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Help with build / upgrade & PSU questions (Quizzical?)
stragen001
Member UncommonPosts: 1,720
Hi Folks,
Current specs: ASUS P5Q-SE2 Mobo // Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66Ghz @ 3Ghz Processor // 2 x 2GB DDR 2 800 RAM // ATI Radeon HD4870 Graphics Card // WD3200AAKS 320GB SATA2 HD // OCZ 400W Stealth XStream PSU // A case (dont know what it is, but it does the job, has good airflow) // a DVDRW drive (again, dont know what, dont really use it)
My usage: Gaming wise = mostly MMOs. Dont really do any high end gaming. Non Gaming = HD Video playback to my TV, and internet/email/etc
Reasons for upgrading: My computer is now becoming somewhat arthritic and I happen to know that it cannot handle ESO, or Wildstar at an acceptable level. Less than 30fps at low settings 
I want to be able to play these upcoming games smoothly in high quality at a decent frame rate. Im not trying to build a beast of a computer, but I want 60ish fps on any MMOs that I want to play for the next couple of years
Budget: £500 Max
Proposed Upgrade:
Asus H87M-E - £68.99
Retail Boxed Intel Core i5 4570 3.20GHz - £144.69
Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600MHz - £60.42
PowerColor R9 270 2GB - £136.40
Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO - £72.88
Extra Value 2.5" HDD/SSD bracket - £1.98
Startech 4 Pin to 8 Pin EPS Power with LP4 Cable Adapter - £4.00
Re-use current HD for storage only
Current Case
Current PSU
Current DVDRW
---------------------------
Total £489.36
My questions:
1) Is my current PSU sufficient to power the above setup? I know its a 400W PSU and everyone will say I need a 500W PSU, but my existing graphics card recommends 500W and I have been running that for years with no problem. The power output on the current PSU is +3.3V=24A, +5=15A, +12V1=17A, +12V2=14A, -12V=0.3A, +5VSB=3A and when I input the above system spec on the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator it tells me a minimum PSU Wattage of 302W, recommended 352W. By this measure my 400W should be fine.
2) Since the 12V output is split into 17A and 14A rails (Im guesing the 14A one is used for CPU) will the 17A available be enough to power the PowerColor R9 270 2GB ?
3) If my existing PSU is not up to scratch, would this Corsair 430W V2 CX Series PSU be a good replacement as it has a single 12V rail at 28A? This would take me £20 over budget but I could just about handle it. If I have to go for the 500W then I will have to swap out the SSD for a mechanical hard drive as it will take me too far over budget
4) Any obvious flaws/bottlenecks with this build?
5) Any recommendations for swapping out any of the parts to get better bang for my buck?
Thanks in advance for your help! 
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
Comments
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/OCZ-StealthXStream-400-W-Power-Supply-Review/794/10
Looks like a decent power supply.
I agree more or less with your figures. 400W should be enough so long as it's a solid PSU, and that's not a bad one aside from being a few years old now.
One thing to note, the PSU itself may be running fine, but fans and bearings have a very finite life - 5 years is pretty good for a fan. And your power supply certainly has a fan in it. Fans are cheap, but I wouldn't go poking around inside a PSU to replace it should it decide to die (seriously, those capacitors can pack a punch even after being unplugged).
Add in the fact that the older power supply wasn't necessarily designed to run so much on the 12V rail. It's a 150W card, which means around 12-13A, split across the PCI bus and your adapter. If, for some wierd reason, that all hit on rail 2, your existing PSU would not take too kindly to it (not to mention everything else in your system on 12V, such as hard drives).
It will ~probably~ work ok, as that OCZ PSU was a decent model to begin with. But I do caveat that - how upset will you be if you go out and spend £400+, only to have it all blow up inside of 3 weeks. Now, nothing is saying that won't happen one way or another, but £30 on a new PSU with that cuts the odds of that happening significantly, but if your budget can't stretch it, you can't stretch it.
I would go ahead and upgrade your PSU. You're upgrading three plus generations of gear here. The power consumption is going to be increased. I think it would be worth it to do the minimum recommended PSU...after all, it is recommended for a reason.
Thanks for all your replies guys.
Do you think replacing my current OCZ power supply with the Corsair 430W V2 CX Series PSU will be OK?
Problem is my budget is TIGHT. That PSU takes me £20 over and I cant stretch any more than that.......If I have to go with a more expensive PSU I will have to compromise somewhere else on the build, probably the SSD will have to be swapped for a mechanical HD
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
Two words: Wattage Meter. Extremely cheap and handy tool to test power draw.
If you're planning to skimp on a new psu.
Let's save you some money by getting a cheaper SSD, regardless of what else you go with:
http://www.ebuyer.com/497417-crucial-120gb-m500-ssd-ct120m500ssd1
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The power supply would probably be okay, as the new system wouldn't really be any higher power than the old. But you're cutting it closer than I'd be comfortable with.
I wouldn't get the Corsair CX430, though, as while it would be newer, it's not otherwise any better than your old power supply. If you're going to upgrade the power supply, then get a real upgrade, like this:
http://www.ebuyer.com/413805-xfx-proseries-550w-power-supply-unit-core-edition-p1-550s-xxb9
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I would warn you that hard drives don't last forever. If the only stuff you're going to keep on the hard drive is stuff that you can afford to lose, so that a hard drive failure means you need a new hard drive but isn't a catastrophic data loss, that's fine. But don't make it your only copy of vital stuff.
Thanks Quizzical,
The reason why I went for the Samsung is that it has extremely good reviews. Faster than others out there, and failure rates are very low.
These failure rates are what scared me off of a cheaper one.....
- Samsung 0,28% - Intel 0,63% - Kingston 1,00% - Corsair 1,88% - Crucial 2,26% - OCZ 2,27%
Do you think the Crucial SSDs are decent?
To try and stick within budget I have been looking at changing the SSD to this and getting this PSU which keeps the build at £520..... but I'm still not convinced I need a new PSU.......I really dont wanna blow anything up though! Arrrgghhh.
The other option is to bin the SSD and get a mechanical disk which means I can afford a nice PSU, but I think that will give me a big performance hit
The old HD will only have movies and music on it, nothing vital, and I will probably get a new storage disk in a couple of months when I have some more money.....
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
I'd worry more about power supply issues than SSD issues. What really matters is whether a part will fail in what you hoped to be its useful lifetime, and we don't really have good data on that. By the time the relevant data even exists, the products that the data is for are long discontinued and not what you'd buy new.
With the Samsung 840 Evo in particular, I'd be skittish about the use of TLC NAND flash. It will probably be fine, but it's been more than a year since Samsung started using TLC NAND in their SSDs and still no one else is willing to do likewise, in spite of the obvious benefit of getting a given capacity for 2/3 of the production cost. That's fine for a budget product that is cheaper than its competitors, but not something I'd pay a premium for.
As for buying a Crucial SSD, I have one in my laptop.