[BigJock2005]

Guys, and update on the upgrade in progress. After endless trawling about the internet, and thanks to the advice of some forum members, I have parted with my hard-earned cash and ordered all the parts for my upgrade. I have decided on the following bits:

1. Asus A8N SLI Deluxe nForce4 PCI-Express Mobo
2. Leadtek WinFast PX6600GT-TDH SLI GFX card
3. Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester
4. 1GB (2x512MB pair) dual-channel Corsair Value PC3200 DDR SDRAM
5. Alpine 7105H LCD Aluminium case with 400W PSU

It's cost me £80 more than my budget of £500 but I reckon I should have a system that will be future-proof for the next 18 months - 2 years. My decisions were based on:

1. The S939 Mobo is well expandable, with 4 PCIX slots and 3 PCI slots, and will be able to take Ath64 FX chips once they get cheaper. It is massively clockable too, with a multi-function BIOS and lots of protection to stop me blowing it all up. PCIX is the future as well, as I think the card makers will focus on PCI at the expense of AGP.

2. This seems to be the fastest 6600 card, and it's price is on a par with the others. The SLI compliance gives me a possible cheaper upgrade option if SLI takes off.

The only things worrying me are the memory - I've gone cheaper to keep the overall cost down, because I really don't think the RAM speed will hold my system back. All the Corsair stuff is clockable too, so I can push it a bit without risking alot of money.

Question: Given the above system, running with 2 HDDs and two cooing fans, but no other PCI cards, do you reckon the 400W PSU will suffice. I used the power calculator below:

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

and it came up with 303W, so I am hoping the 400W will do.

The bits should arrive throughout next week, so I will update once construction is complete!

Cheers!

[Belloni]

Originally Posted by BigJock2005

Question: Given the above system, running with 2 HDDs and two cooing fans, but no other PCI cards, do you reckon the 400W PSU will suffice. I used the power calculator below:

Cheers!

Answer to that i think, is simply yes it should be enough for that system

Nice system btw ...

Let us know how you get on ... and benchmark it lol :P

hehe

[Alf]

400W should be enough for your machine.
and with the Memory dont sweat it, corsair is good stuff (even value ram)
and SLI will come in handy once the price of 6600GTs drop in the future.

Good luck on your system build, i would like to see some benckmarks as well

[BigJock2005]

Cheers guys, I will get it built over the next couple of weeks and benchmark it. What do you guys think is the best benchmarking program? I found the link below which list alot of them:

http://active-hardware.com/english/b...benchmarks.htm

I see 3D Mark 05, PC Mark, SiSoft and Aquamark used most often.

[Belloni]

I use Both 03 and 05 3D marks lol

And Aquamark ... use them for now i would say

[Alf]

i never used aquamark before, although i suggest 3Dmark 03 and 05

[Dillinja]

BigJock which suppliers are you getting all your components from?

Links appriciated if off the web.

[TriplexDread]

Hmm just done a benchmark on my system. Taking into account the mark is standard and none of the hardware is clocked i'm not sure that the score is decent enuff to publish, but hey wot are numbers between fellow pc enthusiasts One thing I did notice in 3D Mark is the false info it is giving me. For instance the Socket designation is incorrect. Reporting it as SK754 instead of 939. Weird..

Let me knw wot y'll think.

BM used was 3Dmark 2005

Score was 4555

[CSUnited14]

better then mine lol i benchmarked horrible for some reason :-X 3d mark 03 8,085 and 05 i got 3,167 kinda odd im gonna bench 05 again to see if it gets better and this is all unclocked. all stock and aquamark 37,847

[TriplexDread]

Not a bad idea actually, i'll do aquamark and 3dmark '03 2day