New kit - i2500k quiet gaming

[j.o.s.h.1408]

seasonics are awsome. the best IMO. they make corsair psu.

[watercooled]

Some Corsair ones, most are CWT now and the low end ones use cheap components.

It depends if you want modular or not, IMO it's not really necessary in a large case with no window like the R3. ~500w should be more than enough for that build:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w-...-quiet-fan-atx
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w-...et-fan-atx-v23
Just some slightly less expensive units to consider.

[Pob255]

the 650w gives you more headroom and corsair make quality psu's
if you are getting the 2500k i am guessing you are looking at oc it? if so the asus p67 sabertooth mobo is a good board to do this with

Sorry But I have to pul you up on this one.
Corsair don't "make" psu's, They are all existing PSU's from other companies and corsair just has input over the outer casing number of connectors and such.

There have been 4 different versions of the tx650w
CMPSU-650TX made by Seasonic on their S12II platform (basically the insides is an S12II with upgraded capacitors and MOSFETs for 650w output)
Next came the CMPSU-650TX-C Made by CWT on their PSHII platform which while still decent it was not as good as the first one made by seasonic.
Then the CMPSU-650TXV2 back to seasonic off the new s12II bronze platform which uses dc-dc topography and was an improvement over the CWT made unit and original seasonic made 650tx
Finally we've got the CMPSU-650TXM which is the new semi-modular version I'm not sure if this is made by Seasonic or CWT, very little info on it atm.

None of the should be bad but some models where much better than others.

I agree in part on the motherboard, a lot come down to how much you want to overclock it, the motherboard plays less of a roll now in overclocking, it still plays a part, mainly down to the VRMs ability to feed the cpu a clean steady voltage and cope with amp fluctuations.
However with so much of the overclocking functions now on the cpu die it's the actual cpu that can pose a bigger limit (unless you're getting a real low end motherboard) and the ability/level the cpu can overclock to is pretty much down to luck of the draw.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

even thoigh 500w may be enough. what if the OP adds a few more hdd's later or a more power hungry GPU? seriosuly if i was the OP i would go for 800w to future proof himself a bit. PSU's will outlast may of the components so getting a 800w or more will last the OP a LONG time. im still using my 500w seasonic psu on my server pc which is like 6-7 years old!

[watercooled]

Because higher wattage PSUs are more expensive and less efficient at low loads (where the PC will spend most of its time) than a reasonably specd one. 550w is MORE than enough for that system, even a heavy CPU OC or any current single GPU card. HDDs make barely any difference at ~10w a piece.

[EvanJackPenn]

even thoigh 500w may be enough. what if the OP adds a few more hdd's later or a more power hungry GPU? seriosuly if i was the OP i would go for 800w to future proof himself a bit. PSU's will outlast may of the components so getting a 800w or more will last the OP a LONG time. im still using my 500w seasonic psu on my server pc which is like 6-7 years old!

And future technology is getting less power hungry. It's the current trend

[hank]

Thanks for the suggestions. I was looking at all the psu's and noticed the difference in amount of connectors. Frankly, I don't know what connectors I need, although I don't envisage fitting more than 2 (3 max) hard drives and almost certainly won't fit dual graphics cards - I am wary of additional noise from the fans. With that in mind, I was thinking along the lines of TruePower or the Seasonic. The TruePower gets good reviews at the price point - but may be overkill.

I did consider the Asus p69 sabertooth earlier when I started reading up, but then decided to go for the Z68 chips that allow 'lucid virtu' (?!) whilst ALSO allowing the chip to be overclocked. As far as I understand the 'P' boards don't allow lucid virtu if the chip is overclocked.

My thinking is that with the Z68 boards, I will have an overclocked and quieter system as the graphics card will be on 'low' when I am just word processing etc. Not sure how my expectations will translate into experience.

[Attila the Bun]

Hank,

I have the antec (another edit: True power new that is) and can thoroughly recommend it. It's very very quiet and has all the basic requirements already hardwired in. I only had to add one modular for the GPU power.

One warning though...once it's out of the box you will never work out how they got all of the stuff in there in the first place.

Edit: And at £59.99 TO on scan a bargain

[hank]

Finally placed the order - there's only so much reading and deciding you can do!

All from scan .... prices do not include vat below:

----------------------------------------------------------
650W PSU, Antec TruePower New Modul 1 £53.99
Gelid Tranquillo Rev.2 Heatpipe PWM 1 £17.99
Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, S1155 1 £242.99
today only bundle consisting of:
LN39281 Asus P8Z68-V PRO, Intel Z68, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, RAID SATA, PCIe 2.0 (x16), VGA On Board, ATX
LN36726 Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, S1155, Sandy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.3GHz GPU 850Mhz 6MB Cache 95W Retail
1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3, S 1 £33.98
Icy Box IB-864-B 3.5" 6x Slot Card 1 £12.89
Samsung WriteMaster SH-S222AB/BEBE 1 £11.49
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance 1 £36.80
1GB XFX HD 6870 Dual Fan Black Edit 1 £112.68
Fractal Design Define R3, Titanium 1 £65.89

Last minute changes include the mobo, the gigabyte one was not on offer so took advantage of the asus z68 pro.

Thanks to all for feedback.

[elmondinio]

I would definetly go for 8gig's or ram. of-course unless your going to use it for creating a lot of video where a lot of RAM is required

[elmondinio]

Finally placed the order - there's only so much reading and deciding you can do!

All from scan .... prices do not include vat below:

----------------------------------------------------------
650W PSU, Antec TruePower New Modul 1 £53.99
Gelid Tranquillo Rev.2 Heatpipe PWM 1 £17.99
Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, S1155 1 £242.99
today only bundle consisting of:
LN39281 Asus P8Z68-V PRO, Intel Z68, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, RAID SATA, PCIe 2.0 (x16), VGA On Board, ATX
LN36726 Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, S1155, Sandy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.3GHz GPU 850Mhz 6MB Cache 95W Retail
1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3, S 1 £33.98
Icy Box IB-864-B 3.5" 6x Slot Card 1 £12.89
Samsung WriteMaster SH-S222AB/BEBE 1 £11.49
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance 1 £36.80
1GB XFX HD 6870 Dual Fan Black Edit 1 £112.68
Fractal Design Define R3, Titanium 1 £65.89

Last minute changes include the mobo, the gigabyte one was not on offer so took advantage of the asus z68 pro.

Thanks to all for feedback.

if you are planning to overclock the CPU..go for corsair h60 CPU cooler

[hank]

I've been running this config for a week now at 4.4ghz and all seems fine.

Build was also easy although I forgot to plug in the 8pin mobo connector and found the system did not post. Sunk into the pits with that one, but felt better for reading it all up later.

If I was to build again, I would choose the same components except perhaps a better value psu for the money. I would also drop the icy box.

Also, note that the psu vent in fractal case is at the bottom so you need to ensure you have clearance if place on the carpet.

Very surprised by the XFX 6870 card - very quiet indeed.

Overall the system is quieter than the dell Q6600 it replaced. I can still hear whirring, but it's a low hum.

Thanks again to all who helped me with this config.

[watercooled]

I hate that sinking feeling. xD

Glad you got it all sorted.