Need Some Help With PSU And Memory

[LiquidFlame]

Ok, so I’m getting ready for the big upgrade soon and I’m glad because I’ve been waiting a long time to upgrade, about 3-4 years. I need some help in determining a couple of things for my new rig. I’ve done my homework and read up on the new processors, motherboards and GPUs. I plan on purchasing a C2D E6600, a 680i Motherboard (whether its going to be the eVGA one that is out right now or waiting for other manufactures to put out other boards I’m not sure yet, that’s for another forum), and a 8800 GTX.

Basically my dilemma is I’m not sure if my current power supply is big enough for my system and I’m not sure what kind of memory I should get. So to get this started I’ll give you a brief summary of what I’ll be using my computer for and then give you full detail what my power supply is.

For the most part I would consider my self a gamer, I love playing FPS, RPG, playing online, etc. I surfer the net a lot and download tons of torrents and occasionally I rip/burn DVDs. Whenever I upgrade my computer, I usually go full out and try to get the best so I don’t have to upgrade for a long time; as you can see with how long I’ve waited to upgrade now.

Onto my power supply right now I have an X-Connect 500W ATX PSU –Green (Limited Edition) with the X-Connect Flex Force upgrade cables kit (in case you’re not sure what I’m talking about, the original cables are just regular X-Connect cables and the upgrade allows me to have the new Flex Force cables that are more convenient). http://www.ultraproducts.com/product...h=15...mp;prod
If you’re wondering why I got a green PSU it’s because I have a green case so one of the more reasons why I would like to keep my current power supply. Here are the specs that the website gives for my PSU:

AC INPUT 115V/230V 10A/6A 60/50Hz
DC OUTPUT +3.3V +5V +12V -12V -5V +5VSB
500W Max Combined Watts 500W

Connectors
1x 20-Pin Main Power
1x 6-Pin AUX (Xeon) Power
1x 4-Pin 12V (P4)
6x 4-Pin Peripheral
1x Floppy
1x SATA Power Adapter

Features
Modular Cable Connection System
Dual 80mm Fans
Power Protections:
Short Circuit, In-rush Current,
Thermal Overload, Over-Temperature,
Over-Voltage, Over-Current, Under-Voltage.

I know that the 8800GTX says that it recommends a minimum or 450W and from what I’ve been reading online it seem like mine should do the job, but I know that when building a computer you shouldn’t skimp out on the PSU because that is where it all starts and that you really need a good one for everything to operate correctly.

Onto the memory. When it comes to memory I don’t really know that much about it. Really the only thing I know is I should get at least DDR2-800 and that Corsair and OCZ are some of the better companies to get your memory from. I’m not into over clocking, but after reading some of the articles about the performance boost of over clocking the CPUs and GPUs I would like to have that option in the future if I do decide to over clock my system.

I’m sorry for being so long, but I know the more detail that I give you guys the better you can help me. I know some stuff about PSU, but in your replies can you please be pretty specific and explain what you mean when suggesting PSUs and memory (especially memory because I don’t know enough about it). Thank you very much for your guys help and if you need any more details let me know.

[blue60007]

I wouldn't use a Ultra power supply for anything. We recently reviewed 3 of them here and 2 of them were defective (direct from Ultra). They're pretty questionable quality. Not to mentione that's not a ATX 2.0 unit required for PCI-Epxress systems (well not necessary *required* but highly recommended, especially for a high end system). ATX 2 units have a 24 pin main connector.

The 8800GTX guzzles power (it requires 2 PCI-E 6 pin plugs) like crazy. If you ever plan on running them in SLI...that'd be an insane amount of power required.

According to nVidia, this power supply should be sufficient for 8800GTS in SLI. That or the 600W version of that should be plenty for a single 8800GTX. If you want to run two 8800GTX's at any time - you'll want to get one of those monster PC Power & Cooling units listed on the SLI link above.

You might consider passing on a SLI motherboard because of the steep power requirements. Also we're talking big bucks. A single 8800GTX will be able to tackle current and future games VERY well, so I don't see a need for *two* of them. By the time it starts getting bogged down by current games, there'll be better video cards out that'll outperform two of those.

I'd recommend some Corsair XM2 DDR2-800 - 2 gigs is a healthy number.

[Mr.Ferrari]

1. No your powersupply isnt nearly enough. It should probally be nowhere near your current computer. The only ultra's I trust are the Xfinity/X2, and XVS. Some of the newer x-connects are decent, but I still dont trust them.

8800GTX is a power hog. I would suggest atleast a very high quality 500w psu.
My suggestions:
Silverstone ST50EF
Corsair 520W
AeroCool Zero DBA 500W

Any of these will handle your setup plus overclocking on both the GPU and CPU.

2. Memory- You gotta first tell me how far your planning to go on overclocking.
One safe choice would be:
Corsair TwinX PC6400 2gb
Or some G.Skill 2gbHZ, OCZ VX, or Team Xtreem if you plan on overclocking.

[LiquidFlame]

I don't know why I didn't realize in the first place that my psu wasn't atx 2.0, so my psu is definitely out of the question. I agree that I need very a high quality 500w psu, but do you guys think I should get a 600w just to be on the safe side. I really don't want to spend more money then I have to and if you think 500W is plenty which, nVidia seems to think is thats fine with me. As to the psu could you guys maybe point me in the direction of an article or post on what to look for in psu. As to the memory, I can't really tell you how far I would go with overclocking because I never really do it, so I'm pretty rusty when it comes to that. I just know that when it comes to overclocking your memory plays a big role. I just want to get high quality memory for my system so it would run good and if i wanted to in the future, I could ovcerclock my system and like the psu is there any article or post you guys can point me to so I can learn more about memroy and maybe you guys could explain why you chose the type of memory your suggested.

[Mr.Ferrari]

This is my outlook on DX10 powersupplies:
Either get a quality 500w for a single card or get a quality 750w+ with quad pci-e cables for a sli config.

I would personally go for the 500w unless you do plan on sli. In which case you're looking to spend a whole lot more. The silverstone I linked is good for budget.

For your needs, the best memory would be the Corsair kit I also linked earlier.