Building a PC (PSU and GPU Question)

[Atmanix]

I'm giving my current PC to my wife so we can play Diablo 3 together but that means I need to build a new one. I know Blizzard doesn't make their games very graphic intensive but I'd also like to be able to play Rift at High or even Ultra settings with 30+ FPS. I currently have:

PSU: 400W
AMD 2.2Ghz Dual Core
4GB DDR2 RAM
GeForce 9500GT

I run Rift on low at 20-30FPS.

I'm trying to build this PC on a budget and I have the CPU, motherboard and RAM figured out. I'm having issues though regarding the PSU and GPU. Basically I want to make sure the system isn't underpowered (in terms of wattage) and I want to make sure that I'm getting the best bang for my buck as far as GPU.

The CPU I have selected is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103808

The GPU's I'm trying to decide between are as follows:

GeForce GTS 450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-572-_-Product

GeForce GTX 460SE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-591-_-Product

The GPU's require 400W and 450W respectively.

So my questions are:

1.) Which GPU would be best? I'm leaning towards the 460SE. It's only $30 more and seems to be a very large upgrade over the 450. It also requires 50W more power though and $30 is still 30 bucks.

2.) Would a 650W PSU be enough to power my system?

Thanks for your time If you need any other information let me know.

[mattya802]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139019

A good cheap PSU....600w should be fine for that setup.

I would spend the little extra cash and just get the OC'ed GTX 460 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130596

But if not, yes the GTX 460 SE should be the better choice.

[Rich Aemry]

If you're keeping your MOBO get the AMD CPU if not don't. You'll be happier with any sandy bridge CPU than that AMD. AMD is coasting until June, and is 2 generations old. Would you buy a core2quad over sandy bridge? If you're keeping the MOBO ignore this part since its always cheaper to keep your MOBO and RAM and that wins.

As for GPUs Asus makes a real 460 for less money. Don't just buy EVGA to buy EVGA. The 460se has had it's knees broken my a very angry Italian (or Russian I don't know the details) and its much weaker to its unharmed brethren.

Get a corsair builder series 600w PSU. The early ones had issues, but they were retooled and now are just as good as anything else corsair rebrands. Great piece, great price.

[rabb1t]

Which GPU would be best? I'm leaning towards the 460SE. It's only $30 more and seems to be a very large upgrade over the 450. It also requires 50W more power though and $30 is still 30 bucks.

I honestly don't know that I'd recommend either. While the 460SE is technoloigcally superior I don't know that I'd really say either would be game worthy over lowered graphics settings and lower resolutions. Neither are very powerful at all. Checking NewEgg I see the GTX 460SE at around $130, in that same price range there is the Asus GTX 460 w/768 meg which is a lot more powerful for $125 post rebate.

Additionally, pushing minimum power is really a bad idea. Think about your heart. If your doctor said 'x is what you need to meet' and your heart was barely enough, would you be happy to hear that? If your PSU fails it's like a heart attack. When it goes it can take any number of system parts with it. I wouldn't risk it.

There are very solid power supply options at low cost, such as the OCZ StealthXStream 2 500w at $45 (note it's only got a single power line for graphics) or OCZ Modstream pro 600w at $55 post rebate.