Have I ordered the right processor??

[DanW]

Hi,
placed an order yesterday, details in this thread

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forum...My-HTPC-Home-computer-specs-check-them-please

I went for the i7 2600S 2.8ghz thinking i should keep the total power consumption down, so the PSU didn't have to work too hard, but am now wondering if I should have not worried about the extra 30w needed if i went for the i7 2600 3.4ghz

I read that you should leave some room between the actual PSU rating and the actual power needed, but i don't really know how much.

Whats on order currently is at 264w, with a 450w PSU

what should i do?
stick with the 2600S or change to the 2600? which is the better CPU for this setup?

 

[Wozza63]

get the regular one if you can afford it you have plenty of room on the PSU, but if you are concerned about power usage (ie keeping bills down) then stick to the current one, it will still be pretty powerful

 

[DanW]

im not concerned about electricity usage, i was concerned about getting a system that is right for the PSU. So the non S version would be a better CPU? and i would still have enough head room with the PSU?

What is rule of them with PSU? how much of it should you use?

 

[TheKeir]

Hang on, so you're on a 264W but with a 450W PSU? You only need a 350W one, so you can save yourself £29 or whatever it is there.
The PCS configurator will tell you if your power supply is not enough for the spec you have, and that includes a 20% power allowance. So if it has not stopped you then you will be perfectly fine

 

[DanW]

thanks guys I've changed it to the 2600 @ 3.4ghz
now at a rating of 294w

Can someone tell me...
What is rule of them with PSU? how much of it should you use?

 

[Wozza63]

it can use right up to its max capacity, because that will only be when you have all parts being used at max, which is probably never gonna happen completely

PCS also use a 20% allowance, so your system will actually use around 240w at the most, so you still have plenty of room to add extras such as RAM, hard drives etc, although may be a bit different with upgrading graphicss

 

[DanW]

Brilliant, thanks

Well here is my updated order

Case
Silverstone SST-GD06B HTPC Case + 450W PSU

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600S Quad Core (2.8GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Change to: Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8H61-M LE/USB3 (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6670 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11

1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x LG BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£65)

Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium (£59)

Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (Incl Disc & 1 License for 3 devices) (£89)

Anti-Virus
NORTON 360 SUITE - 1 Year Licence for upto 3 PCs (£39)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Wattage
Maximum Required Power 294W

 

[Wozza63]

whats this being used for?

personally id drop the sound card unless you are doing anything sound related

drop Norton, i personally think their are much better anti viruses that dont cost a penny, such as AVG running alongside Malwarebytes

 

[Music Guy123]

Yeah, I would drop the soundcard, have you considered homeplugs rather than the wifi card, they are much better.

 

[Fear]

thanks guys I've changed it to the 2600 @ 3.4ghz
now at a rating of 294w

Can someone tell me...
What is rule of them with PSU? how much of it should you use?

With PSU's if you go for an unbranded 1 then the manufacturers will quote the maximum power it can produce but this is not a guaranteed constant supply so the 450W may only provide a constant 400W (this is not an exact just an example) where as if you buy a branded PSU such as Corsair the wattage they give is the minimum constant it can provide so a 650W of these will provide 650W and could even go over not reccomended though, also you get what you pay for with the quality of them for what you have listed needing 294W i would stick with that 450W the less you are using towards the maximum the longer they will last.

 

[TheKeir]

Hey I've got a couple of questions:

1) You have 4TB of memory there. Are you really going to use all that up? Having read your previous thread, it sounds like you would be using a maximum of about 150gb/year, which means that this 4tb could last you (considering that the size of things increases all the time) well over 20 years. You sure about the 4TB?

2) is there a reason for the sound blaster card? Onboard sound is actually very good (maybe it's different for mini pcs to desktops though, I suppose)

Just making sure you've thought through everything before you order

Other than that, it's a nice little spec

 

[DanW]

Thanks for the info guys, Think I'm there now, looking forward to a great set up

Glad i realised that the non S version might be a better option before it was in build!

I will stick with the sound card as i want to plug it into my AV receiver

And here is what i posted in my original message about usage,
Use wise, it will be used for watching and storing movies, TV show, lots of music, and some general use such as office applications, some photo editing, email, web etc. It will also be connected to my A/V receiver for 5.1 surround sound. But I also wanted to go high spec so I have a pretty future proof setup.

 

[DanW]

Just spotted a potential issue

ASUS® P8H61-M LE/USB3 (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
does not support 6 Gb/s hard drives

I have specified 2x
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

Just emailed PCS now asking if they can offer me a slight upgrade on the motherboard... I hope so, i want to make the most out of the components I'm paying for not have them running half speed...