Building an i7 machine, need advice on PSU

[DTEC]

I'm building a machine with an i7 950 CPU and an ATI Radeon HD 5770 GPU, and my old machine has a 650w Corsair PSU. Will my old PSU work, or will I need to get a new one? Thanks.

[mjkovis]

I could almost guarantee that you should have no problems without seeing the rest of your PC specs. Just to be sure though, could you list your system specs?

More than likely with just one 5770 you won't go over 80% capacity on your current PSU.

ATI Radeon

[DTEC]

Thanks for the reply. I haven't spec'd everything out yet, but here's basically what it's gonna be:

Intel® Core™ i7 950 Processor BX80601950 - LGA1366
MSI X58 Pro-E Intel i7 X58 1366 Motherboard
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB GDDR5 PCI Express Video Card

Then of course an HDD, DVD player, and probably 4GB of RAM. If my Corsair 650W PSU can power that just fine, then it'll save me about $150ish for a new PSU.

[Khalil]

What do you plan on using this machine for?

[DTEC]

Gaming and general web surfing. Right now I have a Pentium Dual Core 2.7GHz and I just want to get a new Motherboard + CPU + RAM. I already have the GPU and the 650W PSU. I can run games just fine now with default settings, but I want to push up the resolution and graphics, and with my current setup, it gets choppy when the game gets busy.

[Khalil]

OK for gaming you got it backwards, you have an overkill processor and a low-mid range video card and it should be the opposite.
You max out on a video card first then worry about the processor depending on your budget.
The X58 platform is very problematic, you are better going with an i5 760 and a radeon 5870, you will do yourself a big service switching from gigabyte to Asus for the motherboard.

[DTEC]

Originally Posted by Khalil OK for gaming you got it backwards, you have an overkill processor and a low-mid range video card and it should be the opposite. You max out on a video card first then worry about the processor depending on your budget. The X58 platform is very problematic, you are better going with an i5 760 and a radeon 5870, you will do yourself a big service switching from gigabyte to Asus for the motherboard.

Well I can always get a higher end GPU. I'm pretty much set on the i7 950 (mainly because I already bought it because my local store had a labor day sale and I didn't want to pass up on the price lol). I don't have the mobo yet though, and I only chose the MSI one because it was one of the cheaper ones, but if it's problematic then I guess I'll find another one.

[Khalil]

Here is the only X58 motherboard I have not had problems with but I still can't guarantee you won't run into issues with it Newegg.com - ASUS P6TD Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

[Nikon]

for pushing up the rez in games, a more powerful video card is the solution. assuming you dont run into problems with that mobo/cpu/ram set you got, the next step is the card.

in the tech world, cheaper litterally denotes a lower quality part, and on the infamous x58 chipset, good quality is a must.