.com.unity Forums - OT: New PC!

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Careful about cheap PSUs... a malfunctioning PSU will fry everything in your computer. Make sure to do plenty of Internet research on the brand/model you are looking at.

Renegade while I appreciate the sentiment (who doesn't like cheap deals?) a Canadian PSU will get fried on 220v. While a candle burnt at both ends will live half as long, a PSU on double the voltage will last a couple of seconds before going boom.

That aside the rest of the bits should be utterly fine, the voltages for PCI, etc are all defined (3.3v rings a bell but I'm sure someone else know or can google the real answer). The components should, by everything I know and have heard, be fine. No power system in the world runs correct for a motherboard so transforming the voltage is a must, hence the only check is if the PSU will work on your countries voltage and frequency.

Well the site I quoted has computer components of all varieties at good prices, I didn't mean to imply that it was solely PSU's. And I wasn't recommending a North American PSU in Europe! Boom not good when it comes to computers http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

That's assuming that the PSU doesn't fail by starting to put out significantly more than 3.3V on that rail... The standards are defined, but when electronics start failing, anything can and will happen.

I'm looking to buy a new comp as well... what is better, Geoforce pci express 6800 or geoforce 7800 gtx???

Definitely second Fyron's comment about cheap PSUs. The same thing goes for fans. If a RAM chip dies, no big deal, toss in another.

If a PSU goes, it can either A. do nothing B. take out a couple components C. nuke your whole system or D. (doesn't happen often) catch fire.

Fans, if they die without you noticing, will do any number of things. Case fan..not a big deal, you'll have time to notice. CPU fan? Modern CPUs will overheat more or less instantly without a fan.

/me is afraid now

It's been a good few years since I was last building PCs (to give you an idea the last one I built was a Pentium 200MHz, and it was state-of-the-art at the time), but I recall that power supplies used to have a little switch at the back for flipping betweent 220v and 110v. Is this not the case anymore?

And I've no intention of buying a 'cheap' PSU, or fans, or anything vital. I just want to get the best price that I can for good equipment.

Quote:

mac5732 said:
I'm looking to buy a new comp as well... what is better, Geoforce pci express 6800 or geoforce 7800 gtx???

The 6800 is a good midrange card that should last you for quite some time. That's the good thing about cards that aren't quite top of the line anymore, but aren't too far below either. I have a 6600 GT OC and it runs everything just fine. In a couple years though, that might no longer be the case. However, the 7800 GTX is definitely top of the line at the moment. It'll cost you quite a bit more than the 6800, but will also last longer in a machine. In either case I'd definitely go with PCI-Express, not AGP.

7800GTX 256MB will cost you about $350 if you can get a good deal. Up to $600 if you don't. 6800 will likely run you about $150-$175US, but will not run graphics intensive games at their highest level for as long as the 7800. Really it's up to you. Especially if you don't run graphics intensive games, I'd stick with the 6800. If you do, might consider the 7800.

Quote:

Fans, if they die without you noticing, will do any number of things. Case fan..not a big deal, you'll have time to notice. CPU fan? Modern CPUs will overheat more or less instantly without a fan.

Which is why you hope you have a temperature display that you glance at frequently!

Quote:

I recall that power supplies used to have a little switch at the back for flipping betweent 220v and 110v. Is this not the case anymore?

I believe that is still the case.

It is generally a bad idea to buy top of the line video cards... Always buying top of the line cards will cost more mony in the long run. While it is true that the card will last longer than the last generation (or two) of top of the line, it will cost more than twice as much and will not last anywhere near twice as long before feeling "dated." Buying a new second or third generation card a few years down the line when the 2nd/3rd gen card you buy today starts feeling dated will still have you spending less money overall (even taking inflation into account) than the initial purchase of the top of the line card today... Top of the line models fall drastically in price after a rather short period, largely because they start out highly inflated in price.

The same holds true for CPUs, and pretty much all other computer parts...

Good point, Fyron, which is why I'm thinking of waiting for February to buy my graphics cards, since that's when the next-gen nVidia's are supposed to be out. And seeing as I'm giving serious consideration to a pair of 7800s, I think the savings of waiting a couple months would be well worth it.