Kesava
Active Member
the HX520 is out of my price range.
my options are an Antec Earthwatts 500
or the silverstone 500.
im thinking that the earthwatts is the way to go as it is by a more trusted brand
PSU for 8800 gts
- Thread starter Kesava
- Start date
the HX520 is out of my price range.
my options are an Antec Earthwatts 500
or the silverstone 500.
im thinking that the earthwatts is the way to go as it is by a more trusted brand
ceewi1
VIP Member
Some have dual rails, although personally I prefer a strong single rail - no chance of rail distribution issues with only one rail. For the most part, though, it's not an important point. Single or multiple rails, it's the total +12V amperage that counts.
ComputerGuru64x2 is correct about the 20/24 pin. As for differences between the two units, it's another case of two similarly named units with completely different manufacturers. The ST50F is built by FSP, while the ST50EFP is built by Enhance.
I suggest you take a look through these two reviews of the units:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=23
http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=51
They're extremely thorough, and should give you heaps of information to make a decision. Personally, I consider the ST50EF-Plus to be better, but you'll need to make your own decision on that.
Why do you say that?
I would say buy whatever power supply you can currently afford, just try not to cheap out on it too much, and aim for the $30 USD range (whatever that converts to there). The worst case with a PSU is that your system needs more power and your PSU will have a shorter life than expected. BUT, you will be able to get your computer up and running sooner and not have to pinch pennies until you get a better PSU. So until it (the power supply, not your new computer) burns out, you can at least use your new computer.
I really like those nice shiny and fancy PSUs with all the lights and stuff, but right now I'm on a real tight budget and every penny is going towards system performance, not really design. I will probably end up running the computer for a few months without a case until I get the money to buy one, lol.
As for the video cards, since everybody knows that GT cards are better, everyone buys them up. And because of that, GTS cards (the 320MB versions) are now cheaper by about $50 - $100 USD. I would recommend you look around, if you can find a cheaper (or equally) priced GT go for it, but the GTS isn't a bad card itself. If you check out the tomshardware.com vga charts, the GTS cards are up there. Alot of the people around here like to run their games in overkill with the settings. If it doesn't bother you that you're not running all your favorite games with the max resolution and highest settings then don't worry too much about it.
I really like those nice shiny and fancy PSUs with all the lights and stuff, but right now I'm on a real tight budget and every penny is going towards system performance, not really design. I will probably end up running the computer for a few months without a case until I get the money to buy one, lol.
As for the video cards, since everybody knows that GT cards are better, everyone buys them up. And because of that, GTS cards (the 320MB versions) are now cheaper by about $50 - $100 USD. I would recommend you look around, if you can find a cheaper (or equally) priced GT go for it, but the GTS isn't a bad card itself. If you check out the tomshardware.com vga charts, the GTS cards are up there. Alot of the people around here like to run their games in overkill with the settings. If it doesn't bother you that you're not running all your favorite games with the max resolution and highest settings then don't worry too much about it.
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