I'm sure you guys get bombarded with some technical stuff. I have quite a few questions, but they're pretty general. I've already been through the tough stuff a month ago when my main machine took a dive, but now I'm on the hunt for a new processor and power supply.
My current specs are:
Asus A7N8X-X motherboard
256 mb Corsair ram
2 x Maxtor 80GB hard-drives
Sony CD-RW
Micro Advantage DVD-RW
(AMD Athlon XP 2500+ processor that died, power supply that died)
Basically, I have my items picked out, but have a few questions:
1) I'm using up about 350 watts for my system, but found this sweet 500 watt PSU. Will it be eating up more electricity if I use it for my stuff, or is it just that I have up to 500 watts if I wish?
2) I don't know if the PSU supports an Athlon XP, Socket A. It says "Pentium/AMD ready", but does that mean it supports my processor? Speaking of which, on to the processor...
3) AMD Athlon XP 2800+, Socket A and Asus A7N8X-X motherboard? Any problem with this combo?
4) The processor is retail, what type of "thermal" paste/pad/etc comes with it? Any tips on applying it would help. This processor will be kept in my PC long-term, until it dies.
PS, I will not be overclocking or anything of that sort. I use my PC pretty simplistically for web browsing, movie playing and music listening. Thanks to you all in advance!
My current specs are:
Asus A7N8X-X motherboard
256 mb Corsair ram
2 x Maxtor 80GB hard-drives
Sony CD-RW
Micro Advantage DVD-RW
(AMD Athlon XP 2500+ processor that died, power supply that died)
Basically, I have my items picked out, but have a few questions:
1) I'm using up about 350 watts for my system, but found this sweet 500 watt PSU. Will it be eating up more electricity if I use it for my stuff, or is it just that I have up to 500 watts if I wish?
2) I don't know if the PSU supports an Athlon XP, Socket A. It says "Pentium/AMD ready", but does that mean it supports my processor? Speaking of which, on to the processor...
3) AMD Athlon XP 2800+, Socket A and Asus A7N8X-X motherboard? Any problem with this combo?
4) The processor is retail, what type of "thermal" paste/pad/etc comes with it? Any tips on applying it would help. This processor will be kept in my PC long-term, until it dies.
PS, I will not be overclocking or anything of that sort. I use my PC pretty simplistically for web browsing, movie playing and music listening. Thanks to you all in advance!