Buying a new computer...

[IsaacJJ01]

I'm about to purchase a new system that is going to be custom built and i have hit a road block....what is a good power supply for this kind of setup? i have looked in all the bowls of the internet to find suggestions and advice on this but still i'm looking for :help:. this forum has always been sincere about there answers and have always given good advice so i thought i'd ask some vets on the subject of computers. how many watts of power should i get? how much money should i spend? is 650 watts or 750 watts?

this is gonna be the setup.

Intel Quad core 2.4 hertz
Foxconn p45a-s motherbord (2 PCI-E 2.0 16x slots 16gb of mem support)
4 gb of mem
7 120mm cooling fans
NVIDIA 9800GTX+
DVD and CD drive
500gb hardrive
1280x1024 monitor (non-HD)

[polecat0942]

The more Watts the better. Make sure you have true watts also, some cheaper companies claim more wattage but that is max wattage and not average or "true" wattage. If you are going to run or plan on running in SLi mode you need at least 750 Watts and at least 4 rails of 12V 6pin. Most new cards require 2 12V 6 pin connections per card. Try to get a PSU that is SLi certified if you are going to go the SLi route. If you are going to SLi more than 2 cards (which it doesn't look like your Mobo supports) then you need at least 1000 watts and at least 6 12V 6pin connectors. Hope any of this helps.

Cheers,

John

[IsaacJJ01]

thks for the advice

[stansdds]

You can do fine with 650 watts, but 750 would simply allow to supply to run cooler and well below its capacity. The advice about quality PSU vs. cheap PSU is good, cheap PSU's often produce their "rated" wattage at peak, but cannot produce that power on a continual basis and will fail, often with catastrophic effects to other parts of the computer.

[IsaacJJ01]

based on this im going to buy an antec 650 watt power supply

[GT182]

You might want to rethink and go with the 750 watt PSU. 7 120mm cooling fans will eat up a bunch of power. ;)

Actually an OCZ, tho more money, would be a better choice.... IMHO. This is a good one..... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002