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Spec check and case recommendation please
Hi
I'm considering building a new PC to replace my aging PIII. The spec so far is AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ processor Gigabyte GAK8N PRO SLI motherboard 2Gb Crucial PC3200 memory 2 off Western Digital 250Gb S300 drives Two optical drives (existing CD-RW plus new DVD-RW) Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT 256MB DDR11 PCIE SLI PCI 3Com WiFi card (existing) It'll be used for a variety of things - browsing, email, office, digital image and video storage and processing (including encoding), software development (ASP.NET, SQL server) and a few (undemanding!) games. Firstly, any comments on the general spec? This would be my first AMD chip - I've previously stuck with Intel. How would the above processor compare to a similar priced P4 D 930 for these types of applications? Secondly, any suggestions for a case / power supply? The requirements a Mini / midi tower Maximum dimensions 20cm W x 45cm D x approx 45cm H (absolute max is 53cm) Fairly quiet. It's a living room PC so does not have to be silent, but low noise level preferred. Front panel USB2, audio and Firewire connections. Must be front panel as side of case not accessible. All suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance. |
#2
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Spec check and case recommendation please
In article . com,
wrote: Hi I'm considering building a new PC to replace my aging PIII. The spec so far is AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ processor Gigabyte GAK8N PRO SLI motherboard 2Gb Crucial PC3200 memory 2 off Western Digital 250Gb S300 drives Two optical drives (existing CD-RW plus new DVD-RW) Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT 256MB DDR11 PCIE SLI PCI 3Com WiFi card (existing) It'll be used for a variety of things - browsing, email, office, digital image and video storage and processing (including encoding), software development (ASP.NET, SQL server) and a few (undemanding!) games. Firstly, any comments on the general spec? This would be my first AMD chip - I've previously stuck with Intel. How would the above processor compare to a similar priced P4 D 930 for these types of applications? Secondly, any suggestions for a case / power supply? The requirements a Mini / midi tower Maximum dimensions 20cm W x 45cm D x approx 45cm H (absolute max is 53cm) Fairly quiet. It's a living room PC so does not have to be silent, but low noise level preferred. Front panel USB2, audio and Firewire connections. Must be front panel as side of case not accessible. All suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance. Here is the start of a sample calculation of how much power is needed. Desktop Spinup 4200+ (www.amdcompare.com) (89W/12V)*(1/0.90)= 8.24A ~4A ??? 2 disk drives 12V@2A spinup, idle = 1.0A 4A 2 optical drives during read/write = ??? 1.5A (boot) Cooling fans (read their labels) = 0.5A 0.5A 6600GT (xbitlabs measurements 12V@4A) = 4.0A (game) 4A (boot) Total 12V ~14A 14A You might throw in another ampere, if you think one of the optical drives is still running while you are gaming. (12V@15A) There are two kinds of power supplies. The latest 2.0+ ATX supplies split 12V into 12V1 and 12V2. 12V2 powers only the CPU. 12V1 powers the rest. The above calculation is good for an older supply that has a single 12V output. Desktop Spinup 12V1 12V2 12V1 12V2 4200+ --- 8.24A --- ~4A 2 disk drives 1.0A --- 4A --- 2 optical ??? --- 1.5A(boot) --- cooling fans 0.5A --- 0.5A --- 6600GT 4.0A --- 4A --- Total 12V ~5.5A 8.24A 10A ~4A In this case, just to be safe, try 12V1 = 10A minimum and 12V2 (CPU supply) is also 10A minimum. Splitting the supply into two 12V outputs, generally results in a higher overall spec being necessary (which is why I don't like the concept). Antec Truepower II series TPII-380 3.3@28 5@35 12V1@16 12V2@16 5VSB@2 -5V missing TPII-430 3.3@28 5@35 12V1@17 12V2@17 5VSB@2 -5V missing TPII-480 3.3@30 5@35 12V1@18 12V2@18 5VSB@2 -5V missing TPII-550 3.3@32 5@40 12V1@19 12V2@19 5VSB@2 -5V missing What we see in those 2.0+ supplies, is all of them meet the calculated minimum for 12V1 and 12V2. And, fortunately, the +3.3 and 5V current capabilities are high enough, not to be a problem. (I'd say worry free if above 25A or so.) These are some older Antec Truepower supplies ( 2.0 spec). By the first calculation of 15A on the single 12V output, these are all passing. I would probably buy the 430W or the 480W in this case, to get a bit more margin against uncertainty. Again, the 3.3V and 5V are so far above the minimum acceptable level, there is no need to try to calculate anything for them (unless you know of special hardware added to the machine, that will require it). VOLTAGE *+12V +5V +3.3V *-5V *-12V +5VSB MAX. LOAD TRUE330 *17A *30A *28A * 0.5A 1.0A *2.0A TRUE380 *18A *35A *28A * 0.5A 1.0A *2.0A TRUE430 *20A *36A *28A * 0.5A 1.0A *2.0A TRUE480 *22A *38A *30A * 1.5A 1.0A *2.0A TRUE550 *24A *40A *32A * 0.5A 1.0A *2.0A Note: The above usage of Antec data is not an endorsement of their products. You should read some user reviews for their latest offerings (Newegg customer reviews), as there have been startup problems while mixing certain supplies with certain motherboards. So, when shopping, get a detailed breakdown of the output current capabilities, as shown in the tables above. That will help you gauge whether the supply is big enough or not. The -5V is missing from ATX 2.0+ power supplies, but most motherboards do not use it. There are the odd exceptions to that rule as well, but you won't run into that with a brand new motherboard, as the mobo makers are now familiar with the details of the 2.0+ spec. A lot of cases come with power supplies, but many of those bundled supplies are not the best, and really, the case manufacturers should stop bundling altogether, and just stick to the metalwork. Finding unbundled computer cases, just makes shopping that much harder to do. Paul |
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