Clueless about PSU

[matrix86]

Ok, so I almost got all the parts for my new system picked out. I'm having trouble deciding on a case and PSU. I'm a little lost because I don't want to pay a lot of money for a large PSU. The specs I have so far:

GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3

i5-750

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel

XFX HD-477A-YDFC Radeon HD 4770 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
(*Note: this card says it requires 450W)

Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV425-S2BD/64GB 2.5" Desktop Bundle 64GB SATA II

WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM HDD
(*Note: This is not on my list to buy as I already have on in my current system)

I still haven't picked out a DVD burner yet, but I thought this may be enough to get some help on choosing a power supply. I'm new to computer building and i'm unsure the difference between a 24 pin main connector (the mobo has a 24-Pin power pin) and a 20+4 pin. I also want to be sure I don't get a PSU that has more power than I need, but I want to ensure it'll give me some room for if I add 1 or 2 more hard drives in future (which I hope to do). Keep in mind i'm trying to stay under $900 for the whole build (it was originally $800 but not sure that's gonna happen, lol), and may decide on a cheaper SSD later (though right now i'm considering kicking it and just using the HDD in my current system). I'd like to not go over $100 on a GPU (and not over $50 on a case). But like I said, keep in mind I need enough power for all the things listed here, plus 1 or 2 more HDDs and a DVD burner.

I'm also still wondering around for cases, but it's the PSU that i'm more concerned about. Thanks for any help.

PS,
because I know it'll come up, yes, I know that the stock heatsink/fan for the i5 isn't the best. I don't plan on over clocking right now (I will in the future) so i'm not too worried about buying a new one right now...only if I absolutely need to based on temp. readings (which I will monitor heavily).

 

[Route44]

What is your remaining budget money?

 

[captaincranky]

First; there isn't any difference between a 24 pin ands a 20 + 4 pin connector. All recent boards are 24 pin, for older boards the connector separates to accommodate their 20 pin socket(s).

The WD caviar blue 1TB is on sale until midnight @ Newegg for $70.00, check your Email. The WD "Caviar Black" 750GB will be the "Shell Shocker" Wednesday Afternoon, check your Email. Either of these drives would be suitable.

It wasn't clear if you were going to pull the HDD from your old system.

I've seen better prices on this PSU but it would do the job; http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007&Tpk=Antecf EA500

The Core i5-750 has a TDP power spec of 95 watts. That's fairly hefty, and so I wouldn't even consider overclocking it with the stock cooler.

If you're near a "Microcenter, they have the Cooler Master "Hyper 212" on sale for $19.95 carry out. That's 10 to 15 dollars cheaper than Newegg. On assumes this would apply until the end of May. This is alleged to be the best buy in an "Core i" cooler in the market. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...rder=BESTMATCH&Description=hyper+212&x=6&y=31 Whoops, make that 20 dollars cheaper.

 

[matrix86]

What is your remaining budget money?

With everything I have listed above (minus the WD 1TB drive) my cart is at $675.95

@captaincranky:
like I said before, I don't plan to over clock with the stock cooler. I'm going to see if I really even need to over clock once I get this thing together.

For the other hard drives you mentioned, I see them in the email that I check religiously, lol. I'm not too concerned with them for right now, though. I've had this 1TB drive for about 4 months now and i've only used up 200GB of it. I'll eventually get to those. If I add them now, that's just a longer time that i'll have to wait to get all these parts (I want to order everything at once so I can make sure everything works together in case one component doesn't work, I won't miss the 30 day return policy). The 2 extra drives will come whenever the mood strike me to get them. I'm still figuring out how I want to separate my music, movies, pictures, and random crap.

I think currently i'm going to skip out on the SSD and just use the IDE HDD i'm currently using for my OS. If my mother-in-law decides to loan me the money and I just pay her back, I may go ahead with the SSD and heat sink, but for now i'll put those on the side.

Unfortunately, the nearest Microcenter is about a 3 and a half hour drive. So for the price difference, i'll spend that much (if not more) in gas money. Luckily, everything in my newegg cart ships for free.

If anyone else has any suggestions, keep them coming. If my mother-in-law loans me the money, i'll order everything sometime around mid June. If she doesn't, it'll take me about 5 months to save up for everything. So I still got some time, lol.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Hopefully i'll get into a class this fall that's designed for people wanting to take the A+. That class should help teach me some of this.

 

[Route44]

First, I think your choices of board, cpu, and RAM are solid.

Second, I agree about dropping the plans for the SSD. This is my own opinion but with tech the future inevitably holds that the SSD capacity will be going up and the prices down. Until then your WD Caviar Black is a good drive and certainly has plenty of space left and one or two more should do you fine.

Take the money from the SSD and buy at least an ATI 5770 and as for power supplies consider the superb Corsair offerings. A 750 should be more than enough but then there is the 850...

 

[captaincranky]

@captaincranky:
like I said before, I don't plan to over clock with the stock cooler. I'm going to see if I really even need to over clock once I get this thing together.

My point was that these 95 watt Quads go a whole lot deeper into the cooling capacity of a stock cooler than the 65 watt dual cores. Many aftermarket coolers for these CPU are only rated @ those same 95 Watts. So,everything would probably run a few degrees cooler with something other than the Intel cooling "solution", overclocked or not.

 

[Badfinger]

I looked at video cards on newegg.com and I'd go with a better one for less than $115 that is both 256-bit architecture not 128 and double the RAM to 1 gig.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161296
-----------
PSU wise, I like this 650W:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015
It's the one I am using myself.

Mines tackling a 5850, E8400, 6 gigs of DDR2-1066, 3 HDs, 2 DVD drives, many USB devices, and extra fans with no issues.

 

[matrix86]

Thanks for the tip on the card...however, I need a card with 2 DVI ports. I won't be heavily using graphics (i'm not a gamer) so what I had chosen was going to be good enough. My computer will mainly be used for Visual Basic, school work, web browsing, watching movies, and making tutorials. So the card I have picked out should be good enough for all of that. I'm just not too concerned about graphics. Anything is better than what I have on my current 5 year old system, lol.