EggXpert

How's this look? I went with the choices I did because they're all supposed to be either low-wattage or have quiet fans.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15980368

P180 Mini + Windows 7 Home Ultimate - $166.98
Zalman 360 watt power supply - $59.99
Phenom II X2 550 + Asus 785G(amd) motherboard - $166.99
4 GB OCZ DDR2 800 - $79.99
WD Caviar Green 500 GB - $54.99
HIS 5770 - $174.99
DVD/CDR - $27.99

Total: $731.92

Personally putting a hefty video card like that on a micro atx board and in a micro atx case is asking for some heat issues. I am not a fan of micro atx builds due to the heat factor in the case and stuffing a 2 slot video card in there is asking for high temps. I am just expressing my opinion but you do what you want.

This is my opinion and does not reflect any power supply calculations but your psu though decent quality is too low wattage for the build. There are others that like taking the conservative approach to psu recommendations but I dion't. Get a 550w Corsair psu or a 550w Antec Eartthwatts psu that will give you plenty of power and good amt of headroom for growth and also allow you to tax the machine in graphic intensive apps.

I would get a different cpu as that 550 really performs pretty poorly. I owned it and was not happy with it at all. Slow loading windows and loading apps. I would look at either an X3 or X4 phenom II cpu. Just FYI my intel 8400 core 2 cpu is clocked the same and is much faaster then that cpu. Everything loads faster and performs better. So with that said the AMD Phenom II X4 would be my choice. How ever if you don't care about that then the 550 is a decent bang for the buck cpu.

I agree with Sparker that your power supply is to small and you're going to have a rough time fitting that 5770 in the case. (The Mini P180 is what my current rig is built in.) You can get the 5770 in the case. But in the process you'll have to take the drive bay out that is directly behind the video card. You'll loose the ability to add 3 drives when you take that out. You'll also want to add 1 Antec 120mm transparent 3-speed case fan to the front lower fan mount and let the motherboard control that as the system fan. Set the other 2 fans on medium. The switches are on the back.

As Sparker stated, I wouldn't look at anything lower than a 500 watt power supply. The Antec Earthwatts EA500 for $69.99 plus shipping is a good choice. According to the HIS specs, the EA500 will give you 50 watts of "head room".

As for the CPU, I run the AMD Phenom II X3 720. This is going to run you about $17.00 more than the 550. I'm very satisfied with it's performance. It can be overclocked just like the 550. But if you plan on doing that, make sure you have a good after market CPU cooler. Like the Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler for $34.99 with free shipping.

Thank you both for your input.

 

About the power and video card: The 5770 is more efficient than the other cards in that price range, not sure what else I'd pick, also I looked up some power statistics and the review setups(which had much more stuff than mine) only drew 320 watts at the wall, with the card overclocked. As far as it fitting inside the mini p180, I'll only have two internal drives(hd and dvd) since i have an external storage unit. I have an 650 supply at home, if I run into trouble I can swap it out since this other system definitely doesn't need it.

 

About the cpu: The X3 seems like a good deal for only $17 more, I'm already at my budget with shipping though, gotta stop on the slippery slope somewhere.

 

I will get an extra fan. 

Fine its your build with a small case generating alot of heat a performance video card and a 360w psu. All I say is good luck. You seem to trust ultra conservative estimates which could be fine but not me, I don't see any reason why you can't spend the money on a 550w psu and not have to swap something out incase you have issues.

Does it hurt to have more power I think not but its your build do what you may. You came here for advice we gave you sound advice on the most crucial part of the build and choose not to listen so be it.

Again good luck with the build hope it works for you.

I'm sure that we just have different priorities, I will report back after I build the system, should be this weekend.

I put this system together and have run several tests on it. With the acc unleashed mode I managed to get 3 cores up and running and left them with prime95 overnight which didn't have any errors. The heat of the system is stable with the fans on low and it's very quiet. The loudest component is the stock cpu cooler, which I plan on replacing. Everything fits although I had to take the gpu out three times because I kept forgetting things and it's right in the way. Power draw is well within the 360 watt range, even when playing games.