Tech TalkIf you are looking for tech help, issues, and discussions that don't quite fit amongst our other forums, then this is the place to be. No Off Topic Discussions here.
No disrespect but you should NEVER IMO buy ANYTHING from BAD BUY based on historical unethical Biz practices for which State Attorney Generals have prosecuted BAD BUY and fined them BIG BUCKS !!!
That said I also would NOT buy an Intel P4 CPU unless you already have an Intel system you're upgrading and want to fall farther behind the technology curve... For $160 you can buy a 3000+ AMD A64 and for $130 almost any new nF3 Mobo, which would be much better for overall system performance than the $280 spent on the 2.8 Gig. P4 CPU alone. Zipzoomfly and Mwave always have good prices on AMD Retail Box CPUs which include the heatsink/fan and a 3 yr. warranty.
You can use AMD's or Intel's Tech Docs to determine the actual CPU power consumption as you definitely will need a good PSU for either, especially if overclocked.
A quick list of AMD CPU specs if you are interested:
that is what my laptop has in it(800 FSB version tho), and the PSU is a 120 watt power brick
You can't compare power consumption of a laptop (optimized for low power) with the power comsumption of a desktop system. A high-performance P4/A64 based system will fail or not even POST/boot with a 300W-350W PSU. The CPU itself can consume in the 90W range all by itself (don't assume the lower average wattages based on power saving figures). I've seen figures on power draws on newer video cards from 75W to twice that! Add the wattage from the mobo, raided drives, CD burners, fans, etc. and the low power PSUs are not able to cope with the load. If I took the time, I could show you dozens of threads talking about problems with 450W Antec PSUs.
I would not recommend anything less than a 500W+ PSU for a new high-performance system, especially when overclocking. Not overkill at all.
Here's a PSU I would recommend for a high-performance system:
Have a look at the customer reviews on that PSU I gave the link for. I took this quote from one of them: "At home I replaced my Antec True 430, which was suffering from occasional brownouts causing the system to lock up. This problem is gone now, and voltages are stable as hell. This machine is running 2 250gb SATA IDE mirrored (storage), 2 37gb 15k rmp U320 SCSI striped (system) and 1 80gb PATA IDE (swap & temp), P4 3ghz, 2gb DDR400, ATI 9700 AIW, DVD burner, Soundblaster, 5 80mm fans, cathode lighting, lots of USB devices, etc."
... A high-performance P4/A64 based system will fail or not even POST/boot with a 300W-350W PSU. The CPU itself can consume in the 90W range all by itself (don't assume the lower average wattages based on power saving figures). I've seen figures on power draws on newer video cards from 75W to twice that! Add the wattage from the mobo, raided drives, CD burners, fans, etc. and the low power PSUs are not able to cope with the load. If I took the time, I could show you dozens of threads talking about problems with 450W Antec PSUs...
lol. The more I read these forums, the more of a kick I get out of every 2nd person saying "get a bigger PSU!!!" It might hold true that AMD machines are picky about that kind of stuff (and RAM ), but none of my Intel machines ever gave a crap. I have a 2.4B@2.75, 1GB RAM, GeForce FX 5900XT, 2 HDs running on a 2 year old 300W PS that came with my $30 case. The system in my sig (with 3 HDs and 5 fans) running on a $30 400W PS.
It's true that a quality PS with steady rails and decent amps will help out, but I don't believe it's that important for an everyday machine. One that's not being overclocked, that doesn't have an AGP card, that doesn't even have a Prescott in it. A 300-350W PS will be plenty enough.
That CPU will work in your machine, so will this 3.06 Ghz CPU, which has HyperThreading (the only one that your chipset will support). You will have to buy a heatsink for it though, and it has a 30 day warranty.
__________________
I like it when the red water comes out...
lol. The more I read these forums, the more of a kick I get out of every 2nd person saying "get a bigger PSU!!!" ......
What you say is true to an extent that a bone stock system running low power parts may run fine with a 350W PSU. I still would not recommend a low buck/low power PSU for anybody wanting a stable (and upgradable) system.
Having been in the electronics and IT biz for many years, I've been able to see many hundreds of computer problems of all kinds. I always recommend quality replacement PSUs because I've seen so many cheap/under powered PSUs cause problems or just plain burn up. It's not worth the cost savings of $30-$40 to use a cheap PSU on a system worth much more than that. Push those cheapie PSUs beyond their limits and you risk killing parts with high ripple, massive fluctuations, and unpredictable outputs. Many times you can SEE a clear difference in voltage quality on a scope between different PSUs under load. People lose drives and mobos like this all the time and blame that part when the problem is really a PSU issue.
I'm gald your cheap PSUs are working well for you. I base my advice on years of experience, not on the fact that one or two systems work fine with marginally acceptable parts.
According to this report an A64 90nm system with all the trimmings never went beyond 151 watts, the Intel did require 236 watts.
The testbed system included an Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard, 1GB of Corsair XMS 3200XL DDR400 memory, an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT graphics card, an Asus DVD-ROM drive, a Maxtor MaxLine III 250GB SATA hard drive, and an OCZ PowerStream 470W power supply.
heres what your not getting.......i cant buy anwhere than from best buy
im 14 and i am middle class and have parents who dont belive in buying online......
im so cheap i asked for gift cards for that one place best buy....
Processors
Motherboards
Chipsets
Memory
Graphics Cards
Storage
Cases and Cooling
Mobile
Systems
Displays
Shows and Expos
), but none of my Intel machines ever gave a crap. I have a 2.4B@2.75, 1GB RAM, GeForce FX 5900XT, 2 HDs running on a 2 year old 300W PS that came with my $30 case. The system in my sig (with 3 HDs and 5 fans) running on a $30 400W PS.
Linear Mode
