Hey Im planning to build a new system for conroe, after my current desktop has gone past the stage of being on its last legs and is now relying on its knees to keep upright (Really, this game can make it overheat: http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/vlad-tepes-dracula/screenshots/gameShotId,75154/) , but have a few questions about several aspects of the hardware. First off, Im not sure if Ill need to buy a new PSU or if my current one will do. I plan to build an E6600 conroe, 1900XT 512MB, 2GB DDR2 machine. My PSU is 450W, Antec by the way, which I thought might be enough, but it only has 25A on the +12V line. If thats not good enough, would anybody care to recommend a nicely priced PSU thatll do the job? Secondly, I currently have an IDE HDD which Id like to keep. However I was planning to buy a SATA-II HDD as my primary HDD (Itll have the OS and games/software on it, while the IDE would have media on it). Are there any problems with mixing the two types of drives? I usually stick to NVidia cards but have decided to go with the 1900XT for the new machine. As a result Im not to sure on which brands are good and which should be avoided. Are Sapphire good for ATI cards? I noticed their 1900XT card is cheaper than the competiton by about £30. Any opinions on this case? http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?page=3599&head=0 The reviews all seem to point to a big thumbs up, and I think it looks rather swish. I was just wondering if anybody here had any personal experience with it. And finally, why do Intel want to make me suffer by taking so long to release the conroe? Cheers.
1. cant really say if its not good or not but i would recommend this one Antec TruePower II TPII-550 550W. go here http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp and find out if your old one is good enough 2. no you wont have any problems at all 3. i also stick with nvidia so i cant say which ATI to get, but i would get a 7900 GTX or GT if i was you or bite your lip, buy a really cheap card and wait for a DX10 card :bonk: 4. this case is the best Antec Performance P180 case
I think the psu would probably work, but that 1900xt will suck up lots of power and stability may be an issue. Could be ok, but since your buying other parts anyways i'd get something more like this.... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341001 Its expensive but worth the money, especially with the power comsumption of dx10 cards when they're released. You cant have too much power. It has dual 12V 18A rails, which is good enough. The antec suggested before me is also good i guess. 25Amps on the 12v rail is decent though, and could be fine since the conroe is not too power hungry. I dont know about the IDE, sata II thing. Why not just buy another sata drive, cos i'm sure that there are problems with that. (although i dont know what they would be.) I'd definately get the 1900xt as its an excellent card, which any clear sighted person would choose over nvidia. I consider myself clear sighted since i was nvidia fan boy until the 1900s came out, and loved amd until conroe was discovered. The 7900s are have problems dont perform as they should. Sapphire are good, i would buy from them, however others like powercolor are reviewed well. ( i dont really know much about ati manufacturers since i was a nvidia man until fairly recently. As for the conroe release date its because they're evil f***ers.
i think your psu will work Good choice to wait on conroe, it wont be too much longer Yes you can run IDE with SATA. and I have no idea on what ATI cards to buy as i am also a NVIDIA guy
Thanks for the help. Hmm. Well I might keep my old PSU, see how it goes when I get the new rig together and if needs by Ill buy a new one. I noticed the Dabs Xtreme series just seem to be rebranded Tagan ones, so I might go with one of those. 20A on each 12V and 580 watt. And for just under £80 its not too bad a price I suppose.
thats not too bad indeed, but yes, try your antec first, i think it will work ok. as far as i know, sapphire is a very good brand for ati cards, but i dont know that much about ati brands either.
