New build is this nuts?

[jpinks]

Ok building a new gaming rig. But I dont know that I believe the what the extreme Power supply calculator is telling me I need. Its telling me a 900 watt supply. I was thinking 750 to 850. Am I nuts? Feel free to throw any suggestions about build as well.

COOLER MASTER HAF X

MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s
or Asus P8P67 Deluxe (always been Asus buyer but lots of people seem to be having issues with the current crop)

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6970 2GB

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz gonna oc to 4.5

replace with G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (better?)
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Is the Extreme Power Supply calculator trying to sell you a more expensive power supply? I'm sure a quality 600 watt supply (Antec, Seasonic, Corsair) would be up to that challenge. 750 or 800 would be tons of breathing room. The rest of the parts look good... you might want to consider an SSD if you're spending that kind of bank on a new system.

 

[smokerings]

A quality 650-750w unit would be more than enough for that build and I'd bet my Corsair HX520 would have enough power to run it fine.

 

[rockyjohn]

I just ran your components on the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator, adding a DVD drive and nothing for OC, and it reported 402w minimum and 454w recommended.

I have generally found the calculator to be very reliable. If anything, I think one should allow more headroom than the calculator does to at least start out its life at about 60% of capacity to allow for room for upgrade and for a reserve.

Key questions are do you plan to overclock the CPU and/or GPU or add a second one or other major components later? If not, I'd recommend a 600w.

 

[scbjmshpv]

get 650 with least silver/gold quality so in either case you decide to go something higher you won't have problem.

 

[jpinks]

So If I put in a 850 could it in future handle a 2nd 6970 if I decide thats what I want for Christmas?

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

So If I put in a 850 could it in future handle a 2nd 6970 if I decide thats what I want for Christmas?

850 is still overkill for CF 6970s, IMO. I wouldn't go above 750. Those cards are very efficient, and unless you're going to overvolt them, I don't see how you'd use that much power.

 

[jpinks]

I'm also getting told that the memory is overkill and not to go over 1600? Something about the way Sandy Bridge handles those memory speeds?

 

[Joseph F]

I don't know if it being SB makes a difference but I'm pretty sure you won't notice RAM speed/timings unless you're talking about two extremes like 1066-6-6-6/2500-9-9-9. Even in cases like these there is not a huge performance difference.

 

[airdata]

Why not spread some of your budget out and get a nice SSD?

 

[jpinks]

Ok I dont get this about memory on the LGA 1155. I see Intel states it wont take anything but 1333Mhz at 1.5volts memory?? Is this really true for all the 1155 Mobo's?? Why? Arent the memory makers screaming bloody murder ?

 

[jpinks]

Why not spread some of your budget out and get a nice SSD?

Would love to as I plan to have this rig for a few years. What kind of changes should I be looking at?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Why not spread some of your budget out and get a nice SSD?

This

I have never gone by a PSU calculator and that's why I have 2 Enermax Revolution 950w Silver PSU's (WAY OVERKILL) I wish I would of bought 2 Seasonic X 660s or a fan-less X 400w & a 660. My gaming rig in sig (UT3 Machine) pulls about 275-350w but usually hovers around the 275w mark. I think when I had 2 5870s in that rig, I might of peaked close to 400w but NEVER beyond.

You basically want to hit the sweet spot on the efficiency curve and to do that you need to see how much wattage drawl you are pulling from the wall. And to do that all you need is a simple cheap kill-a-watt reader. But that is out of order since you need to see how much the system is pulling first before you buy a PSU. But in general, a good ~ 600w PSU would put you somewhere in that peak efficiency curve

 

[jpinks]

Even with overclocking the CPU you really think a 600w PSU will work. If I do decide to add a second 6970 later on how much more would I need. I have to admit I was blown away by the 900w estimate.

I am new to SSD's and been told Crucial is the best. How much of a performance hit do you take using it as a boot drive and having all apps on a standard drive?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Even with overclocking the CPU you really think a 600w PSU will work. If I do decide to add a second 6970 later on how much more would I need. I have to admit I was blown away by the 900w estimate.

I think the calculators take in account max power drawl and I vaguely remember reading that there were only a few games that maxed a GPU and one was Crisis. I think the only other app that fully loads a GPU is Furmark and that's just a benchmark.

What is your budget for the PSU?

I am new to SSD's and been told Crucial is the best. How much of a performance hit do you take using it as a boot drive and having all apps on a standard drive?

I had an SSD drive crash on me - "dislike" ... For my game rig, I am not taking that chance, and seeing that only games are on there I am just using a WD Black 1Tb drive. I would of chose the Samsung F3 if I would of known the differences first.

All in all, you are still bound by the overall mechanical hard drive speed.

 

[jpinks]

I am not tied to the Western Digital drive by any means just used them for a long time. Had some good and bad. Will check the Samsung drive out. So I take it that your not a SSD Fan. I am planning on a Corsair 750tx power supply its a 80plus supply.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

No, I still have 2 SSDs. One is in this main machine, which is a Vertex LE (Sandforce 1500 controller) I am expecting it to die so I back-up my files regularly. The first Vertex LE that died was replaced by OCZ with a Vertex 2 which was in my game machine. I just decided to take out the SSD and install a bunch of games on the 1Tb WD Black drive, there-by freeing up the Vertex 2 for when the Vertex LE dies..

 

[jpinks]

How much performance difference did you notice when you switched from the SSD/HD back to just the HD?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

How much performance difference did you notice when you switched from the SSD/HD back to just the HD?

Honestly, I mostly open Unreal Tournament III and with that I don't notice a difference.

EDIT: to clarify, the last setup was just the SSD

 

[mfenn]

COOLER MASTER HAF X

Not worth the price increase over the HAF 922 IMHO.

MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s
or Asus P8P67 Deluxe (always been Asus buyer but lots of people seem to be having issues with the current crop)

The GD65 is "reasonable" whereas the P8P67 is ridiculously over the top.

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6970 2GB

Good choice, though not that much faster than a 6950 2GB and a hell of a lot more expensive.

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz gonna oc to 4.5

Unnecessary for gaming, you might as well get the 2500K.

replace with G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (better?)
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866

Get this Ripjaws for $75.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Might as well replace it with the F3 1TB. Similar performance, costs less.

 

[Joseph F]

^ Also you have a 97% chance of unlocking a 6950 to a 6970 via BIOS modification.

 

[Davidh373]

Are you sure you didn't put in "5970" by mistake? That would need a bit more power and therefore be the reason why the website was telling you to get a beefier PSU.

 

[theAnimal]

Antec Truepower New 650W would be plenty of power and is better quality plus modular as well as being cheaper. If you will be doing CF, the 750W is only $10 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371021

 

[mfenn]

Antec Truepower New 650W would be plenty of power and is better quality plus modular as well as being cheaper. If you will be doing CF, the 750W is only $10 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371021

I think that the XFX 650W for $50 AR AP is a better deal.