[mctw]

Just to elaborate about quad rail PSUs

[\QUOTE] Look for more than 25A on single-rail systems and 20A on dual-rail systems. Avoid quad-rail systems like the plague. Or, if you don't want to get technical, just buy a Corsair or PC Power and Cooling PSU. Brand is the most important metric, amperage the second. A good brand will have reasonable ratings for amperage and therefore wattage: a bad brand will not and will use poor components too. The PSU is the largest point of failure in most systems today. [\QUOTE]
taken from Carbons guide - basically, if you have quad rails, you need to get an even balance of draw on each rail, which is practically impossible.

[mctw]

Sorry, it thought it didnt post, stupid wireless dropped!

[Jakkoff]

Originally Posted by mctw

thats quite a bit over your budget, but still.

Looks good apart from the PSU, quad rail = BAD!

why is quad rail bad? the only other option on the site i am building is dual rail and that is much lower power in watts.

[mctw]

check my posts before yours, i explained there.
How much lower watts?

[Jakkoff]

Originally Posted by mctw

check my posts before yours, i explained there.
How much lower watts?

ok, sorry its 450W dual rail. i dont think that will be enough to power the new CPU i upgraded to and the new graphics card.

[mctw]

No worries, my post didnt come up here for a bit, dunno what happened!

And providing its a good make, 450w should be fine.

[Jakkoff]

Originally Posted by mctw

No worries, my post didnt come up here for a bit, dunno what happened!

And providing its a good make, 450w should be fine.

So are you sure 450w dual will be better than 700w quad? because i dont wanna risk not having enough power.

[mctw]

Providing its something like a Corsair, Antec, OCZ it'll be fine. Quad rail is just used as a selling point, as it sounds better. With a 700w quad rail, you will be limited to 175max per rail, which means you have to balance the load evenly, very hard! With a 450w dual rail, you get 225w on each rail. Its not exactly like that, but thats the basic summary. 450watts is fine for your system, providing its a good make as above.

[Jakkoff]

Originally Posted by mctw

Providing its something like a Corsair, Antec, OCZ it'll be fine. Quad rail is just used as a selling point, as it sounds better. With a 700w quad rail, you will be limited to 175max per rail, which means you have to balance the load evenly, very hard! With a 450w dual rail, you get 225w on each rail. Its not exactly like that, but thats the basic summary. 450watts is fine for your system, providing its a good make as above.

ok, well im going to go for the 450 watt dual like you recommend but i decided i don't need the amount i have added and so am respeccing back again, so how does this look, and it stays in my budget well.

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™2 Duo E8400 (3.00GHz) 1333MHz FSB/6MB L2 Cache

Memory (RAM)
4GB CORSAIR XMS2 800MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY! (2x2GB)

Motherboard
ASUS® P5QL: DDR2, SATAII, PCI-e x16, 3 PCI, 2 x PCI-e x1

Operating System
Genuine Windows XP™ Professional + SP3, CD & Licence (£109)

USB Options
8 x USB 2.0 PORTS (6 REAR + 2 FRONT) AS STANDARD

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
250GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk
NONE

3rd Hard Disk
NONE

4th Hard Disk
NONE

1st CD/DVD Drive
22x DUAL LAYER LIGHTSCRIBE DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

2nd CD/DVD Drive
NONE

Graphics Card
512MB ATI RADEON™ HD 4850 PCI EXPRESS

2nd Graphics Card
NONE

Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Modem
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND

Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT

Floppy Disk Drive
NONE

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK FUSION CASE inc. 2 FRONT USB

Power Supply & Case Cooling
450W Quiet Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£24)

Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£15)

Firewire & Video Editing
NONE

TV Card
NONE

Monitor
LG W2252TQ 22" WIDESCREEN, HDCP/DVI/2MS/1680 x1050 (£169)

2nd Monitor
NONE

3rd Monitor
NONE

4th Monitor
NONE

GeForce 3D Vision
NONE

DVI Cable
NONE

Keyboard & Mouse
NONE

Mouse
NONE

Speakers
NONE

Webcam
NONE

Headsets (VOIP)
NONE

Surge Protection
NONE

Printer
NONE

Anti-Virus
NONE

Office Software
NONE

External Hard Drive
NONE

Home Installation
NONE

Warranty
1 Year Return-to-Base incl 1st Month Free Collect & Return

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days

Quantity
1
New Total Price
£725.00

[mctw]

Yup yup, looks all good to me now :-) only suggestion would be to change the 4850 to a 4870 if its not much more cost, and still okay with your budget, you gain a bit of performance on games. Dont get me wrong though, the 4850 is still very good, just sometimes the 4870 is better value, up to you.

Otherwise, go for it :-D