Power Supplies...

[Dowding]

I wonder if someone could help me. This is my new system:

Athlon64 3500+
Asus A8V Deluxe M'board
AOpen Geforce 6800 GT 256 MB
1Gb Crucial CAS2 RAM
Western Digital Caviar 120 GB HD S-ATA 8Mb cache

There's also CD-ROM burner and a DVD player.

Now, I want to have a pretty quiet machine and maybe do some overclocking so I'm adding in a copper Zalman Silent CPU cooler. I'm also looking at the case and have seen the Antec Sonata Silent case, which comes with a 380W silent PSU and large quiet 120mm fans.

Is 380W going to be enough to run all that gear? If not, I could use my existing case and buy a new PSU - what rating would you suggest?

[CYLONN]

According to req. power supply specs for that card, you will need a min. 350 watt psu.  I have that case and it's great. Pick up an extra 120mm fan and you should be fine.
I keep mine on the desk next to the monitor and it's VERY quiet.
Antec makes a high quality product, you wont be dissapointed.

If you have doubts about the power supply, upgrade to a 400watt. If you add up the wattage usage of each component in your system, you'll probably have plenty of power with some to spare.

Sounds like a killer system, where'd you get it?

[Dowding]

Thanks for the information, mate.

I'm building it myself so am buying from all over the place trying to get the lowest prices. I'm holding off buying the CPU and GFX card because I hear rumours Intel CPU price cuts which will only push AMD to do the same. Might be able to afford a Geforce Ultra if the prices come down in the mean time.

My existing case is Antec and is great - it's just a bit big and noisy. Or rather the CPU fan is really loud and tend to reverberate around the box!

Here's the full spec and prices:

Socket 939 A64 3500+                
Zalman Silent cooler                  
Asus A8V Deluxe                        
AOpen Geforce 6800GT 256 Mb  
WD 120 GB HD                          
Crucial Ballistix RAM CAS2 1Gb
Creative Speakers 6.1 Surround
Trust Wireless Keyboard+mouse
3COM Officeconnect wireless modem/router
Antec Sonata Case

Looking at around £1100 including delivery. ($1700?)

[CYLONN]

Try newegg.com, however, the shipping may be expensive since you live in UK. Maybe not. That's where I purchased my gear and right now I believe that case is @70.00 US.  The 6800 Ultra video cards are hard to come by since the demand is so high. An alternative would be the 6800 GT, it's the middle in this series and seems very popular. @280.00.  Newegg has quick service, too