what kind of power unit do I need?

[YsoL8]

Hello

I'm putting together a specification for a gaming pc, and I'm stuck on the power requirements. Here's my current spec:

cpu: Core i7
motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H55M-D2H
graphics: AMD Radeonâ„¢ HD 6850 Graphics*
sound: cheap, Sound Blaster Audigy SE
ram: 8gb +, DDR3
internet: wireless card, cheap/mid
Power unit:
Cooling: Case inbuilt
Case: Antec Two Hundred RET Midi Case
HD: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Advanced Format 3.5 SATA Internal
Hard Drive: HP - CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo drive - internal - 8x - 5.25" Slim Line - IDE - carbon

I've used a power calculator to find some sort of figure to work with and it comes back with about 550 watts, which seems steep. What power units should I be looking at for this configuration?

Since I've put it up, can anyone see potential problems with this setup? Anything I've missed?

 

[-RockMan-]

I recommend a PSU that is around 500watts for the type of PC you have.
Newegg.com - Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Look at this psu, that should mostly cover what you need and allow you to turn on your all of your pc parts without failure.

 

[farinha]

Have you already bought the HDD? If not I recommend a WD Black. The Green series has low performance, 5400rpm, which makes it ideal for backups or data. For OS you should use a Black series, 7200rpm.

Do you really need 8GB? 4GB is enough for daily use and gaming. Usually 8GB are needed for video encoding or running VM. I would buy 4GB now and buy another 4GB if it's needed.

Everything else looks good.

 

[YsoL8]

Have you already bought the HDD? If not I recommend a WD Black. The Green series has low performance, 5400rpm, which makes it ideal for backups or data. For OS you should use a Black series, 7200rpm.

Do you really need 8GB? 4GB is enough for daily use and gaming. Usually 8GB are needed for video encoding or running VM. I would buy 4GB now and buy another 4GB if it's needed.

Everything else looks good.

To be honest I haven't researched HDD thoroughly - I went with the green series because of lower power consummation - and I'm not familiar with what makes a high end HDD anyway. (just to be clear, this is my first build). What RPM does an average HDD use these days?

I'm going with 8gb basically so I don't get an underpowered power unit. It's what I want ideally but I may reduce that to 6 or 4 when I nail down the prices for everything else.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

On a high end system like that I would spend a bit more to get a Corsair 550vx over the Antec BP550. While both power supplies are the same wattage the Corsair is higher quality and has a single 12v rail which basically means all of it's power is available to any component that needs it regardless of what connectors it's using.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply