Hello guys. About time I put some new parts in this computer. Will be getting new CPU, Motherboard and RAM. Going to keep the rest as I can't afford it atm.
I've read other threads about upgrades and trying to keep it simple but just wanted to make sure I am not doing something wrong.

Older parts that I am keeping are:
- power supply Fortron 400 W
- ATI HD4850 1 GB
- HD 500 gb seagate , 500 gb WD
New parts:
- CPU: Core i5-2400
- Motherboard: GA-P67-DS3-B3
- RAM: Kingston HyperX Blu DDR3 1600 2 x 4GB

I know it is not top of the line but it should be tons faster compared to my old dual core.... and also it looks like if I need to I can grab i7 later on and if I decide to upgrade the CPU I can keep the MB.
My question is: that 400 W power supply should be enough to run those things right?
I should also mention that I dont care so much about gaming ( I do but I need this for work primarily ) and I am using Zbrush, PS and 3ds Max. Would love to be able to push more polys in Zbrush and actually why I decided to upgrade is the AO bakes so freaking slow just killing me Would be cool if I can actually afford to do any renders of my high poly models for my folio as well , because as of now it just takes forever

I am pretty much sold on the CPU but if you guys can suggest different, better MB that will be great.
Thanks Polycount

Why not go for the i5 2500?

That PSU should be fine, if not, buy a new one. If it worked for your old PC, and you're not adding anything that sucks a massive amount of power, theres no reason why it wouldn't work for the new one.

As for motherboards, just get something cheap, reliable with good ratings and only the features you need. Too often the "expensive" motherboards are just loaded full of shit nobody ever needs, 3xSLI and all sorts of overclocking features, 7 PCI slots or whatever - just get something cheap and stable.

I was hoping you will stop by EQ Thanks.
It looks like I should go for the i5 2500 not sure if I want to mess with any OC but the 2500k is very little more expensive. That being said if that means that I need to get better cooling I dont think I am interested.
And yeah I hope PSU does the job not adding nothing else to it.
Thanks again EQ.

I'll give you one caveat to think on. If that 400W PSU is running at peak or near peak output, it's going to reduce it's lifespan. You should calculate how much wattage each component uses, add it up, and add another 100W for buffer. The time you strain the PSU the most is at power-on time. All the components turn on at that moment. If it's taxing the PSU at full tilt, you're killing your PSU and reducing it's life. So, if 400W is just making due, I'd consider getting a new unit with more power. 400W is what I consider the minimum for a 3D artist/gamer PC. My personal recommendation would be 500-600 for what you have and 700-800 if you have more than two HDD and SLI/CF. That way, you'll get much better than one year of use from your power supply. I had my last PSU for 3 years and it only died due to a power surge.

Thanks greevar.
I was not sure about some of the numbers so I found that site - http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine
It does it for you- so for my new parts it came up with recommended PSU Wattage of 348 and minimum of 300 so I guess I don't have 100 more on top of that , but this is already 3 years old PSU so I think it should be fine, right?

Is there any particular reason you want an Intel chip instead of an AMD? When building my machine I found that I could get more power for the same price from an AMD chip than an Intel chip. I was budgeting just around $100 per component too, so it really was a budget build.

No, no real reason not to go AMD, just everyone tells me to stick with Intel because it is more stable. I dont know too much about tech. Could be similar to how many people are not happy from ATI cards and dont recommend them for 3d work, but then I have one and never had single problem with it so far. Probably worth looking it up but I am really afraid to take shortcuts as I cant afford to start replacing more parts

Originally Posted by greevar

I'll give you one caveat to think on. If that 400W PSU is running at peak or near peak output, it's going to reduce it's lifespan. You should calculate how much wattage each component uses, add it up, and add another 100W for buffer. The time you strain the PSU the most is at power-on time. All the components turn on at that moment. If it's taxing the PSU at full tilt, you're killing your PSU and reducing it's life. So, if 400W is just making due, I'd consider getting a new unit with more power. 400W is what I consider the minimum for a 3D artist/gamer PC. My personal recommendation would be 500-600 for what you have and 700-800 if you have more than two HDD and SLI/CF. That way, you'll get much better than one year of use from your power supply. I had my last PSU for 3 years and it only died due to a power surge.

Well, its an old PSU, so who cares? If it only lasts one more year, he can buy another if/when it dies. No use preemptively buying new stuff just because something "might" fail. Might as well buy a new video card, hard drive, etc too then.

If he was buying new I would agree, get a 500,550w or so, but its a used PSU that has suited him just fine in a very similar build. He's just swapping out CPU/Mobo/Ram here, remember.

Though a 550w 80+ PSU is cheap enough to just go and get a new one, it all depends on budget.

If he's going to replace anything from his re-use list, I would suggest a brand new HDD(or SDD) HDD failure can be a massive problem, PSU failure is only a minor inconvenience.

Originally Posted by Tigerfeet

Is there any particular reason you want an Intel chip instead of an AMD? When building my machine I found that I could get more power for the same price from an AMD chip than an Intel chip. I was budgeting just around $100 per component too, so it really was a budget build.

You get what you pay for, he wants a stable system for 3d work, Intel is definitely the way to go. If you're building an HTPC or cheapest-possible gaming setup AMD is fine, but for a workstation, stability is one of the most important factors.

That is what I thought about the psu now that I have calculated it - if it breaks it breaks and then I get new one as it is old one nobody expects it to work forever. And I am not really on a budget, just trying not to spend extra money on computer as I dont know if I would not have to move soon to someplace else where I cant bring my computer with me.
Also as I said games are not so important as of now- I need it just for 3d work.

Thanks for the help everybody. I am really lost with all of those numbers

Yeah besides, if you spend too much on your computer, you wont be able to afford any new lenses.

Your original questions have been well answered, so I'm just going to chip in to recommend trying to budget for an SSD. I went from an already fast RAID 0 setup with 2 75Gb 10000rpm drives to an SSD and the difference is really noticable. Everything is much snappier and more responsive.

Even if you can't afford a big one, a 64Gb one will be plenty to run the OS and any modelling apps from.

ha ... I dont really have enough time for photographs right now.. unfortunately. As soon as i get my portfolio up and finish couple of side things I will get back to it. Btw I am waiting on a 24mm 2.8 canon lens and probably going to sell the 85mm as it makes taking pictures way too easy also I hope I am going to take new direction with my photography so I would not need it.

Edit: thanks CheeseONToast, I was thinking about it and just spoke with a friend who told me not to as he did not get all that much performance boost.... I've read that everybody is recommending them so there must be a reason for it. Besides faster start up time with what else would I benefit of having one of those? Would it help zbrush or max work better ?
Thanks again.

I should be getting a Sigma 24/1.8 EX today, selling the 24/2.8 and 35/1.8 and consolidating down to one lens, I'm pretty excited! Got it for $285 or about the cost of the Canon 24/2.8 =P

Oh, also feel free to send me your 85mm if you're so bored with it.

Originally Posted by EarthQuake

Well, its an old PSU, so who cares? If it only lasts one more year, he can buy another if/when it dies. No use preemptively buying new stuff just because something "might" fail. Might as well buy a new video card, hard drive, etc too then.

If he was buying new I would agree, get a 500,550w or so, but its a used PSU that has suited him just fine in a very similar build. He's just swapping out CPU/Mobo/Ram here, remember.

Though a 550w 80+ PSU is cheap enough to just go and get a new one, it all depends on budget.

If he's going to replace anything from his re-use list, I would suggest a brand new HDD(or SDD) HDD failure can be a massive problem, PSU failure is only a minor inconvenience.



You get what you pay for, he wants a stable system for 3d work, Intel is definitely the way to go. If you're building an HTPC or cheapest-possible gaming setup AMD is fine, but for a workstation, stability is one of the most important factors.

Maybe it's just me, but I find it irritating to have a PSU go out on me. It's usually good practice to upgrade your PSU when you upgrade the CPU/GPU. Besides, a decent 500-600W PSU isn't much more than $50-$60, so it's a worthwhile upgrade if it gets you 3-4 years of use. An old PSU at peak power could tank at any moment. If you've got money burning a hole in your pocket, buy one, keep it in the box, and when the old one goes kaput, pop the new one in.

A PSU going out has the potential to hurt components.

I would not risk it.


400w seems low for those components.

Originally Posted by CheeseOnToast

Even if you can't afford a big one, a 64Gb one will be plenty to run the OS and Skyrim and Battlefield 3 from.

What he really meant.

Originally Posted by RexM

A PSU going out has the potential to hurt components.

I would not risk it.


400w seems low for those components.

I'm with Rex on this, I think you need at least 750w imo (if that's to high, that's in case you decide to upgrade in the future)

Otherwise for the things you want to do, it seems pretty good. Gaming you may not do amazing, but you said you don't care too much for it

lol 750w, now you're just trolling

i am pretty sure 400W wont be enough for your current setup with the new parts you mentioned above. i suggest ~600W.

also make sure your old power supply has all the proper power connectors for your new mobo such as the 8-pin CPU power without the need of a converter.

next to an axe, a good home should have those: a spare PSU and a spare keyboard. This is your chance to get the spare PSU part covered ;)

500w works for me at home - core i7, radeon 6970, 2 HDDs

gotta go at least 500 at least prolly over 25 amps on 12v rail

I don't think it's unreasonable to go to 700W. I'm running one right now with a Phenom 955 BE, Radeon 5770, 2 HDD, 5 120mm fans, 2 sticks of DDR3 RAM, and a DVD/CD-RW combo drive.

Now the 4850 can draw up to 250W at peak load and the i5 draws 120W at peak. That's 370 already and we haven't touched the other parts yet. So you're going to run the rest of it on 30W? You're going to kill that PSU and possibly the mb, GPU, and CPU. Even worse, no PSU is 100% efficient. Most are 80% efficient on average. So, take the peak wattage of the CPU, GPU, HDD, and RAM. Add them together, divide by 8 (gives 10% of wattage), multiply by 10 (gives 100% wattage), and that's your minimum wattage.

For example:

The 4850 is 250W peak, the i5 is 120W peak, DDR3 RAM is 6W, and most HDD are 30W each (let's say we have two, which is common).

250+120+6+30*2=436/8*10=~545W peak @ 80% efficiency.

So no, 400W won't do it.

I would recommend a 600W PSU with an 80 PLUS certification at minimum. This should cover all of your big power components and leave room for all your additional devices (DVD, PCI cards, etc.). You could go higher to account for capacitor degradation (which reduces efficiency and peak power output).

Thanks for the additional help everybody. In case this old PSU might damage something then I will get new one. I also understand that the SSD are great but I will probably hold off on it for a bit. Once I get my first check from something I made with this computer then i might get some more fancy parts
Greevar thanks for the breakdown.

Hey EarthQuake, thanks for taking the time to explain about stability. I wasn't aware there were stability differences between the two. When I built mine I wanted to get the most power for the least price and even then it took me a year to be able to afford all the parts. I haven't run into any issues yet with my AMD chip but I'll definitely be mindful of the possibility now.

disanski - I agree with everyone else that if you're not on a super tight budget it'd be prudent to get the best quality you can. Intel just tends to irk me a little because you get people (mostly gamers who don't push their processor anyway) insisting you pay $300 extra for .3Ghz more power. The cost to benefit ratio seems way out of whack to me.

new PSU.. they're cheap .. and as high a wattage as you can afford.

the reason I say this is if you are keeping your GFX card it will likely last you a year or so and then you'll want to upgrade that too, and I think with current gen cards that PSU will melt..