Hi. I custom-ordered a PC from CyberPowerPC.com, and went with the "standard" power supply and fan - but am now wondering if I did the right thing. Standard power supply is a 350W. Options are anywhere from a 500W to a 635W, with upcharges of $39 to $79. For a fan - I got the standard cooling unit w/ fan. I "could" get anther fan inside the case for a $3 upcharge. Also, there is a cooling unit called an Arctic Cooling Freezer ... that is only 20dBA loud for an upcharge of $15. Thoughts on staying with standard items, vs. going for options? It will be an AMD Dual-Core 4000+, and I will run an after-market ATI 128MB video card on it. Otherwise, standard stuff (DSL modem, HDD, DVD/CD drive, etc.). Thanks in advance! Oh - I should probably state that my last two PCs - the reason I got rid of them is because of issues with the cooling systems / fans...
2007-12-16 03:16:49 · 7 answers · asked by hotstuffktr 6 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
Hi. I custom-ordered a PC from CyberPowerPC.com, and went with the "standard" power supply and fan - but am now wondering if I did the right thing. Standard power supply is a 350W. Options are anywhere from a 500W to a 635W, with upcharges of $39 to $79. For a fan - I got the standard cooling unit w/ fan. I "could" get anther fan inside the case for a $3 upcharge. Also, there is a cooling unit called an Arctic Cooling Freezer ... that is only 20dBA loud for an upcharge of $15. Thoughts on staying with standard items, vs. going for options? It will be an AMD Dual-Core 4000+, and I will run an after-market ATI 128MB video card on it. Otherwise, just standard stuff. Thanks in advance! Oh - I should probably state that my last two PCs - the reason I got rid of both of them is because of issues with the cooling systems / fans... // MORE DETAILS: My system will have Windows XP Pro for the OS. The 128MB AGP is "fine" for my Doom3. MB (MSI K9A2 CF-F AMD 790X for $20) has cross-fire.
2007-12-16 12:03:04 · update #1
MORE DETAILS: My system will have MS-Windows XP Professional for the OS; THAT is why I bought if from CyberPower. I did NOT want MS-Vista... The 128MB AGP is "fine" for my Doom3! :-) My mother-board (MSI K9A2 CF-F AMD 790X DDR2/1066 Dual 16X PCIE for $20 upcharge) is cross-fire enabled.
2007-12-16 12:05:37 · update #2
Why would you run that processor with such a lame video card? 500 would be fine for that piece of junk.
2007-12-16 03:24:43 · answer #1 · answered by Ryan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the power supply is hit mor miss really. Did the site say what brand of power supply they use. The thing with power supplies is that not every one rated at the same wattages are equal. So if it's a cheaply built one then 350w may not be enough. But if it's a cheaply built 650w one it may have not been enough either. This is my one complaint about ordering packaged or build pc's from most companies. They never give enough stats about the power supplies. Not even the people taking phone orders know either.
Your best bet is to just keep the 350w supply for the order and go out and get a good aftermarket power supply. They aren't hard to change out. to research some good power supplies look here http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=844691
it's also worth it to get the upgraded cpu cooler. I use the arctic freezer pro on my intel E6600 that is overclocked from 2.3ghz to 3.4ghz and it keeps my cpu cool. I would also suggest getting the extra fans if you can. But a better option would be to buy some adjustable speed fans. They cost a few dollars more around 7-10 for a 120mm one, but you can turn down the speeds and make them quieter when you don't need maximum cooling and then when you are doing heat intensive stuff you can speed up the fans.
2007-12-16 03:51:40 · answer #2 · answered by Adam F 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A 350watt PSU is more than adequate for your system.
I build sell and repair computers and Cyberpower charges way too much for their parts. Buying a basic system from them instead of paying overinflated prices for upgrades was a good idea. You can buy an eVGA GTX video card that comes with Crysis right now for 459 after rebate.
Try getting that at Cyberpower. When the time comes you can yank that 350 PSU and ATI card and get a big card and something like a 550watt Corsair PSU to run it for and probably save enough from what you'd have paid at Cyberpower for it to add more ram.
As far as upgrading the fan/heatsink goes make sure that, when you do, that you dont get a fan/heatsink that requires you to mount a backplate because you'll have to yank the board to do that. There's a lot of nice setups that offer great cooling using the stock mounts. I use Artic Silver 5 paste, even on my builds that use stock cooling.
2007-12-16 03:57:50 · answer #3 · answered by s j 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From my experience, you're always better to have a higher-capacity power supply than you'll need, so that there's room for upgrading. For example, Alienware fit all of their machines with a 750W supply as standard, and force an upgrade to 1000W for anything particularly special. An Alienware system with the same specs has a 750W supply, so you *should* be okay with only 700W. As for Vista, I would ALWAYS go for the 64-bit version because you are limited to how much RAM can be used with 32-bit, so it allows room for upgrading in the future. By the way, running Vista on 3GB RAM alone might be a bit risky if you're into high-drain applications like 3D graphics, or HD video editing. Buy at least 4GB RAM to be safe (my friends have, and they're pleased as punch with their systems). Hope it goes well :)
2016-05-24 05:04:02 · answer #4 · answered by tonya 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You really don't need the bigger power supply unless you will be running two video cards, multiple hard drives, etc. The upgrade on the fan would be needed if you intend to play games for hours on end or load the case up with extra components. The fan is also one of the noisiest components so if that bothers you then get the quieter one. If you really want quiet, then consider an Antec case.
2007-12-16 03:29:58 · answer #5 · answered by Harbinger 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well higher rated PSUs are required if you run a gaming rig with SLI/Crossfire capables motherboards that allows one to install 2 graphic cards on top of vista. If you do not game however you need not blow on graphic cards and if i were you i'd get a cheap 256mb ATI low-mid range video card as IIRC Vista performs better with at least a 256mb graphics card
2007-12-16 05:15:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Standard 350W PSU is more than adequate for this configuration. do not worry. But if u r specific about sound level, may be you should go for Cooling Freezer. But in my opinion, u have ordered for a perfect configuration. No other PSU is required.
hope info is in useful.
2007-12-16 03:30:47 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋