What Wattage?

[SilverStream]

Hello! I am about to build one heck of a computer using a few parts from my old one.

1x NEC DVD +/- R/RW
1x 52x32x52x CD-RW
1x 120GB HDD
1x 250GB HDD
1x AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ processor
1x DFI Lanparty Motherboard
2x 1GB Corsair memory
1x BFG GeForce 6800GT Graphics card (linked with SLi)
1x BFG GeForce 6600GT Graphics card (linked with SLi)

All I know is that this is going to need way more power than my 300W PSU. Can anyone recommend the wattage I'll need to build this?
Thank you to everyone and anyone who read this, SilverStream

 

[Hacp]

550 watts. You probably can make do with 480, but you always want to give yourself some headroom.

 

[SilverStream]

Thank You!!!!

 

[diabloII]

Um i hope you're kidding...

1.) watts doesn't matter on a PSU, the brand and A@12V matters
2.) go for a 520W OCZ powerstream, or if you got more dough, the 600W OCZ powerstream
3.) how the hell can you have a 6600GT and 6800GT in SLi????

 

[SilverStream]

Source: http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html

What cards can work together in an SLI configuration?

All PCI Express based GeForce 7800 GTX, GeForce 6800 Ultra, GeForce 6800 GT, GeForce 6800, GeForce 6800 LE, GeForce 6600 GT, and GeForce 6600 boards support SLI technology.

What is the function of the SLI connector?

The SLI connector is a proprietary link between GPUs that transmits synchronization, display, and pixel data. The SLI connector enables inter-GPU communication of up to 1GB/s, consuming no bandwidth over the PCI Express bus. The SLI connector is used with GeForce 6600 GT products and above. For all other SLI-Ready graphics cards, inter-GPU communication is passed through the PCI-Express Bus, instead of through the SLI Connector. For these mainstream GPUs, there is typically enough excess bandwidth across the PCI-Express bus to effectively manage this additional communication. More powerful GPUs (GeForce 6600 GT and above) require the SLI connector to achieve optimal scaling results.

And why does the brand matter? Thank you!

 

[Trifid]

The brand matters because if you buy a generic PSU your PC may not see the next day if it dies. You could be lucky and have a big shock when you see a blinding light and your smoke alarm goes off due to the amount of smoke coming out of your case.

Basicallly stick with Antec, OCZ and Enermax 600w thing.


By the way, SLI works by splitting up the screen in half, and one GPU does the bottom, and the other does the top. You are wasting your money buying a 6800gt and linking it with the 6600gt, as the 6800gt will be wasting FPS that it could do, but the 6600gt can't do.

 

[Calzinger]

And why does the brand matter? Thank you!

You could basically consider your PSU to be one of your most important components. It's often underestimated. People try to save money on their PSU but end up spending triple their budget to buy all of their parts over again.

So why is the brand important? Well, it's like anything else. You could easily use cars in thsi comparison.

I would definitely go with the Powerstream as diabloII said. I own the 520w Powerstream, and I couldn't be more satisfied. It worried me a bit when the 3.3v rail was going over the +5%, but throwing it down a bit was very simple.

The point is, don't be that guy!

 

[SilverStream]

Thank you! Will probably go with 2x 6800GTs then. " What-a-shame":sigh: This means I have to roll out even more £££. Though I do have a mate who works at a component wholesalers=no tax!

 

[Trifid]

I wish I knew the guys who worked at my local one as The 17.5% tak is deadly when its on expensive items.

I did mean by what I said was drop the 6600gt, and just have one 6800gt, and if you wanted another one later, it would be cheaper. But if you can afford it, than its worth it.

A good tip here: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/7800_Series.html

compared to 2 of these: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/6800PCI_Series.html

One 7800gtx is faster than 2 6800ultra's and is cheaper.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050622/nvidia_7800_gtx-14.html

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2451&p=9

 

[003]

First of all, one 7800GTX beats two 6800 Ultras in SLI, so if you can afford two 6800GT's a better choice would be to get a single 7800GTX. Also, DFI motherboards are very picky about what memory you use, and a lot of people have bad luck with Corsair and DFI. People on dfi-street.com seem to have the best luck with this memory (myself included):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227211
Another thing, if you are planning on 2GB of RAM, 4x512 sticks of RAM is better than 2x1024. 4x512 is faster, and can be run at much tighter timings than 2x1024. I presume this is the motherboard you want:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136158
Make sure you are getting quality hard drives, like Seagate. Other than the stuff I just mentioned, that looks like a very good build.