Help with my computer build!

[A Playful Shark]

Hello fellow escapists! I'm going to join the ranks of the "PC gamers", quite the elite and wonderful group indeed.
(This is a joke, don't flame)
Anywho, I've got everything in my build figured out, except for one thing: The power supply. I'm just unsure what to buy. I have a couple friends who have reccomended different supplies, and I'm confused as to what I need. What are the best brands? How strong of a power supply do i need? Here's my rig-

CPU- AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
Video Card- XFX Radeon HD 6850 XXX Edition
Ram- 4GB Kingston HyperX
Hard Drive- Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB,6Gbps 7200RP
MoBo- Asus M4A88T-V EVO USB3
Extra fan- Thermaltake Thunderblade 120 mm (Blue LED)
Disc Drive- Asus 24x DVD±RW Drive
Case- (unsure if this is necessary to list)- Cooler Master 912 HAF

I intend to game on this (or else I wouldn't be here!) any other information you need, I can provide.

Thanks!

 

[Flaming Narwhal]

I'm surprised you managed to get this far. I've watched others try to build computers, and the process was so intricate and intimidating I'm afraid to do it myself.

Best of luck to you!

 

[A Playful Shark]

I'm surprised you managed to get this far. I've watched others try to build computers, and the process was so intricate and intimidating I'm afraid to do it myself.

Best of luck to you!

It seems very daunting at first, but it really isn't that difficult! However, it does take a bit of research. It helps to have friends who (mostly) know what they're doing!

 

[YawningAngel]

Hello fellow escapists! I'm going to join the ranks of the "PC gamers", quite the elite and wonderful group indeed.
(This is a joke, don't flame)
Anywho, I've got everything in my build figured out, except for one thing: The power supply. I'm just unsure what to buy. I have a couple friends who have reccomended different supplies, and I'm confused as to what I need. What are the best brands? How strong of a power supply do i need? Here's my rig-

CPU- AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
Video Card- XFX Radeon HD 6850 XXX Edition
Ram- 4GB Kingston HyperX
Hard Drive- Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB,6Gbps 7200RP
MoBo- Asus M4A88T-V EVO USB3
Extra fan- Thermaltake Thunderblade 120 mm (Blue LED)
Disc Drive- Asus 24x DVD±RW Drive
Case- (unsure if this is necessary to list)- Cooler Master 912 HAF

I intend to game on this (or else I wouldn't be here!) any other information you need, I can provide.

Thanks!

Do yourself a favour and get an Intel processor.

 

[A Playful Shark]

Hello fellow escapists! I'm going to join the ranks of the "PC gamers", quite the elite and wonderful group indeed.
(This is a joke, don't flame)
Anywho, I've got everything in my build figured out, except for one thing: The power supply. I'm just unsure what to buy. I have a couple friends who have reccomended different supplies, and I'm confused as to what I need. What are the best brands? How strong of a power supply do i need? Here's my rig-

CPU- AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
Video Card- XFX Radeon HD 6850 XXX Edition
Ram- 4GB Kingston HyperX
Hard Drive- Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB,6Gbps 7200RP
MoBo- Asus M4A88T-V EVO USB3
Extra fan- Thermaltake Thunderblade 120 mm (Blue LED)
Disc Drive- Asus 24x DVD±RW Drive
Case- (unsure if this is necessary to list)- Cooler Master 912 HAF

I intend to game on this (or else I wouldn't be here!) any other information you need, I can provide.

Thanks!

Do yourself a favour and get an Intel processor.

Alright, Why?

 

[Bobzer77]

I don't have any names off the top of my head but the wattage of the power supply must be larger than the combined wattage of all the components you are going to hook up to it (preferably by ~30%).

It's also worth looking for a bit of quality (don't have to spend that much on it buy avoid things that look cheaply made). Power surges and fluctuations in power output can do damage to parts of your pc.

Good luck.

Do yourself a favour and get an Intel processor.

Alright, Why?

I think you will find that hardware has as much fanboyism surrounding it as games.

I'm a huge Intel fanboi myself but there is nothing wrong with AMD

 

[A Playful Shark]

Do yourself a favour and get an Intel processor.

Alright, Why?

I think you will find that hardware has as much fanboyism surrounding it as games.

I'm a huge Intel fanboi myself but there is nothing wrong with AMD

I completely understand this, but AMD is just so much cheaper for comparable performance. When you add in buying Windows 7, a monitor, and a keyboard that's a lot of extra money.

 

[Weaver]

I recommend a Corsair Power Supply.
There are a lot of somewhat complicated reasons involving dedicated power to 12v+ rails but all you really need to know is that corsair power supplies work with new graphics cards, have lots of connectors to fit your motherboard type and will provide stable and clean power.

I recoomend something around 800 watts. For non-modualar (all the cables are attached and can't be removed) I'd go with a GS800 or a TX850. If you want modular an AX850 will work fine. All of these PSU's will be plenty of power to your board and will (probably) even support an additional GPU should you decide you want to run crossfire sometime in the future. Of course, you can always go witha higher wattage to be safe if you want.

 

[A Playful Shark]

I recommend a Corsair Power Supply.
There are a lot of somewhat complicated reasons involving dedicated power to 12v+ rails but all you really need to know is that corsair power supplies work with new graphics cards, have lots of connectors to fit your motherboard type and will provide stable and clean power.

I recoomend something around 800 watts. For non-modualar (all the cables are attached and can't be removed) I'd go with a GS800 or a TX850. If you want modular an AX850 will work fine. All of these PSU's will be plenty of power to your board and will (probably) even support an additional GPU should you decide you want to run crossfire sometime in the future. Of course, you can always go witha higher wattage to be safe if you want.

800W? Isn't that overkill? HIGHER?
I'm not trying to offend, it just seems like that's a bit much.

 

[YawningAngel]

Do yourself a favour and get an Intel processor.

Alright, Why?

I think you will find that hardware has as much fanboyism surrounding it as games.

I'm a huge Intel fanboi myself but there is nothing wrong with AMD

I completely understand this, but AMD is just so much cheaper for comparable performance. When you add in buying Windows 7, a monitor, and a keyboard that's a lot of extra money.

The keyword here is "comparable performance". The performance of AMD's hardware is in no way comparable, because AMD uses a seven-year-old architecture and relies on OpenCL to compete, and Intel doesn't. Clearly, a processor with a discrete GPU embedded in it is pointless if you have a discrete GPU in the same PC that's much better.

 

[A Playful Shark]

Do yourself a favour and get an Intel processor.

Alright, Why?

I think you will find that hardware has as much fanboyism surrounding it as games.

I'm a huge Intel fanboi myself but there is nothing wrong with AMD

I completely understand this, but AMD is just so much cheaper for comparable performance. When you add in buying Windows 7, a monitor, and a keyboard that's a lot of extra money.

The keyword here is "comparable performance". The performance of AMD's hardware is in no way comparable, because AMD uses a seven-year-old architecture and relies on OpenCL to compete, and Intel doesn't. Clearly, a processor with a discrete GPU embedded in it is pointless if you have a discrete GPU in the same PC that's much better.

Sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about. This is my first build.
Intel breaks the bank. I didn't ask about what processor to buy!

 

[YawningAngel]

Do yourself a favour and get an Intel processor.

Alright, Why?

I think you will find that hardware has as much fanboyism surrounding it as games.

I'm a huge Intel fanboi myself but there is nothing wrong with AMD

I completely understand this, but AMD is just so much cheaper for comparable performance. When you add in buying Windows 7, a monitor, and a keyboard that's a lot of extra money.

The keyword here is "comparable performance". The performance of AMD's hardware is in no way comparable, because AMD uses a seven-year-old architecture and relies on OpenCL to compete, and Intel doesn't. Clearly, a processor with a discrete GPU embedded in it is pointless if you have a discrete GPU in the same PC that's much better.

Sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about. This is my first build.
Intel breaks the bank. I didn't ask about what processor to buy!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&Tpk=AMD%20Phenom%20II%20X4%20955%20Black%20Edition - 120$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078&cm_re=i3-2100-_-19-115-078-_-Product - 125$

That's a whole five dollars of difference there. Considering the i3 is two years newer, has a newer process, and is one hell of a lot faster, I'd say that 5$ was worth it.

 

[jimahaff]

For almost all computers 500 watts is more than enough, you start needing more if you have 3-4 hard-drives, 16 gigs of ram, and two of the best graphics cards on the market. As for brands I really don't know. One thing you do need to check is that whatever power supply you chose it needs to have all the cables you need. Again this is mostly only a problem when you have a top notch graphics card that has its own fan\s.

One thing I would warn you about is that my computer teacher has an unearthly hatred of Western digital hard-drives. So unless you already bought one I would switch to seagate.

 

[sune-ku]

Everyone has their brand preferences, I'd never get a AMD processor or an ATI GPU, but that doesn't mean they're all worse than intel and nVidia. The Architecture in a new Intel is definitely newer and more advanced than an AMD but you're still going to get the power out of it so it needn't concern you much. If you've sorted out your build then stick with it!

For that machine you'll need about 500 Watts - a bit more if you think you might put in another Graphics card down the line, maybe play it safe with 600W. You want a branded PSU not a cheap one because you really don't want anything to go wrong with it and (potentially) fry your more expensive parts, I'd suggest a Corsair - definitely reliable, for example:
If your in the US (newegg):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139019&cm_re=corsair_power_supply-_-17-139-019-_-Product
If your in the UK (ebuyer):
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/269259

 

[A Playful Shark]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&Tpk=AMD%20Phenom%20II%20X4%20955%20Black%20Edition - 120$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078&cm_re=i3-2100-_-19-115-078-_-Product - 125$
That's a whole five dollars of difference there. Considering the i3 is two years newer, has a newer process, and is one hell of a lot faster, I'd say that 5$ was worth it.

Alright, that's enough fanboyism please. Nice try though!

One thing I would warn you about is that my computer teacher has an unearthly hatred of Western digital hard-drives. So unless you already bought one I would switch to seagate.

I think it's a pretty even split between the people who trust Western Digital and those who trust Seagate, it just depends on past experiences!
But i'll look into it!