fan noise and psu strentgh

[taz23340]

hi all,
im running a p4 478 3.4ht
abit vt7 board
1 gig ddr400
x1600pro 256mb
two wd hd`s (80g+200g)
two optical drives
my case is an aopen q150 i think
i came with a 300 watt power supply but i was having heating and freezing issues so i bought a raidmax 450w psu with 12cm fan, but i find it loud, for the case i added a 12 cm antec rear exhaust and took off the air guide on side. no place for fan in front.
i also bought a zalman cnps 7700, man thing is huge but it keeps pc idle at 36 or so with the thing on 900rpm,

ok so first thing is 450 enough?
my board has fan plugs for cpu, sys and aux1/2 but i dont see exhaust fan in bios unless i put it under aux. i would like to be able to turn down the speed of the rear fan also, are there any programs that could allow me to do that or would i best be to get a controller for front of case for that? also now that i have zalman, should i put a small slow turning fan on side where vent was? would it help? i would like to overclock but not sure up to what i can, havent tried yet.

ty all

 

[Valtiel]

What you really have to look at is the amperage, or more specifically the wattage being supplied to the +12V rail. This is where most of your system draws the power. You might be able to find it on the label on the side of the PSU but it isn't always the case and sometimes you have to go searching for it on the internet.

I don't think the X1600 series is a very power-hungry card so you should be fine.

My only concern is that you bought a Raidmax PSU which aren't very high quality. I'm not saying go out and buy another one, but if you start having inexplicable problems (crashing, hard-locking) chances are it could be you are stressing your PSU too much.

 

[taz23340]

ok cool thanks, ill take a look at the side sticker tomorow. well it has to be better than the aopen 300w unit that came with the case. but what im wondering is why is this psu with the 12 cm fan so much louder than the 300w one with the little dinky fan out back. argh ya get what ya pay for when ya dont study before your buy! hehe

 

[taz23340]

how much power would the processor take in this case, just trying to calculate what amount i need, wondering if the stock 300w would suffice. on power listing on intel site is 105w is that what it draws?

 

[taz23340]

cool thanks, i read you links before and just did again, might have to read it a few times before i fully understand them. i used the psu calculate and it says i need about 310watts or so. havent had the chance to check psu but will soon.
thanks