Thanks for all the info... I'll post again with what I've chosen
Thanks for all the info... I'll post again with what I've chosen
I'm just pointing out that bashing on a CX PSU because the wattage on the 12V rail is slightly lower than the PSU's total rated wattage is stupid.
Couple of problems with the using Newegg reviews.
1) Product reviews on retail websites are full of crap. They're only useful for gauging number of DoAs or future failures.
2) Posted: 11/2/2011 3:19:39 AM
3) The third edition of the CX series came out less than 6 months ago.
4) Point 3 is cemented by the fact that it notes the CX 430 has only 28A on the 12V rail where as the newest edition has 32A.
I'm not saying a CX line is as high quality as a Seasonic unit, but in a budget build with low system load they do just fine. That extra $20 can be used to upgrade an actual performance part.
Actually doing the conversion isn't hard. Its the potential need for troubleshooting down the line thats advanced.
Its like comparing the ability to drive and maintain a F1 car to the ability to drive and maintain a Civic. Everyone can drive both as its pretty simple but any problems down the line is more easily fixed on the Civic. Plus, the Civic is much less likely to have any high end difficult-to-solve-by-the-average-joe problems.
Okay so for starters 500W to 408W isn't slightly under rated wattage (~19%). If you go reread my post again like I mentioned before you'll see that I was talking about the CX500 and older units and you will also notice that I'm recommending not buying those CX units for several other reasons (like personal experience, burning out units, coil whine etc.).
What $20 difference are you talking about? The CX500 v2 is $50-60 before rebate, both my suggestions are $45. My system suggestion is within budget and other than some nitpicking or personal preference I don't see what would be "wrong" with it.
Here's what I ended up with (bought all at MicroCenter, got great combo deal with cpu+mb, so went with 3570K)
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i53570k) | $189.99 @ MicroCenter
**Motherboard** | [ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77pro3) | $49.99 @ MicroCenter ($40 off combo deal w/ CPU, normally $89.99)
**Memory** | [Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial...4g3d1609ds1s00) | $54.99 @ MicroCenter ($5 coupon)
**Case** | [Diablotek CPA-7620 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/diablotek-case-cpa7620) | $24.99 @ Microcenter
**Power Supply** | [Corsair CX500M 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair...-supply-cx500m) | $64.99 @ MicroCenter
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $426.54 (394.94 + 31.60 sales tax)
Will purchase new Graphics Card next month (so it will be on next months budget). Will use Radeon HD 5670 1Gb card until then.
Not too bad.
The case is definitely cheap... will buy another better one once I'm back in the workplace. Oh, and one of the heat sink screws snapped... grrrr... it's tight on there with 3/4.
Gaming: Dual Intel Pentium III Coppermine @ 1400mhz + Blue Orb | Asus CUV266-D | GeForce 2 Ti + ZF700-Cu | 1024mb Crucial PC-133 | Whistler Build 2267
Media: Dual Intel Drake Xeon @ 600mhz | Intel Marlinspike MS440GX | Matrox G440 | 1024mb Crucial PC-133 @ 166mhz | Windows 2000 Pro
IT'S ALWAYS BEEN WANKERSHIM | Did you mean: Fhqwhgads"Three days on a tree. Hardly enough time for a prelude. When it came to visiting agony, the Romans were hobbyists." -Mab
yeah I bought a ThermalTake cooler for it (thats the one that snapped), but it was only $10... but the system is running fine right now. I still have the stock cooler that came with the CPU, but the reviews are not good for it
Now to learn the fine art of Overclocking, tho I really don't need to do that (yet).
You'll not have much fun overclocking without a proper heatsink. The stock one simply doesn't have the ability to transfer heat fast enough to keep a CPU at safe operating temperatures.
Just as a follow up, the "1 broken mount screw" on the Thermaltake cooler doesn't seem to have affected the cooling... I can OC to 4.4Ghz and at 100% utilization only go to ~70C.
I really don't need to OC right now, but will get a replacement CPU fan when I go to buy my new graphics card in the next week or so.