just to make sure there is nothing else i need will be starting up new rig in about 3 weeks. i do still need to get a athlon 64 3700+ cpu and a geforce 7600gt but other than that heres what i got so far case with 400watt psu abit KN8 SLI mobo 512 ddr400 ram (will get more a few weeks after start up) dvd-rom dvd-RW fdd 250gb hdd 80gb hdd heatsink with fan anything else that i need to get to start up or am i covered apart from the gpu and cpu.
Just make sure your power supply is not generic and that it has enough amps to power your system. Big B's PSU sticky will clear up many questions if you have any.
as far as my psu goes iv had the side off and its got lots of numbers it says its a x-power ATX-400TD. ac input 230vac 50hz 5A dc output +3.3v +5V +12V -5V -12V +5Vsb max.A 30A 28A 17A 1A 1A 2A MAX 400watt so when u guys mention 12v rails and stuff whats that mean and i read the post above about psu but dont understand. do i need to change this psu and i no it came with the case witch cost 30 but the shop sell the psu seperatly and it just under 40quid
Generally, power supplies that come with the case are not good. Especially if the case itself didn't cost much money. It would be a good idea to get a PSU from a reputable company. Big B's sticky has excellent suggestions for the type of machine you're building. Personally i use enermax power supplies, they're highly reliable. Moderately priced too i'd say.
got a point i suppose dont want to spend lots of money on a rig for it to break cos of an oversight. will have a look when i order my cpu and gpu in two weeks.
The rails are the different lines of power from the power supply. There's 3 positive ones, along with their negative counterparts---but those aren't as big of a deal. 3.3V, and 5V power some stuff, but newer equipment is moving to run exclusively off the 12V rail. To be able to cope with this, more current (which is denoted as amperes) is required. CPU's and PCIe video cards run off the 12V rail, as well as SATA hard drives. In the past, the 12V wasn't relied on as much since AGP-based video cards ran off the 3.3V and the hard drive ran off 5V, so the load was divided among the rails. With the two biggest power hogs running of the 12V rail, you can't get by with low amp 12V rails anymore. This is exacerbated with SLI and Crossfire multi-GPU setups. If you're preparing for a multi-GPU solution, you're going to want at least 30A minimum on the 12V rail. For a good unit, you're looking at $80-120 US. There's a few units out there that are less that can fill the requirements, but that's going to be very few. This is one part you simply don't want to skimp on. Taking a shortcut here can affect system stability and risk damage to your components. There's others, but some of the easier units to find that meet most people's needs at a reasonable price are the Antec TruePower TPII-550 and the Enermax EG565P-VE. They both run around $90 US at most online shops. There's more brands to look at in the PSU sticky, and any good brand mentioned should do the job with 500-550W range unit or higher.
