Is 380 Watts enough?

[XStroX]

Hi All,

I just ran into motherboard problems and the ASRock technical help said my PSU is too small. I disagree. I have an Antec 380 Watt PSU and here is my system.

Pentium 805 D
2 DDR2 667mhz sticks of Ram
1 DVD burner
1 SATA HDD
Radeon X1300 PCIe (it does not have its own power connector)
1 Case Fan

Now I know if I were going to be adding more components that I would probably want a larger PSU but I won't be. So should this be enough to run? Thanks

Stro

 

[kwalker]

380 watts is not enough
But if you disagree before even asking here then have at it.
No sense on explaining.
Just research this forum for psu calculators and be fair (it’s your system)
Peace

 

[TheTallGuy]

Yea thats enough wattage, for that brand PSU. Even if you use the wattage calculators (which tend to overestimate) you end up well under 380W with that setup.

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

 

[JQB45]

I would think so...

I have a no name 350 Watt PSU.

ASUS K8V Deluxe Motherboard (First Edition)
AMD Athlon64 754 Clawhammer 3000+ @ 2.00ghz
Kingston 2*512MB DDR400 CAS 3-3-3-8
2*80GB SATA 1 7200 RPM Hard Drives in RAID 0 (one is a Samsung the other is a Seagate Baracuta)
ASUS nVida 5200FX 128bit/128MB -- easily overclocks to 5500 speeds.
Samsung Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW
Samsung Standard 52x CD-ROM
Samsung 3.5" Floppy Drive
3 Case Fans, 2 of them light up...
Altec Lansing 2.1 Speakers + Logitech Gaming Headphones w/microphone
Several USB Devices
Microsoft Wireless Desktop Elite Keyboard and Mouse
Digital Camera
Web Camera
Gravis Xterminator Digital controller

I'm running XP PRO SP2

I've had this setup since 02/2004 and I do not belive I've had any problems. I've even got this system to run stable with the video card overclocked and the CPU overclocked from 2.0ghz to 2.133ghz.

I can not going any higher on the overclock due to the fact that the PCI-Bus also overclocks and causes my raid array to fail :-( -- I learned this the hard way...

So I would think your 380Watt PSU would be fine.
-Jeff

 

[JQB45]

Does the x1300 he mentioned really use that much more power?

-Jeff

 

[JQB45]

Well that is something I'll keep in mind when I go to purchase a 7600GS or 7800GS AGP video card...

Looks like I'll be needing a PSU as well.

I went ahead and looked at my Power Supply it is in fact 16Amp on the +12Volt...

-Jeff

 

[XStroX]

So some of you are saying that even though my video card has no power going directly to it from the PSU, that it is still pulling over 10A? That seems unlikely to me but I've been wrong before. I could see if it had its own power connector that being the case.

And whoever said to look at the PSU calculators, they tell me I don't even need 250 watts.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Stro

 

[JQB45]

I've been researching this issue now that mpilchfamily explained to me the issue.

Oddly enough ATI's entry level x1300 cards do require substantially more power (Amps) then I was expecting.

While it is possible to run a decent system with this card on a small power supply. It is not recommended.

The smallest power supply I've seen that is recommended is a 350W.

But after further review and reading I found the following quote to be coming up quite often.


"350+watts, with at least 25a on the 12v rail. "

So there you have it.

XStroX verify your AMP ouput on your +12V if its not at least in the range of 25A then you will need a new power supply.

I've seen power supplies put this kind of power out for decent prices

For instance this one is cheap...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817159045

and has two +12 volts - one could be dedicated to CPU and drives and the other to the video card. 19.99+6.83 shipping in the USA...


Heres a more expensive model, known brand name and the power to get it done...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103455

Output +3.3V@32A, +5V@32A, +12V@26A, -5V@1A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2.2A
OBVIOUSLY/WARNING: you get what you pay for.

 

[JQB45]

Actually,

I wanted to state that I am disapointed that video card makers don't specificy state the following

minimum 400W PSU with at least 25A on 12V1 or a dedicated 12V2 of at least 15A...

And then they should go further and suggest (where neccessary) a 3rd 12V (for SLI or Crossfire for instance) or 4th 12V for highend quad SLI settups.

-Jeff

 

[angry_ducky]

If that's a TruePower or NeoHE PSU, then you're fine. Even a SmartPower should do, as long as you're not overclocking anything.