Checking Compatability and power usage

[Deleted]

Hey ppl, I had a couple of questions.
I'm planning on assembling my own system, but I came across a couple of things I didn't quite know how to solve.

The first thing was, how do I check if the RAM is compatible with the motherboard? If I remember correctly, there are (or at least there were) a couple of standards, and I can't seem to find how to check the type needed for the motherboard.

The other thing is: How do I make sure my PSU can do the job, is there any way to calculate the power needed by the system?

If there are some other things I should know about compatibility of components, tell me as well, I can use every single piece of advice you can give me

thanks!

[Sephiracle]

Both parts will state what they fit. RAM will be like DDR/DDR2/DDR3, and then the speed, just match it up with what the motherboard supports on its specs.

[vesseblah]

The first thing was, how do I check if the RAM is compatible with the motherboard? If I remember correctly, there are (or at least there were) a couple of standards, and I can't seem to find how to check the type needed for the motherboard.

There's currently DDR2 and DDR3 RAM sold, as well as ECC versions and SO-DIMM versions of both. What you want for desktop computer unless otherwise stated is plain DDR3. Both AMD and Intel processors run with 1333MHz RAM speed as default, and faster memory will not help unless you're overclocking. Currently the most common type of RAM bought on new home desktop computer is a package with two sticks of 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM for a total of 8GB of memory. It costs around $70 USD at lowest.

The other thing is: How do I make sure my PSU can do the job, is there any way to calculate the power needed by the system?

Simple rule of thumb is that you need 200W for each CPU and each graphics card. It's not 100% accurate but close enough. Which means 400W high quality PSU is enough to power regular desktop computer, but people like to overshoot it a bit "just in case". 650W is most common purchase right now because it's sure to be enough for any overclocking or any upgrades to another PC with single CPU and single graphics card now and three years from now. 750W is the "safe" purchase for two graphics cards (crossfire or SLI) and so on. One important thing is that if you buy shit quality PSU you can multiply the requirement by 1.5, so regular desktop computer needs about 600W PSU of shit quality instead of 400W high quality.

[Deleted]

thanks, helped me a lot ^^
Am I safe to assume that an 80+ Corsair Gaming series PSU is high quality?

[kailtas]

thanks, helped me a lot ^^
Am I safe to assume that an 80+ Corsair Gaming series PSU is high quality?

Yes, corsair, antec, OCZ and panasonic are the good PSU brands that i know of. Anything from them should give you the power you need.