even need a new one.

 

He has a generic PSU that came with a $20 case. I think he needs a new one.

[iKillSteal]

He has a generic PSU that came with a $20 case. I think he needs a new one.

Unless he's wanting to have a barbecue inside his case

[coolcat97]

You guys....ahhhhh.... i will have to make a video of PSU abuse... (i would call it use but you guys wouldn't) I would run my main rig (look in my profile) off of a 200watt. record the whole thing. ANY TIME.

[kendellrt]

You guys....ahhhhh.... i will have to make a video of PSU abuse... (i would call it use but you guys wouldn't) I would run my main rig (look in my profile) off of a 200watt. record the whole thing. ANY TIME.

 

 

The last part of that post wasn't exactly coherent. What?

[iKillSteal]

He's saying that he's willing to make a video of him running his main rig off a 200W PSU any time we want. I'm assuming there would be some heavy benching going on. Although I find that very difficult to believe. Even hardnrg said that dual-core A64's/Opty's are huge power suckers. Specifically overvolted ones which I'm sure you had to do to get your running at 2.5.

[Fireonice]

Whats his budget? I'd defenatly get some generic ram thou.

[coolcat97]

running at 2.5.

umm... 1.4 V @ 2.8 GHz... (dose my profile have 2.5? I'm looking now...)

[kendellrt]

He's saying that he's willing to make a video of him running his main rig off a 200W PSU any time we want. I'm assuming there would be some heavy benching going on. Although I find that very difficult to believe. Even hardnrg said that dual-core A64's/Opty's are huge power suckers. Specifically overvolted ones which I'm sure you had to do to get your running at 2.5.

 

 

I'll have to ask when he responds to my email. He may not really have a budget per se, just a low budget computer need.

[bigred]

I want to make this VERY clear. as I'm sure you know chavalcito.... OCC in general does NOT practice the "luck of the draw" type of work. OCC is a "luck favors the prepared" type of group. sure a 200w PSU MAY work. but odds are it won't. and to protect someone's investment it's highly recomended that people do NOT take the sugestion of someone who is uneducated in the long term problems this may cause.

 

 

coolcat... please stop suggesting things that are possibly hazardous to someone elses equipment. it's your choice to do something that carries a high probablility of damaging YOUR eqiuipment. but someone elses is another story. as you probably don't know there are 2 very different rating systems for PSU's. there is the "generic" max output vs the "enthusiast" sustained output. this means a 400w (as an example) low end PSU will put out 400w at it's peak. while a 400w high end PSU will put out 400w at any given time all the time, and peak somewhere between 580 and 620w (depending on model). if you were to hold a generic at it's "max" output for sustained times it will generate substantial heat, thus shortening the life of equipment.

 

 

iKillSteal's suggestions aren't bad at all. I would however suggest a different mobo as those aren't the highest quality. in a 939 I'd suggest possibly an A8R-MVP or it's MATX sibling. tremendous performance and reliablity at a very reasonable price.