I have finalized my new computer, est Q2, 2009. It's specs are basically as follows.

Motherboard Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP, AMD 790FX, AM2+, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 533/667/800/1066, SATA II, ATX
CPU AMD AM2 Athlon 64 6400 + Black Edition Dual Core 3.2GHz, 2x 1MB Cache, Retail w/o Heat Sink Fan
Memory 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC2-8500 (1066), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5
Memory N/A
Hard Disk 320GB Maxtor STM3320620AS DiamondMax 21, SATA300, 7200rpm, 8.5ms, 16Mb Cache
Hard Disk N/A
Hard Disk N/A
Hard Disk N/A
Hard Disk N/A
Hard Disk N/A
PCI Card 1 Terratec Aureon 5.1 Soundcard
PCI Card 2 Belkin Wireless Network Card
Graphics Card 512MB AsusHD 3870 PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 2250 MHz, GDDR4, GPU 775 MHz, 320 Streams, 2 x DVI-I
Graphics Card 512MB AsusHD 3870 PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 2250 MHz, GDDR4, GPU 775 MHz, 320 Streams, 2 x DVI-I
Graphics Card 512MB AsusHD 3870 PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 2250 MHz, GDDR4, GPU 775 MHz, 320 Streams, 2 x DVI-I
Graphics Card 512MB AsusHD 3870 PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 2250 MHz, GDDR4, GPU 775 MHz, 320 Streams, 2 x DVI-I
CPU Fan Asus Chilly Vent for AMD 754/939/FX/AM2 Dual Core Support for Over-clocking
Case Gigabyte 3DAurora GZ-FSCA1-ATS Silver Aluminum Tower Case - Hi End w/o PSU
Power Supply Unit ????
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 SP2c Single Pack (OEM)

The PSU was a difficult choice, I don't know which to get. I was looking at the Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W after reading a good review of it, but it seems a bit... too powerful. I wish for some advice as to a good PSU for the system, and whether my choice is a good one. The PSU MUST cost below £220. The cheaper the better, but I still need a bit of headroom for processor upgrades and other upgrades, the CPU that I have there is NOT the final decision, just a stopgap until I know what the Phenom X2 are like, and whether the AM3 is any good. 2009 remember - this stuff will have gone down in price by then, so it isn't as horrendous as it first appears. The quad-graphics is an upgrade path, I will start with only one or 2 of the cards and work my way up to 4. But the question is, and I shall state it again - is Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W too much, and if so, what is a better choice?

thermaltake, antec, corsair or seasonic all have good psus for you with that setup.. my store hardly ever get bad rma's on those brand psu's, theyre good quality...

i still dont see the point of quad crossfire unless ure going ultra high resolution... otherwise its a waste of money, for a 2 way crossfire and a quad core phenom or core 2 with another motherboard

personally (IMO), an X38/48 board, Penryn, and 2xHD3870 or 2x8800GTX would be a better option for you.

**edit, just realised you're talking 2009.

Absolutely stupid (no offense) to be thinking of speccing out a rig for over a year away.

Intel will have Nehalem CPU's out, AMD will have BUlldozer (supposedly) and there will be a swaythe of new GFX cards, much more powerful than those today for cheaper.

Also, by then, you have definitely got to be looking at Vista, as DX10 will be mainstream (hell, DX11 is scheduled for 2009 at some stage) and you'll be looking at DDR3, not DDR2.


Wait until next February / March, then start your thread.

Click on this link. This's the best link i know of AND the most reliable.
It's from a quality OC Forum, and they know their stuff like the back of their hand.
I used this to buy my Enermax Galaxy. I felt the same way as you do when you
were looking for a high performance PSU. Take a look:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

Tam...

PS i think you are crazy getting 4 GPU's especially on XFire! It's not 16x PCi.
In fact, I'd neverf SLi EVER again. It's a complete waste of time and money, unless you
have a huge screen that's 300" haha!

tut tut tut!!

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/66076/

Nobody check the PSU sticky in our very own forum?

Tam!

Lol I thought there was one....