New PSU, drive(s) very limited budget.

satrow

satrow

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My used PSU (see system specs under user name) is no longer keeping me BSOD free, it killed 2x 3.5" drives with a loss of ~300GB of data during a backup about 3 weeks ago. I'm now at the point where I'm able/forced to order some new parts (first 'big' spend since the Amazon W7 pre-release).

I'm thinking of a good quality 450-550W PSU, 128GB SSD System drive (current system drive usage is sub 40GB) and a Samsung 500GB+ 2.5" S2? USB drive, while they're still available. I'll use my current System drive for the data drive and use the 120BG current data drive for secondary backup. I'll probably go for Intel, Crucial or possibly Samsung for the SSD, so I'm really only looking for recommendations on the PSU but other comments are, of course, welcome (quick, before it crashes again :eek:).

Thanks :thumbsup2:
 
E8200 2.66Ghz, P5NE-SLI, HD5770 single slot (full info in my system specs), budget is sub £200.

I'll probably have to pull the trigger on the PSU by 17:30 BST (2:45 from now, holiday here on Monday), I don't know how long it will last.
 
PSU; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seasonic-S1...1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1338559037&sr=1-4
Spinner; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-S2-...1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1338559237&sr=1-2
SSD; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT1...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1338559375&sr=1-1

Not likely to hit your budget with what you want. My suggestion is that you do not budge on the PSU. A cheap PSU is a very bad idea. Seasonic is the best.
Why do you want an external spinner?
And could you go with a 64gb SSD?
Are you using the Spinner for backups?
 
Nice finds James, I should be able to extend my credit (or delay buying one of the items) enough for those ;)

64GB's probably cutting it too fine, I'd like to test out W8 or 8 Server in a VM from it too.

I'll be plugging in my old 80GB and the current data drive, 120GB, alternately for System backups. The USB will be for data backups (the current 250GB will be the data drive) and for off-site/client backups.


@ Ivan: I'd already decided that I needed to go a little better than the CX Builder series, if I had onboard gfx or an HD5450, I'd be quite happy with that though. (Updated my location, too.)
 
The 650TX Corsair or XFX 650w will do fine both are Seasonic builds, looks like you're shopping in the UK so Scan or Overclockers.net are the best sources I know.
 
That all being said, I think you know what you want/need for your application.
I would urge you to do a lot of research on SSDs before buying one. This article does a very good job at explaining the differences and benefits with comparisons.
 
Wrench97 said:
The 650TX Corsair or XFX 650w will do fine both are Seasonic builds, looks like you're shopping in the UK so Scan or Overclockers.net are the best sources I know.
Click to expand...

650 watts is overkill for his system. 550 watts is even more than he needs, especially on the defined budget. I use a Corsair 550vx on my current main build(in tab).
 
Ok, thanks very much for all the input folks; I went with the suggestions from James a little while ago, the deal maker was that I could get free next day delivery - that alone was worth something after the fretting I've done recently over whether the old PSU would hold out until I could get enough cash together.

Had this been a planned upgrade, I'd probably have gone with an XFX and a 640GB or 1TB portable drive. Scan and Overclockers I'd already been looking through too.

Given that I'd had over 2 years use out of a secondhand PSU that was selling for £16 when I was given it, I think a good 480-520W would be good enough for my system and usage.

One of my main concerns is reliability, I wouldn't have bought an OCZ SSD, for instance, they've had a pretty poor history. This series is one to read and watch (hopefully #6 will be published very soon) where reliability is concerned: http://www.behardware.com/articles/843-1/components-returns-rates-5.html
 
James7679 said:
Wrench97 said:
The 650TX Corsair or XFX 650w will do fine both are Seasonic builds, looks like you're shopping in the UK so Scan or Overclockers.net are the best sources I know.
Click to expand...

650 watts is overkill for his system. 550 watts is even more than he needs, especially on the defined budget. I use a Corsair 550vx on my current main build(in tab).
Click to expand...

I agree except the 650TX generally sells for less then the Seasonic branded supply, Since the 550VX is no longer on the market it's tough to buy.
The 550w XFX unit is also a alternative, but I seen spotty reports of DOA's so until I learn more it's out of the picture.
 
Quick update:

A few hours after I made the purchases it crashed again. I left it until the parts had arrived and were fitted, on booting, no network connection - the last crash had killed my onboard NIC! Just got a wireless dongle, gotta tweak my Services back down, upgrade security on the network, etc..

The M4's still on the 0309? firmware but a quick check with HD Tune showed 210MB/s before fitting the dongle, now seeing only 120!

Boot times (Windows takeover to opening TaskMan) down to sub 16 seconds, was in the range of 42-52 seconds with the spinner. Best result = near silence, no db meter but the difference feels pretty staggering! Some slight lag felt on opening certain programs, not studied patterns yet but I suspect the lack of ReadyBoost (I had 8GB with the HDD) and prefetching or the older firmware may be implicated here.

So, still some work to do but very pleased so far :thumbsup2:
 

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