BleepingComputer.com: Few questions here

Hey, this is my first time building a computer, I do have a few questions, but first let me post the parts I wish to get/already have.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Processor LGA775 Q9550

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

GFX: NVIDA GEFORCE 2xx GTX Series (Well, one of the 200 ones...)
Power Supply: ?

Mother Board: Gigabyte EP43T-UD3L

RAM: CORSAIR DDR3 XMS3 RAM (8GB)

DVD ROM: SAMSUNG 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R

The ones in bold are the ones I already have, I am pretty sure they're compatible, but being a first time builder I thought I should check, I probably should have checked BEFORE buying them, but I didn't think to do that.

My only questions here are:

What power supply should I get? I know nothing about these, I asked a friend but his only advice was "Make sure it's at least 750 Kw/h". Suggestions please.

I do believe I have all the parts for a new computer on my list (I am getting a case sent to me), but is there anything I should add or that I am missing?

Cooling, I'm taking that that mainly has to do with the case? If so, there shouldn't be any abnormal problems cooling this, correct?

Thanks for your time!

This post has been edited by Theta Epsilon: 04 March 2010 - 09:46 PM

That motherboard is incapable of using a multi-GPU technology like SLI or Crossfire, so you don't need a monster power supply. Since you're only replacing three components, you're performing an extensive upgrade rather than building a new computer. I do have some suggestions to make.

Power Supply: Almost any graphics card out there, with the possible exception of the dual GPU cards, can run just fine on a 550W system. Good manufacturers include Corsair, Silverstone, Thermaltake, PC Power, and OCZ. 750W for a single graphics card is very overkill.

Graphics Card: Since it isn't bolded, I assume you haven't purchased it yet. Depending on your budget and which card you are going to get, ATI's Radeon 5 series will, in the $300 price point (Radeon 5850 and up, GeForce GTX 280 and up) beat Nvidia cards in terms of performance, at a lower price. In the mainstream market, both manufacturers are near equal but ATI has DirectX 11 and Eyefinity. Note that Nvidia's next generation of cards will be out soon and may outperform the current Radeon 5 cards.

Hard Drive: I always suggest never getting a single massive drive to store the OS, applications, and data on. If the drive fails, you're toast. If you have the money, split it into two drives, one holding the OS and apps, the other holds the games.

Case: Do be careful of this, the larger graphics cards may not fit in all Mid-ATX cases, but can easily fit in a full ATX. Cooling depends on a number of factors from the room's environment to what you're running inside the case. At a minimum the case should have a 120mm fan, the good cases have two or more fans of varying sizes.

Okay, I see your point about the hard drive, note taken.

That is some good information about the Motherboard, before this I've never heard of SLI or anything so it's a good thing you told me.

Now, just a bit lost here.

So, I can go buy a Power Supply with no dual GPU support and it should power this correct?

Which brings me to the Graphics Card, if I buy a Power supply with no Dual support, then the graphics card I buy should also have no SLI, Crossfire, etc. Correct? Or do all cards have this to some extent?

For a 200 - 350 Price range, what would be some good Graphics Cards? I'm not a huge gamer or anything (The last real game I played was Portal, and that was 2 years ago) so I'm not concerned with things like Crysis running at over 9000 frames or whatever. Though, to be fair I do play an occasional online game with friends now and again.

Just a bit confused is all, thanks for the advice! It's much appreciated!

Random stuff.

You can get a power supply that has multi GPU support (and this only means it has 4 or more PCIe power connectors for video cards as each card generally requires 2 connectors for power). It will work fine with a single video card, but you will have a bunch of extra wires to hide (unless you get a modular PSU). A quality 600 watt PSU will hit that "sweet spot" of 30-60% utilization for your current setup (assuming you don't get a monster videocard). If you have the money for a larger PSU, or find a great deal on a larger one, great. Just a hint, look at the 12V+ output specs on your prospective PSUs as this is the rail that is most heavily used on modern systems. Some cheap/old design PSUs have big 3.3/5V rails that inflate their output for advertising purposes.

As far as brands, I admit a bias. I generally shop Seasonic or Corsair because I am lazy. Those two brands don't have any loser units among them. With other brands you tend to have to look around for reviews as you never know what OEM actually built the unit, and of what quality the internals are. There are planty of great PSUs out there, but you have to get reviews (HardOCP/Jonnyguru/HardwareSecrets) before you buy.

SLI and Crossfire refers to using multiple video cards in the same system. Just because a card is SLI/Crossfire certified doesn't mean it cannot be used by itself. It only means that you CAN run multiple cards in your system. At this point, NVidia 2XX series are horribly overpriced, and were EOL'd months ago. No new ones are being made. ATI 5XXX seem to be the most future prooof at this point, but not cheap.

I was actually thinking of Cosair for a Power Supply myself as I've heard great things about their PSUs.

Okay, so If I DO understand you correctly I can go get a Powersupply that does have support for multiple GPUs, but just one set of cords to power the one GPU I plan to have, correct?

The other thing I THINK I understand is that, I can go buy any graphics card that says "SLI" or "CrossFire" and I'll be fine with it as I only plan to have one card, correct?

So much to learn!

Yes. A power supply that supports multiple GPUs/videocards will certainly supply a single card. Any card that says SLI or Crossfire will work fine by it's lonesome. The SLI and Crossfire trademarks are only there to let people know they can run multiple cards in one system for more performance if they desire to.

Here are some suggestions:

Graphics card: Since you don't have Crossfire or SLI on that board, what you get now should be relatively higher-end as it will be there for a while. At just slightly above your budget, the XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB ($309) is a suggestion. This is the second most powerful, for now, graphics card on the market featuring DirectX 11 and Eyefinity. The down side with this card is the size, you really need a full ATX case to hold it since it is so large. Continuing down the performance ladder is the SAPPHIRE 100297L Radeon HD 5830 1GB ($250). This card is about 20% slower than the 5850 but is still large and you should still use a full ATX case with it. Finally, you can get the SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB ($150). This is a smaller card with performance roughly equal to a Radeon 4870 and it still comes with DirectX 11. I would go for the 5830 if you have a full ATX case, otherwise, you should get the 5770. Almost any graphics card from a recent generation is capable of SLI or Crossfire, though you don't have to use that technology unless you want to.

Power Supply: The size you should get depends largely on what the graphics card draws. In this case, if you were to get a 5850 (The highest end card in the above lineup) you should get a 600W or greater power supply. You can get the CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ($89), SILVERSTONE ELEMENT ST60EF 600W ($89), or the Thermaltake Purepower W0121RU 600W ($94). Pay attention to the shipping costs, these units are heavy and it is reflected in shipping.

Wow, I'm so sorry for having to bump this topic, but I just, wanted to thank you very much for your help, I'm sorry I didn't post back sooner, it just slipped my mind, sorry about that! I ended up going with a 650 Watt SilverStone, the ATI 5770 HD, And I bought two WD 640 GB Hard Drives. The case I got had a fan on the top, left side, and on the CPU. No heating problems with the GFX, and I've had alot of fun with it already (Hence me forgetting ).

I'm very pleased with the new computer and the help I received!

Thank you.

Once again sorry for bumping the topic, but I felt it was rather rude of me not to say thank you.

Don't ever worry about bumping a topic, when it's to express thanks for the help you received, and updating us about how your new system is performing.