Is 620W enough?

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pyroguy_3

New Member
I feel like such a tool asking this, as I feel I should be able to figure it out. However it is my first build so here it goes. This will be a gaming/calculation machine i.e. running molecular-based computational programs in Gaussian etc. Here are the pertinent specs:


MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA

plus the other stuff like dvd/cd and sound card. Right now I have a CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W PSU in mind, but am worried I might be short on power.

I have set a budget of $1400 for everything but the monitor which I have already. It specs out at $1300 without an aftermarket processor fan. By the way, any recommendations? I expect these calculations will keep the processor busy for 10+ hours at a time so I want to be safe.

Thank you very much for any insight.

Andrew
 
get an intel quad-core instead. faster processor = more calculations.

also, the 8800gt isnt that high end of a card, might i suggest the 4850? i definitely prefer 800 processors over 112... and they cost about the same. of course, they perform differently for different games, so you be the judge.

620 watts is PLENTY. especially a corsair brand psu. i like their approach to making a good psu.. a single extremely powerful 12v rail.
 
I would get an intel, but the programs I'll be running are specifically compiled to run off AMD chips, they might run off intel but nobody's ever tried it. So to be on the safe side I'm sticking with AMD. I'll look into the video cards though. I'm not sure what the price range is on them, but I can't go too much higher than what I'm at.

edit: okay, same price... gotcha

Wow, thanks a lot. I'm going with ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB now. I have no idea why I didn't see any of these before.
 
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yea, ATI has been crushing the market with low prices and high-performance cards. NVidia might win one or two benchmarks but for some reason the ATI cards just seem to handle high settings better. meaning they'll probably last longer too... i mean, they dont make new games with crappier graphics than before lol
 
I have a Corsair HX520W in my old PC, it is pretty solid and pulls an 8800GTX with 2 HDD's and 2 opticals... Go for the HX620W, awesome PSU.
 
man, the amd chips use exactly the same instruction set to the current x86-32 intels. The x86-64 intels have a few minor differences but are backward compatible.
 
620W is enough.
Strongly recommend you go for intel.
If you want to stick with AMD, Go for a ATI HD4850 instead. Don't waste your opportunity of Crossfire in future!
 
Strongly recommend you go for intel.
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He already said that the software he needs was written for AMD CPUs, Intel really doesn't seem to be an option for him...
If you want to stick with AMD, Go for a ATI HD4850 instead. Don't waste your opportunity of Crossfire in future!
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Yea, for gaming get something half decent like the 4850, or a 4870. 8800GTs (or any 8-series cards for that matter) are outdated by now, unless you're REALLY tight on budget there's really no point in getting any 8800, but for some reason it seems to me that you're not looking for the cheapest possible option ;)
 
i got the 4850 but wished i got the 4870 :(

i would go with either the 4850 or the 4870-should be good when crossfired like im doing very soon :)
 
Wow, thanks for all the great advice everybody.

To the question earlier about what program I'll be using: It's a set of algorithms that are meant to be run in Gauss view, which is a molecular modeling program. I'll mainly be doing kinetic-analysis on molecules in the atmosphere. I would love to go Intel, in fact that is what I had it spec'd out at to begin with. But my research adviser (I'm a grad student) told me the programs were all compiled to definitely work on AMD chips (which is what all the university computers run), so while they may well work on Intel, I am in no position to make a $200 purchase that would be useless for anything other than playing Diablo III when it comes out!

Again, thanks for all the help!
 
pyroguy_3 said:
I feel like such a tool asking this, as I feel I should be able to figure it out. However it is my first build so here it goes. This will be a gaming/calculation machine i.e. running molecular-based computational programs in Gaussian etc. Here are the pertinent specs:


MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA

plus the other stuff like dvd/cd and sound card. Right now I have a CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W PSU in mind, but am worried I might be short on power.

I have set a budget of $1400 for everything but the monitor which I have already. It specs out at $1300 without an aftermarket processor fan. By the way, any recommendations? I expect these calculations will keep the processor busy for 10+ hours at a time so I want to be safe.

Thank you very much for any insight.

Andrew
Click to expand...



My setpu runs on a HX620W PSU, with an Q6600 running at 1,5 times its normal speed and 2 3870's :) so yea, it'll be enough.
 
A quick question: the 4870 is a little more expensive than the 4850, is there that noticeable of a difference?
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Yes.

half decent??!@@
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Didn't mean to put it that way, I mean, well, get yourself something... 100% decent? Yea... brainfreeze... the point was, 8800GT isn't even half decent when the going gets really rough... you know...like... *mumble mumble**runs away*

I blame the union for my bad wording
 
so i dont see why he wants AMD specifically.
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It's not only about the instruction sets, the CPU architecture makes a big difference, and there are many architecture-specific optimizations for x86 CPUs. One example I can think of are Branch Predictors, all CPUs have different branch predictors and hence code optimized for other CPU architecture may result in poor performance due to constant branch misprediction.Of course, this is only one example, CPUs have a thousand other parts in them that require optimized code to run most effectively. Moreover, the new Phenoms do have a new AMD-exlusive SSE instruction set that ain't gonna work on Intel CPUs.
 
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