Can U tell me if my Enermax 300w is enough for this system..

[joess]

everything seems to be working fine , it doesnt reboot under stress but I'm concerned if my components are at risk.

Msi nforce4 754 mb
Sempron 3000+ OC to 2.4ghz
1 WD 160 SATA HD
2X 512 mb mushkins
ATI X850XT PE ( not OC )

* DVD burner not conected when playing game and CPU OC
The Enermax 300w blows out pretty warm air when playing game but everything is stable.

thanks for Ur help.

 

[rtsPlayer]

It seems ur psu is not enough. I burnt a psu a few days ago. It ran well for 3 months without any problem. one day I left the pc in a hot room and a big game was running. I returned after 20 minutes and found the psu burnt. I replaced it and everything is fine now.

 

[joess]

I just put my specs through the PS wattage calculator and it tells me it require
250 watts , since mine is a 300 ( enermax = good brand ) it should be sufficient right ? ( possibly answered my own question ).
If anyone can tell me otherwise please do so. thx

 

[rtsPlayer]

the 850xt may cause problem. check how many amps the +12v rig has. 16 amps is good. I had 11 amps on the psu that burnt.

 

[joess]

It have 15 Amps on the +12 rail , will it be enough?
I dont have to up the voltage on the CPU when I OC.
Last night when I OCed from windows I forgot to unplug the DVD rom and
she rebooted. I then disabled the DVD and everything was stable again and was able to play Quake 4 for hours.

If I had the cash I would just go and buy a new PS but its tight right now.

 

[rtsPlayer]

just keep running it. if the psu gets burnt then replace it. Its also possible to add a second psu but I don't recommend it.

 

[joess]

yeah but a part of me is little worried about damaging other components , what are the odds of that happening even with a Enermax PS ?

 

[bweir]

Nope. If you try to run that system, before long you are going to see power-offs and possible damage from surging voltages. You'll need at least 450 watts to be safe, and a good, name brand PSU, not some generic ACME brand.

 

[MrCommunistGen]

It is possible that if (when?) the PSU burns out that it can cause voltage spikes that could fry other components. A friend had a 420W... not sure what brand but not a bottom of the barrel type. His other specs were a 9700Pro, AthlonXP 2100+, 1Gig, 80GB 7200RPM. It had been running fine for over a year I believe, and one day it just blew. The PSU, CPU, Mobo, and GPU all fried (the HD was ok ). He later replaced the PSU with an Antec TP 500, and somehow got all of his components replaced for free from the shop where he bought it...
Basically, if it were me, I'd replace the PSU with a higher wattage model from a reputable company of your choice and not risk frying everything. Plus, if you get a decent enough PSU you can keep it if/when you upgrade.

-mcg

 

[joess]

I see a Sparkle Power ATX-400PN 400 Watts for $50 Cdn , it has 2X 18A on the 12 rail. How will this one do for my system ?

Thanks all for Ur assitance

 

[bweir]

Not bad, but IMHO, still a little on the "cheap" side. If you can, try to spend at least $80CDN on a PSU of reputable name/brand. Antec, Thermaltake, OCZ, Fortron and Seasonic are all worthy.

 

[rtsPlayer]

just bcoz someone had bad luck doesn't mean u have to change ur psu. my psu burnt and I had no prob at all. your psu is good enough I think. make good earthing connection to the case. don't leave ur pc running in high load in a hot room.

 

[joess]

bweir : Sparkle is made by Foltron so it should be as reliable

rtsplayer : my bro's PSU that came with his computer burnt as well , U could smell it , and after he replaced it everything ran fine ( although we dont know if there were any long term damage )

If I wasnt SOOO tight with my cash flow I would just be done with it and buy a new PSU on my credit card.
Hmmm I have been running it like this for months now and it seems stable...