So since im buying a new motherboard I'm upgrading graphics card too and wondering about my PSU.

I have an Apevia 680w (I think its what 75% efficiency which means 450w-500w continuous? (46 on the 12v Rails if im lucky enough).

So here is the dilemma, do I stick with my Aspire 680w and get a BFG GTX 285 or do I get a new 100 dollar power supply (Xion 1000w max, 850w continuous and many more amps then my Apevia and get a BFG 275 OC?

So heres my options

Stick with power supply and get 285
or..
Go with new power supply (1000w) and get 275 OC

Some more info is I want to play games on highest AA settings etc (crysis, etc..) and I love to overclock my Q6600. I have 4gb of ram and lots of fans and a 10k raptor harddrive. Highest res I play at is 1400x900... maybe the 275 is better option? At least maybe then I wouldn't have issues with indoor fireworks. What do you guys think?

most likely you wouldn't have fireworks. If your PSU isn't putting out enough, your system likely won't boot, or it will be highly unstable. At that point you know you'd need a better PSU.

I'd suggest getting the better motherboard and GPU and skimp on the PSU right now. motherboards are harder to swap later whereas a PSU is plug and play. PSU's are also relatively cheap.

I'd built it that way, boot it up with lowest settings and slowly increase your graphics. Then if it's stable, you can think about overclocking. If it crashes a lot along the way, you'll know you need a new PSU, but you'll also be able to limp buy for a short time with lower settings until you have that $100.

If you get the better PSU now, you will regret getting the slower graphics card/mobo.

That's my 2 cents.

Don't buy that piece of sh*t Xion PS... Seriously it will crap the bed on you and it is junk.

I ran a 1000 watt antec and I sold it 2 weeks later. You will feel it in you electrical bill... trust me lol.

Buy your HV3 instead

HV3 is a good buy, but you wont really notice much until WAY up high. It does make a REALLY nice growl on the intake side, though. Especially with the CAI.

I REALLY like the Asus with AMD in my "Frankenstein" of a desktop.

Yah I figured Xion was junk. I may get GTX 285 and just run it off my Apevia 680w and if it dies well time for new PSU. But sometimes PSU's can fry everything if they do not power enough, so should I really risk skimping on the PSU?

you'll be fine, it will show up as instability in the system as mentioned.

Yeah I've never heard of a PSU frying anything unless it goes bad. If it can't generate enough power, things won't fry, they just won't work and you'll get system crashes, blue screens of death, etc. But it shouldnt' fry anything*


*my disclaimer ;o) I've just never seen it happen. When overclocking I got to the point where my PSU wasn't cranking out enough juice and it crashed my system a couple times. I backed off. Everything is still fine.

Poor quality PSU, usually ones that come included with computer cases, ARE known to fry compnents.

But that's due to shoddy parts in the PSU overvolting the MB.

Yeah, but have you ever heard of a PSU frying components because it wasn't able to crank out enough juice? I haven't

I didn't notice it with my PC, but I noticed it when I got my plasma TV.

Plasma is SOOOO last year. LCD TVs are the new next-gen. High quality and low power.

Well I got my plasma like 2-3 years ago... And at the time a 50" LCD television was an ungodly amount of money.

Isn't it actually all about LED's now?

Ya LED is coming into the picture no pun intended lol.

I believe I read that the next big thing is a hologram TV. Seriously. But they don't know if people will buy them now since many houses just forked over a few grand for plasma and LCD.

whoops, LED is what I meant, LCD is even older than plasma! oops.

I finally got my Q6600 to 3.4ghz stable. Idle I get 35c and full load 45c. The new motherboard really helped with overclocking. I will be ordering the GTX 275 soon.