building a computer.. power supply?

earthboundrec

earthboundrec

Member
I know you get what you pay for, I assume a $40 power supply is not going to be all that great... any recommendations in the $100 to $200 range, or is wise to go higher that even.. I'm dumping some serious $$ into this adventure, to hopefully have a bomb ass NI Kore / Komplete - Ableton Live production studio, so I'm really trying to make this computer pimp.. Also, I'm good with technology but have never really built a computer from scratch yet, can I get some recommendations on websites to help guide me through so I'm not posting ten questions a day here? Thanks!
 
I sugest AT LEAST a 500w to 550w from ANTEC personaly($100-150), But Screw the rest(my opinion) go to the best. :D

Forum home
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Your forum :D
http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=35&sid=0164becbf2b414ebbcdf1bac7e40155b

and pick up a back copy of pc gamer's "Building bible 2006" and maximum pc's "build the perfect pc" spring 2006. Both give step by steps and do's and dont's. You are never to smart to learn something new.

The new 2006 maximum pc dream machine runs a "silencer 750" $200, But thats way overkill for you.
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S75EPS

Specs:
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 @ 2.93Ghz $1000
NVidia nForce 590 Intel Edision Reference Design $250est
2 x XFX 7900gtx XXX $1000
2 x 1gb Corsair DDR2/800 $195
2 x WD 150gb Raptor (Raid 0) $500
3 x Seagate Barracuda 750gb (Raid 5) $1500
Pioneer BDR-101a (Blu-Ray Recorder) $1000
Plextor PX-750UF $140
Zalman CNPS9500 LED $60
PCPC Silencer 750 $200
Creative SB X-fi Elite Pro $395
Silverstone TJ09 Prototype $250
2 x Dell 2407WFP $1700
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Logitech G5 $50
Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 $60
Win XP Pro $200

Total: $9850 :D







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Nesteq and Zalman are good names in good quality quiet PSU's. I use a Qtechnology ultra quiet which was around $100 (360W), I'm very happy with it.
 
get one thats atleast 450 watts and that has all the features you need and if it says "silent" in the title it "should" be more quiet.

I think I bought one from www.newegg.com that was on sale for like $40-$60 that had dual fans (front and back) although i'd now get one that has a fan on the bottom and back... and its actually pretty damn quiet. There are fanless powersupplies but they are expensive... like $200+

So since thats too much look for one that claims to be silent and I'd get dual fans, 450watts or higher... I wouldnt go under 400watts....

I say dual fans because it helps air circulation and cases sure do get pretty damn hot and that just causes problems.
 
Tom's Hardware had a review of Intel's forthcoming quad core processors. This is relevant because in the review they touched on the fact that the dual core chips, the state-of-art, are electricity PIGS that suck up 130 watts.

You might want to start at 500 watt and not look back.
 
I would highly reccomend you go 500 watts or more if this is going to be a purpose built audio machine. 450 watts is enough for a standard machine, but once you start filling up PCi slots, adding hard drives, optical drives etc... the higher wattage will be a safer and generally more stable venture. Antec does make a couple of nicer power supplies, as well as Zalman, Thermaltake, Raid max and several others. Look for good steady voltage rails with high PFC ratings. You may also want to look into modular powersupplies with decent gauge cabling:)
 
xstatic said:
I would highly reccomend you go 500 watts or more if this is going to be a purpose built audio machine.
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I aggree. IF you got a lot you are doing with this machine. If you just got one hard drive, cpu fan, one dvd rom/burner, firewire, usb's, video card and ram (dont think im forgetting anything) then 450 will do ya just fine. but like Xstatic said if you plan on keepin this machine around and just addin away with it then yeah it makes mroe sense to just pay the extra for a 500watt power supply. Which the jump from 450 to 500 is expensive last i looked. Especially if you still want dual fans AND for it to be quiet.

Heres a website for reference. Their power supplys are really expensive but pay attention to the decibal ratings for how loud they are and then shop around.

http://www.endpcnoise.com

and another one with good quiet equiptment reviews:

http://www.silentpcreview.com
 
ThaArtist said:
get one thats atleast 450 watts and that has all the features you need and if it says "silent" in the title it "should" be more quiet.

I think I bought one from www.newegg.com that was on sale for like $40-$60 that had dual fans (front and back) although i'd now get one that has a fan on the bottom and back... and its actually pretty damn quiet. There are fanless powersupplies but they are expensive... like $200+

So since thats too much look for one that claims to be silent and I'd get dual fans, 450watts or higher... I wouldnt go under 400watts....

I say dual fans because it helps air circulation and cases sure do get pretty damn hot and that just causes problems.
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most decent power supply have two fans. some have one fan running and when the power supply gets hot it kicks on the other fan. My antec smart power 2.0 (500 watt's i payed $85)never kicks on the second fan, But then again (besides the power supply fans) i have 3 120mm and 2 60mm fans that keep her cool. i have tri-cool fans that i set on low for recording and can crank up(sounds like a jet) for cpu intense things like rendering. I got a 25 ft cord ($15 at computer delli)to put it in the other room when i master. if you can put yours in another room go balls out and dont worry about a quiet computer.

here is mine.
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4455906 i payed $85

Its only $69 at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937

QUOTE
New and Improved SmartPower 2.0

Our best-selling power supplies now with two fans standard SmartPower has long been the smart choice for system builders, offering the best value in a quality power supply. SmartPower 2.0 meets ATX12V v2.01 standards, with dual+12V rails and 4 serial ATA connectors, and features Antec's unique dual fan hybrid design for virtually SILENT operation. SmartPower 2.0 power supplies carry UL, CUL, TUV, CB, FCC Class B, CE and CB approvals. European models also carry CE, and CCC in addition to those previously listed.
 
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undergroundtoon said:
most decent power supply have two fans. some have one fan running and when the power supply gets hot it kicks on the other fan.
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Sounds like a good deal! Looks like a good powersupply too. Yeah I wasn't aware of the second fan kicking in when it got too hot. I dunno how it would tell that but thats real cool. Yeah I can't stand jet engine sounding machines! Thats why I love silentpcreview.com. Very good resource for building good quiet machines.
 
I personally dont touch Antec supplies. They are cheap import crap and have poor ripple specs and dont do well at temperature. I have a pile of dead ones at the office, out of 15 that we bought for a set of machines 3 years ago, only 2 still work. When they spec power supplies, they say "500 watts", well its 500 watts at room temp when the computer is started, once it warms up, that number will fall dramatically to say 300 watts. You want a look at a psu's power rating between 40 or 50 deg C which is a fair operating temperature
 
altitude909 said:
I personally dont touch Antec supplies. They are cheap import crap and have poor ripple specs and dont do well at temperature. I have a pile of dead ones at the office, out of 15 that we bought for a set of machines 3 years ago, only 2 still work. When they spec power supplies, they say "500 watts", well its 500 watts at room temp when the computer is started, once it warms up, that number will fall dramatically to say 300 watts. You want a look at a psu's power rating between 40 or 50 deg C which is a fair operating temperature
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you have posted this before. except instead of 15 it was 60.

ALTITUDE909 said:
The Antecs are the worst POS supplies in the world. I would say out of 60 workstations that were installed in 2002 70% have had their PSU's fail by now
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Do you have a grudge against antec.

The gamer world swears by them. Except for the few doa's or a jack ass tring to run 5 hard drives and 22 fans with dual video sli and overclocked till the cpu smokes i have never seen one fail. 3 years ago 500 watts was overkill and most ran 350. I dont know where you got that an antec 500 watt puts out 300 watt's at normal operating temp but you are missinformed. go here and read the 274 reviews and dont take one guys opinion to stong.(including mine)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16817103937

I am not saying to get the same power supply i have(infact dont). they make a few more than just mine with different power and fan setups. I just think antec is a good brand personaly. I like Zalman's too.
 
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I do have a grudge against antec since we had a bunch of their power supplies crap out and that is enough for me not to recommend them to anyone. I figured that I would be ok since they were cheaper and popular, the money lost because of downtime of those machines negated any savings and ended costing us way more than we paid for them.

I have been running PC Power and Cooling and Seasonic supplies in very demanding apps and I dont have any PSU problems anymore.
 
The Antecs aren't bad, but they are nothing special either. If you do look at Newegg you will see that half of the Antecs do not get very good reviews, and the rest do decent. However, none of them get 5 stars. If you look at Seasonic, Zalman, Thermaltake etc... you will see that many of them get MUCH better ratings.
 
I really appreciate all the replies, I'm going through newegg right now looking at all my parts and components and if you folks don't mind I'm going to throw together a list of stuff I'm planning to get and let you guys/gals convince me to get other stuff! Thanks!
 
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