Under $1000 Gaming Computer

O

OwenX

Geek Trainee
nVidia specifies 30A on the +12V rail (or through combined +12V rails) for the 8800's. The specs on the PSU in the RAIDMAX case falls well short of that. Secondly, as a rule of thumb, cases which include a power supply typically are not using the highest grade units. A decent 500W power supply will start at around $80 US, and with power supplies, you get what you pay for. You won't be getting anything good with a case and power supply combo that costs less than a decent unit.
With a few exceptions, you're probably looking at a 600W-750 unit. Anything from OCZ, Corsair, FSP, Antec, Enermax, Thermaltake Toughpower...it's fine. Price range is anywhere from around $120-170 depending on the particular unit. Do NOT try to skimp on the power supply. That's the absolute last place you want to make a cut.
 
Very doubtful. As I mentioned before, nVidia recommends 30A on the +12V, and while the Rosewill unit does do that, a 550W unit for under $60 is a dubious proposition at best. Your money, but Rosewill is so varied in what they use as the base of their units, you can't be sure what you're getting.

Trying to skimp on the power supply with a high-performance system is like buying a Ferrari and then trying to run regular gasoline in there because premium is too expensive.

If you go with the second system, cut out the X-Fi instead if you need to to keep the cost down. The last place you want to cut corners is the power supply. It is critical for stability and health of your PC. Lack of power can cause the system to not start, be unstable, crash, and just act weird to where you can't pin the problem down. Bad power supplies can even fry your other hardware, so you're risking a lot more than a dollar amount.
 
I'm not entirely comfortable with CoolMax--not terrible, but you can do better for the money. What I should've done is list decent brands:

-Enermax
-FSP/Fortron/Sparkle
-OCZ
-Silverstone
-Corsair
-Seasonic
-PC Power & Cooling
-Antec
-Thermaltake
-Ultra
-Tagan

Companies to avoid:
-Apevia (formerly Apire, they don't even attempt to stay in regulations)
-Q-tec/Q-tech
-PowMax (they go POW! when you use them)
-CoolMax (not the worst, but you could do better)
-Allied
-Deer
-Codgen
-Masscool
-Raidmax (iffy)
-anything prebundled in a case (Antec is the exception)


Newegg reviews aren't that reliable. Many people don't know what they're talking about in a product, may rate it based on features it doesn't have, or mis-diagnose the issue.
The misconception with power supplies is that it can't be bad if it powers the system on without blowing up. The UL wouldn't give any approval if that happened. Special equipment to do load testing is required to accurately and properly test a PSU.
Sites like JonnyGURU, PC Perspective, HardwareSecrets, and [H]ard|OCP are some of the few sites that do a proper testing of power supplies.

One of the best units out there is the Corsair 620HX. Yeah, it's only 620W, but it has recieved a lot of well deserved praise. It's been on display running 2 8800GTX's in SLI as part of a high-end demo machine under load. That would be an excellent unit to consider. Likewise, it's little brother, the 520HX, would also be an excellent choice if you don't intend to add a second 8800 down the road.

Hope this helps choosing a unit.
 
Thanks for all the help, I have decided to go with the 520HX. I don't think I'll be adding another 8800GTS ever.

Thanks again.
 
Maybe sometime in the future. But the computer is built already, and I'm quite satisfied with how it runs at the moment. :)
 
Hmm strange :)

If you will not be adding another GTS 320 MB version video card... you should spend a little more money. If it's pc for gaming, 320MB version will not bring much fps at newer games. You should look for at least 640 MB version.

Shortly, Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB is not worth its money. Even 1900XT would be better (considering to that you will not be able to play at high resolution and get above 30+ fps). If you want real gaming PC, add 100$ and get 2900XT
 
Well with 4xaa and 8xaf in Oblivion I'm getting around 60+fps outside at 1680x1050.

Lost planet seemed to run good too, the direct x10 version.
 
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