Good enough for gaming?

[impact]

Im lookin to buy / build a mid - high spec pc to churn out some decent performance with most PC games. Not looking to be able to run something like Crysis on full settings, but something that can handle css and the battlefield series on high settings.

Well to start me off Iv picked out a Seasonic S12 Series 430W, but not sure if it will be good enough to cope and how long it will last. If im going to be lashing out on a decent PSU and want it to last me a couple of years and not see myself paying another £50-70 for a newer unit in about a year

Also I was wondering if anyone could help me with my CPU decision, I cant decide wether to go for an AMD or Intel and dont have a clue on all the cache specs that I need to be looking out for when trying to find a decent model.

 

[Vaanish]

550W Antec NeoHE from CCL - Online Retailer of the Year 2006

that is a nice psu with more power and modular also.

 

[impact]

I was hoping to stay under £60 for the PSU, but if that will mean having to buy another 1 sooner than I should then Im willing to pay the extra to get a longer lasting unit.

Iv looked at 2 processors I fancy. Theres the Intel Pentium D 820 (2.8GHz) or a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Socket AM2 Dual Core. The AMD is a little more and since Im a CPU newb only see the difference of it having lower ghz which looks bad but I know if its more pricey chances are it might be better so need some opinions on them or other recommended ones floating about. Bare in mind im going to have to buy a new mobo so I dont want to end up with a decent CPU that will only be supported by a top of the range mobo when I could get a decent CPU that is supported by a cheaper but decent mobo.

 

[mrfluffles]

What's your budget? While the Seasonic is a great power supply, you'll need more then 430W for a mid/high end system. Pentium D's and X2 4200's are low end processors also (they would handle BF2/CSS easily though). Can't really give you any more advice without a budget. Also are you going to overclock?

 

[impact]

about £300 for all 3, but if its possible to spend less then it means I have more cash for a new HDD later in the year

 

[Sora]

X2's are a good bit faster than a Pentium D and are in no way "slow" Especially since you can take an X2 3600 to about 2.8ghz with an Alpine64 cooler on it and a Biostar T550, which is the speed of the X2 5600. Even stock though its fast enough.

I highly suggest for a PSU the Xclio 450BL as if you say just looking to max games like BF2 it makes me believe you are looking at a 7 series card such as a 7900GS then? If that's the case then this PSU is only 38 USD and will handle a card such as a 7900GS/GT.

If you are getting something like an X1950XT however or a card that takes more watts you will need something more like a 500w model. You could get a FSP 500w, an Xclio 500w, or if you wanna go all out the Corsair 520HX.

 

[impact]

iv got a 7300GT at the minute but only just bought that in november so wont be til later this year that I might go big

I was thinking about using Arctic Cooling for my heatsink and maybe gfx cooling

All the high end products look tempting but Im not into all the big new PC games so I dont feel I should bother speccing up my PC that much. CSS and battlefield keep me happy so aslong as it can handle them really well and maybe be future proof for similar games then itll last, dont really expect to play crysis at full or anythin

 

[Sora]

If you get an X2, then get an Arctic Freezer Pro64 as it is quite an awesome HSF for the price. Stock GPU cooling is fine almost always anyway so don't worry about it. The Xclio 450BL will easily handle a 7300GT but it would have a hard time running anything that uses as many amps and watts as an X1950XT or 8 series card so I would get the Xclio 500w.

 

[impact]

xclio looks like a great unit, pretty cheap aswell so PSU and CPU are sorted, just need to decide on a mobo

Theres the TForce 550 1.0/1.1/1.2 or the TForce 550 V1.3

The only difference is the intergrated audio, which is better the Realtek® ALC861 8 Channel HD Audio Codec or Realtek® ALC861VD

 

[Sora]

The Xclio 450BL is a VERY High rated PSU whose 12v rails are rock solid for the money. It's cheap and comes highly recommended by many enthusiasts if your on a budget.

You have choosen the X2 3600 right? If so you want to overclock it right? Then if that's true then the Biostar Tforce550 board is about 78 bucks and with an Arctic freezer Pro64 you should be seeing 2.8ghz if not 3.0ghz.