These specs = High FPS?

[tcman44]

I'm just concerned and I wanna know if this one will run UT3 smoothly:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q660 2.4GHz BOX, Stepping G0
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R
Memory: OCZ DDR2 2GB 800MHz EL Platinum XTC 4-5-4-15
PSU: CoolerMaster eXtream Power 500w
HDD: WD 250GB 7200RPM 8MB SATA2 AAJS
DVDRW: LG GSA-H44N DVDRW X18 DUAL LAYER BLACK/WHITE
GPU: BFG GeForce 8800GTS 320MB PCI-E OC2 VERSION
Case: NZXT LEXA BLACKLINE NO PSU
CPU Cooler: Scythe "NINJA PLUS Rev.B" 6Heat Pipes CPU Cooler

High FPS?

Everything you spec'd is fine, i would upgrade the hard drive though to at least a 500gb drive, one can never have enough storage space. And yes i suppose an upgrade to a 600w or 750w power supply would be prudent because one can never have enough power either, lol.

[Sai]

i wouldnt advice western digital. One of my friends has had 3 western digital hdd ,because they failed one after the other.

seagate is really the best i know. I have 2 internal and 1 of seagate's portable external hdd. All do very well. Its fast and no failures yet

[KriLL3.8™]

I've had about 13WDs pass through my hands over the years, not one has failed on me yet, when they're not big enough to be in my main system they're moved to my server etc.

[Conroy]

That PSU will suffice but you will need to improve it if you want to add more hardware. There is a gaming PC of similar spec (Core 2 Quad, 8800GTS, 2GB DDR2) being sold in shops with a 400W PSU.

For hard drives, I will never touch Western Digital and I'm dubious about Seagate (my new 750GB just died on me ffs). I recommend Maxtor.

[Stage]

what conroy said... :P the psu is fine. if you have all the amps covered a 500w is all you should really need. it's gonna be a very long time until you actually need 730w from a psu (if ever), unless you have multiple harddrives and cd/dvd burning devices and an sli of 8800gtx's and x amount of other hardware. it's overkill, plain and simple.

[KriLL3.8™]

I recommend Maxtor.

That's a joke right? Ask anyone semi-knowledgeable or better about PC hardware and they're tell you to stay really far from Maxtor drives.

And 400w is serious underkill for a system like that, it would be borderline too little power even if it started, add another device or overclock a bit and it's good night gracy.

[NakhtiUT3]

I definitely would recommend upgrading your PSU ... you may be fine now but one more upgrade/add on or if you overclock your cpu and then you may well blow it. I just ran into a guy at the local Fry's who had just blown his 500W PSU and he had a similar configuration as you.

In terms of getting good frames, well you should get great fps with your system at resolutions below 1600x1200 but if you want to do higher resolutions like 1680x1050 and up then I would recommend upgrading your gpu to a 8800 GT 512MB at the very least ... the pricing and availability for these new vid cards is supposed to be announced on the 29th.

You may also want to consider the redesigned 8800 GTS if you find you need even more memory for Video. Now the GTS will only come in one configuration ... the 640MB version and it will be improved.

[KriLL3.8™]

1600x1200 but if you want to do higher resolutions like 1680x1050

Actually 1600*1200 = 1920000 1680*1050 = 1764000

[Red.Anthem]

haha yeah i just bought that case too, its a tank, except it feels like the front panel is a tiny bit cheap to me. i got that gpu as well only the evga SC. You'll be absolutely fine with that rig as far as FPS.

[jswashburn]

I would have to agree with what others have said. You *might* be able to boot off a 500w PSU.

According to this PSU calculator, your rig will be pulling at least 507w at POST (I didn't include your video card as it's never under load at POST). If in fact it manges to boot just fine, expect to be pulling about 525w of power playing UT3, or 1/4th that at idle (browsing the web, typing an e-mail...etc).

If you plan on keeping your PSU for the life of the rig, I would suggest getting a 700w as their efficiency can degrade over time. If by the grace of God you can manage with that 500w (which you wont I'm sure), it'll be dead within a month from the excessive stress load. This also won't be good for the rest of your components feeding off it.

[KriLL3.8™]

This also won't be good for the rest of your components feeding off it.

I had a 400w PSU powering a P4 3.0 9800pro rig, I just kept adding drives (had 6) and then a second video card to run screen 3 and 4 etc etc, well in the end the capacitors on my mobo blew their caps.

[NakhtiUT3]

Actually 1600*1200 = 1920000 1680*1050 = 1764000

That is interesting because it sure seems like you get slower frames because of the Widescreen support but I guess it was all in my mind. Thanks for the info.

[duddley]

I'm currently getting away with a 450 watt Thermaltake that I had from my last rig, running 8800gts 640 and x2 5200 (@2.8ghz) and peripherals. It's something you can get away with, but definately should be the first upgrade you make.

[3NVY]

...may have already been said but I would get the 640 MINIMUM or (my preference + faster) the ati HD 2900 PRO and clock it to XT (search this forum there is a big thread on it)