bearstion

Hello,

In January I bought a PC from pcinfinity.net (big mistake)

The pc cost me $1,500. The specs are

ASUS PN5E SLI mb
Intel quad core 6600
2 nvidia geforce 8600GT 512mb (sli plus bridge)
4mb cruisial ddr2
2 dvd rw
atx 680w psu
soundblaster x-fi xtreme
and a sata 500g seagate 7200rpm hdd

I thought I did my homework but obviously I'm regretting my choices. Heres why:

After 3 months use the psu dies. The repair guy guy says "you needed bigger psu so i'll send you one." I recieved a cooler master 550w dual output extreme. I read online that all cooler masters are junk except the real pro.

Well, the psu works but now my sound card has died.

I'm so frustrated. I hope y'all might have some advice.

Was the cooler master an upgrade? I am concerned it is too small for a gaming rig.
Should I build a rig myself or buy one, and sell this on ebay?
Would it sell on ebay or is this crap?
Finally, would sinking money into it be worth saving the rig?

Thanks for any advice!

Tumbleweed36

Well, I have a few comments about your issues:

> It is impossible to know if this power supply is an upgrade from your first supply, because we don't know what was in there in the first place. If we knew, then we could better compare the issue.

> I think since you are doing Sli, that you need a bigger power supply of a good brand name quality.

> IMHO, this power supply is not a great supply (except the name sounds good) and you are correct, the Real Power Pro is heads and shoulders above this one. I think you need something like a Corsair 650 or other excellent brand name power supply to do a great job for you.

> I don't think the power supply has anything to do with the sound card issue, because I think that is a separate problem. (we all have those from time to time)

> Yes, you could most likely sell that power supply on Ebay.

> There is nothing wrong with your rig if you like the case and all. If it were mine and wanted to be dollar efficient and have a quality unit, I would go ahead and put the bucks in this one and get some use from it. Therefore, I do think it is worth putting a few bucks in to get a better power supply since the basic rig has some excellent components.

That is my opinion and I thought that was what you were asking for.

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bearstion

Thanks Tumble!

That made me feel a bit better. The Ebay thing was more "should I cut my losses, sell the entire rig, and build new." However, I hadn't considered selling the power suply alone.
Perhaps, I can solve my problem by buying a name brand psu.

Btw Here is the new psu
http://www.pc-infinity.com/mm5/merch...Power+Supplies
and here is the old
http://www.pc-infinity.com/mm5/merch...0&Store_Code=P


Anyway, Thanks for the faith in the guts of my rig.

Edit: btw I posted the sound issue separately under "sound cards" if you get a moment.

Tumbleweed36

First point: If you look at this in the first link you gave me, this should tell you that this is a low quality supply: A good power supply will be at least 80% efficient and have active PFC. In addition, this thing only puts out 16 amps on the +12 rail. That is not enough power to even run a single pci-e card and you are running two of them. This is a very weak supply.

Second point: The second power supply is simply not worth anything IMHO. You don't have enough amps to run two cards in sli on this one either.

Third point: If you sell the whole rig on Ebay, you won't get much out of it, unless you part it out. That can be a big hastle.

ASUS PN5E SLI mb

Not a bad board

Intel quad core 6600

A very good CPU

2 nvidia geforce 8600GT 512mb (sli plus bridge)

In sli, a decent video card setup for a reasonable price.

4mb cruisial ddr2

Crucial ram is what I am running in this rig. You didn't mention the speed of the ram, so difficult to say.

2 dvd rw

Nice to have.

atx 680w psu

Trash

soundblaster x-fi xtreme

That is a nice card IMHO

and a sata 500g seagate 7200rpm hdd

Very good hard drive

Those are my perceptions. Maybe another tech will chime in and give an opinion.

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krisb

Once again I agree with tumbleweed. he must know his stuff cause he gave good advice. the only thing i will say is that i am sure you are refering to 4gb of ram not 4mb. and yes if we know the speed we can better advise on its performance. my last system had crucial and it was great.

OH YAH. I have a wierd side question. I am new to online posting. What does "IMHO" stand for?

sorry for off topic but it is in alot of posts so i guess its not entirely

Tumbleweed36

Hey krisb, we need to get you up to speed on those abbreviations. Glad to have you here on the forum with us. Now, the abbreviation IMHO means: In My Honest Opinion/or/In My Humble Opinion.

Always feel free to ask things that you need to know and we are here to help. Have a great day.

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krisb

great. thanks tumbleweed. I look forward on getting to know the language.

emosun

Fix the psu and looks good to me. Probably would have gone with one 8800 and not two 8600's but other then that looks fun.

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bearstion

Thanks guys!

My ram is Crucial ballistic DDR2-800 4GB
dual chan i think

On the VC...yes I've read tons of posts on everything from here to gaming forums that the 8800 owns the 8600gt. However, I am stuck now. Probably when I need a D10 card I'll jump to a 9900 or 9950.

Ok, now we all agree my psu sucks so I'm ready to order a new one....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341002

The OCZ is sli ready but the corsair looks more heavy duty.

Tumbleweed36

The Corsair is heads and shoulders above the very capable OCZ. If I were to order, the Corsair would be my choice of these two.

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bearstion

Alrighty, you're awesom Tumble. Any last model suggestions before I order? As in a psu you'd go with?

The sticky in the psu forum suggests http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153043

ouch, $210