Help assembling PC

pathum

Hi um totally new to this site .....but seeing the awesome feedback wanted to get ma story on the board for answers....

Got an Intel Motherboard - DP35DP:D
Got processor - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600:D
Got 2Gig 800Mhz RAM (will be going for another 2Gigs later):)

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[Need to decide] GPU - Nvidia 9xxx series with preferably 1Gb vga memory??...will settle for 512Mb if i hav to though

[Need to decide] POWER SUPPLY <== THIS IS WHAT I REALLY NEED HELP WITH :(:confused:

NEED TO KNOW WHAT POWER RATING THE POWER SUPPLY SHOULD HAVE (eg: 550W)
Also can someone recommend a good VGA?

allen175

Well the prices of the GTX260 and 280 are falling due to the release of the new cards, they are fantastic cards. just depends on your budget.

A 600W PSU would be good if you don't plan to upgrade anytime soon.

pathum

budget's not a big issue really...but ma country's kinda LATE in getting new cards into its market...i was targeting a 550W power supp with the 9500GT (that's kind of the MOST available GPU here even at the present).... any recommendations?

allen175

are you buying from a website (what website?) or a local shop?

pathum

allen175 wrote: »

are you buying from a website (what website?) or a local shop?

local shop (it's reputed so no worries abt fooling around wit the customers)....

um not a huge online buyer

darealtulip

I have a 700 watt psu. I would buy a bit more then 550, it's only a bit more money and saves you buying one later. also I would go for a modulare type, saves you extra wires!!

pathum

hmmm ...yea i agree bro....just that i want to make sure i got the right power requirements....cz i couldnt get a proper idea about the mobo's power requirement and um not quite sure abt the GPU's power requirements either....nyways thanks

allen175

well i have the Q6600 running off a 580W PSU with a HD4850 in it, but before that i had a GTX260 in it and it ran fine, so you will be good with a 550W PSU, but for future upgrades go for a higher wattage PSU.

pathum

oh ok...now that's kinda what i've been wanting to hear....thanks for the insight buddy..

TerrorFirmer

As long as you get a good, reliable brand - like Corsair - then 450w+ is fine for a Q6600 and virtually any video card currently available. If you're getting a cheaper brand - cheaper brands are fine and there are plenty of reliable cheaper brands, but a 500w cheaper brand does not come close to comparing to a 500w Corsair for example.

Also, what size is your monitor? There's no need to say that you want a 1gb card, really, because a video card can only use that much memory when you start buying into the performance class of cards. There's also different types of memory, ranging from DDR2 to 5 in current video cards. DDR2 is the slowest and worthless for those intending to game for the most part, unless its on a small monitor - say 15-17". Example, 512mb 9500GT DDR2. As an other example, a 384MB 8800GS is 2-3x faster then a 1GB 9500GT DDR2, and if you had a large monitor the 9500GT dies a horrible death in the latest games at higher resolutions. It's not really about the memory, until you hit two factors: Monitor size, and the core of the card being sufficient to utilize more memory. The latter being something that a card like the 9500GT can never achieve.

The best budget card out there are the moment is probably, in general terms, the Radeon 4670 512MB. Nice card, cheap, and great for games at high settings on a monitor of 'normal' size. Normal generally meaning about 17-19". But local markets more so then online retailers can vary enormously on pricing schemes. If you were thinking about the 9500GT, don't. The Radeon 4670 is the same price and is much, much faster in newer games. Even the Radeon 4550 512MB is a nice card and close to the 9500GT, and considerably cheaper.

If you let us know:

1) Your monitor Size
2) Your Budget for GPU
3) What you intend playing

We can help out more.

pathum

fyi Terror....i got only a 15" ....so i dont think the monitor is gonna be a huge issue....plus it draws power seperately....yea i do knw abt what u say abt the 8800..I wz referring to 9500 cz it IS the only available good one in the market for me....

initially i wz aiming the 8800Ultra...but it aint available....the only available GPUs at present are the 9500, 8600 to 8400 (i checked today)..9800GTX Asus made is available but it cuts too steep in my budget....Power Sup gonna be Foxconn (i think)

What i intend playing? LOL I'd love to say EVERYTHING hehe but yea i guess i'd want to play anything i wasnt able to play with my previous GPU which was a 5500FX, (um totally into RTS really and the occasional other types)

TerrorFirmer

Well in that case, and given your circumstances, the 9500GT isn't actually too bad I suppose. Especially for RTS titles. What model is it? i.e 256mb or 512mb, and DDR2 or DDR3? If you can, try and get a DDR3 model....even if its only 256mb. Even a 256mb 9500GT DDR2 would be lightning fast compared to an FX5500 though....so it's all good really whatever you get.

How much more expensive is the 9800GTX though? Because it really is much, much faster...

pathum

yep totally....the 98's almost double the cost of the 95....not a problem of affording ...but hey um not an EXTREME gamer....just like to play some Good Ones....one gud thing here is that the used market for VGAs is relatively good..so upgrading to a better one is not an issue in time to come....its the 512....

pathum

IT'S ASSEMBLED AT LAST...THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO BY YOU GUYZ.....btw my 9500GT is 1Gig...DDR2 though.....we'll see how it goes