Medium Gaming/General Rig Advice

[mfenn]

Just one question for all the experts, is there a decent modular PSU which is within budget for me?

The Rosewill Hive 550W modular is $70, only $10 more than the XFX Core 550W, so it's an option.

That being said, is the Line-M small enough such that modularity matters? Not IMHO.

 

[ozymandius42]

Thanks, was just wondering about need for modularity. Good to know it's not an issue with the Line-M.

One last question, with my setup and expected use, do I need to install a side fan for the Line-M? The case already comes with front and rear, so is there any real need for one/two side fans? If so, which would be a good, cheap option?

Thanks again people.

 

[lehtv]

Front and rear is enough

I would still get the modular Capstone 450-M from the combo even though modularity isn't needed. The regular Capstone 450 doesn't have a combo deal.

I wouldn't be worried about power, 450W@50C with 444W on the +12V is plenty for almost any single GPU setup. FWIW though there's a combo with Ranger-M and Capstone 550W for $110 as well, but the Line-M is better

 

[ozymandius42]

Front and rear is enough

I would still get the modular Capstone 450-M from the combo even though modularity isn't needed. The regular Capstone 450 doesn't have a combo deal.

I wouldn't be worried about power, 450W@50C with 444W on the +12V is plenty for almost any single GPU setup. FWIW though there's a combo with Ranger-M and Capstone 550W for $110 as well, but the Line-M is better

Awesome, thanks for the advice on the fans and combo lehtv, will pick it up. Was slightly worried about power, but if 450 is enough, than 450 it is.

 

[Termie]

I second lehtv's recommendation on the 450W power supply. It will be more than enough. Your build will use under 200W at full load.

 

[lehtv]

It will use under 200W much of the time while gaming, but maximum power consumption is probably around 250W (e.g. running prime95 + unigine to simulate momentary peak load). With overclocking & overvolting, you'd use over 200W regularly when gaming

 

[Termie]

It will use under 200W much of the time while gaming, but maximum power consumption is probably around 250W (e.g. running prime95 + unigine to simulate momentary peak load). With overclocking & overvolting, you'd use over 200W regularly when gaming

If he's still planning on using the i5-3350p, overclocking won't come into consideration. As an aside, there isn't much use in testing prime95 and unigine together - there isn't a real-world scenario that would remotely replicate that. By full load, I'm talking something like 3DMark's combined test, which is about as much as any game can pull. My OC'd HD7870 on an OC'd 4670K hits about 200W in that.

 

[lehtv]

That's why I said to use prime95 and unigine to simulate peak load. Power consumption can peak momentarily with CPU load spikes during otherwise GPU-heavy gaming

I'm not convinced 3DMark is accurate for estimating power consumption in, say, 64-player Battlefield 3 or 500-player Planetside 2 with GPU load at >95%

 

[Termie]

That's why I said to use prime95 and unigine to simulate peak load. Power consumption can peak momentarily with CPU load spikes during otherwise GPU-heavy gaming

I'm not convinced 3DMark is accurate for estimating power consumption in, say, 64-player Battlefield 3 or 500-player Planetside 2 with GPU load at >95%

Fair enough.

BTW, I've found the 3DMark Combined Test to be almost identical to BF3 multiplayer in power draw.

 

[lehtv]

Hm ok. I believe u

 

[ozymandius42]

Yup, am going for the 450W. Have decided to switch to the i5-4670, with the combo lehtv linked to a couple of posts ago. Power consumption, esp. with only one GPU, should be fine. Also, not really considering OC'ing so that's not an issue at all.

edit: As an aside, given that a power consumption discussion is on, how accurate are the power supply calculators found on manufacturer websites or on the internet? I was using the eXtreme power supply calculator and was getting very different results as opposed to the corsair and newegg ones.

 

[Termie]

We are more accurate than the power supply calculators.

 

[mfenn]

I would still get the modular Capstone 450-M from the combo even though modularity isn't needed. The regular Capstone 450 doesn't have a combo deal.

I wouldn't be worried about power, 450W@50C with 444W on the +12V is plenty for almost any single GPU setup. FWIW though there's a combo with Ranger-M and Capstone 550W for $110 as well, but the Line-M is better

You're right on with the combo. By the way, you've been posting a lot of good combo deals recently. What's your secret?

 

[mfenn]

Yup, am going for the 450W. Have decided to switch to the i5-4670, with the combo lehtv linked to a couple of posts ago. Power consumption, esp. with only one GPU, should be fine. Also, not really considering OC'ing so that's not an issue at all.

edit: As an aside, given that a power consumption discussion is on, how accurate are the power supply calculators found on manufacturer websites or on the internet? I was using the eXtreme power supply calculator and was getting very different results as opposed to the corsair and newegg ones.

It seems pretty realistic, certainly more so than most. However, at the end of the day, actual measured power consumption from benchmarks is a better basis for decision-making.

 

[Torn Mind]

You're right on with the combo. By the way, you've been posting a lot of good combo deals recently. What's your secret?

He must have a lot of time on his hands. Newegg makes searching for combos a pain in the butt. Too many categories, need exact keywword. Ugh, I couldn't stand it.

 

[lehtv]

You're right on with the combo. By the way, you've been posting a lot of good combo deals recently. What's your secret?

He must have a lot of time on his hands. Newegg makes searching for combos a pain in the butt. Too many categories, need exact keywword. Ugh, I couldn't stand it.

Not really, it's not very time consuming, and once you've searched for combos for a few times, you know what to look for in the next few days, or just bookmark what you've found. I usually don't use keywords and categories. I look up combos using the exact Newegg item numbers- most components you can reliably narrow down to a couple of options for a given budget and needs. And if there's a rebate on an item I usually look that one up first in the combo search, since it stacks.

- CPU (FX-6300, 4570, 4670, 4670K, 4770K)
- motherboard is easy especially for Z87
- hard drive (comes down to ST1000DM003, WD10EZEX and ST2000DM001)
- memory will come up in combos with other items, too many options here to spend time searching with newegg codes
- graphics card is easy to narrow down for a given budget
- PSU (Corsair CX, TX, XFX, Capstone, Seasonic G-series, not alot of reasonable options here either)
- case is a secondary thing, I only search with the a case item number if there's need for a specific case. Most of the time a decent case will often come up in a combo anyway
- SSD - not a huge amount of options here either

I don't go through every single combo to find the best; if I find one that's better than buying similar items separately, I'll settle for it. I ignore combos with 3 or more items since the discount per item usually isn't much. Also the thing with combos is that you most likely won't have to search them for every item category in the build, but more like half of the items.

 

[ozymandius42]

Ha, thanks for the tips on the power calculators. BTW, this 7950 XFX card just got a decent rebate recently. Has anyone here used XFX cards? Worth spending the extra 15$ over the Sapphire 7870 (and the hassles of rebates, urgh)? Primarily concerned over cooling and power consumption.

 

[lehtv]

Sapphire has better cooling than XFX - several degrees cooler and quieter as well. But $200 AR is never a bad deal for a 7950.

 

[Termie]

Ha, thanks for the tips on the power calculators. BTW, this 7950 XFX card just got a decent rebate recently. Has anyone here used XFX cards? Worth spending the extra 15$ over the Sapphire 7870 (and the hassles of rebates, urgh)? Primarily concerned over cooling and power consumption.

Did you mean to compare that XFX 7950 to the Sapphire 7870 or Sapphire 7950? Because the Sapphire 7950 is only $220AR, and I'd say it's a much better choice than the XFX HD 7950 at $200AR. That XFX model is based on a 7870 cooler design, which will be inadequate for the 7950. It's more compact, but that's about its only benefit. This Sapphire is superior:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026

 

[ozymandius42]

Awesome. Thanks for all the help guys. Time to blow a hole in my bank balance

 

[TY-1]

Awesome. Thanks for all the help guys. Time to blow a hole in my bank balance

Yeah, that's always fun.

 

[ozymandius42]

So quick update, all parts arrived, safely assembled and system is awesome! seriously people, thanks for all the help. This really is a great forum.

Follow up question though, and I apologize if this is the wrong sub-forum/thread, but does anyone have a recommendation for a good pair of 2.0 speakers? Basically for gaming and rock/classical/jazz/blues music. Not really excited by surround sound blah. I have onboard audio (AsRock B85m) and a Fiio E10 DAC Amp. Would be willing to budget around $100.

I was thinking about these three specifically:

1. Creative Gigaworks T20 Series II

2. Bose Companion 2 Series

3. Creative Gigaworks T40 Series II



Thanks again people...

 

[mfenn]

The Creative T40's are surprisingly decent considering their footprint. They'd certainly be my pick out of those three.

 

[ozymandius42]

Thanks!