Is 550W enough ?

[Infernal01]

Is a 550W Chieftech enough for my PC:

Athlon XP 64 3500+
2GB of DDR2
HDD 250 GB
2x DVD/CD-WR
8800 GTX (OC'ed by BFG)

I want to know if i can still use it in a few years, when the PSU wears out, and if i upgrade my CPU to a dual core processor.

Thanks

 

[Infernal01]

Right now i'm using a 400W (1 month old) and i'm underpowered.

The test says 556W (with 20% aging)... i think i'll go for a 620W...

 

[Rugger]

If you haven't already done so, then you need to read the PSU 101 &102 Stickies. You shouldn't be basing you PSU purchase off of wattage, but on amperage, espacially on the 12V rail(s).

 

[bigblack]

The chieftec you mention is the Office edition? If it is i very much doubt that it will power your GTX without problems

Read these excellent guides and decide...

http://tinyurl.com/2doers
http://tinyurl.com/ypvp5l

 

[Infernal01]

I have no ideea, it's almost imposible to find out the specs of a PSU here

You can find the PSU's here:
http://www.ultrapro.ro/shop/AfiseazaProdus_upshop.jsp?cat_id=2111&pr_id=37511
http://www.ultrapro.ro/shop/AfiseazaProdus_upshop.jsp?cat_id=2111&pr_id=34877

You can't tell what model they are, neither can the sellers. Those are the best models i can find to buy (and afford) so i'll have to chose one of them.
Thanks for the reviews, i'll read them asap.

 

[melarcky]

i would go for a Plus 600W with a GF8800GTX

 

[melarcky]

cus nvidia was bribed by the power company's to make it extra thursty haha

 

[Infernal01]

Lol, i don't understand a thing from those guides, most of the words i don't even understand.

Everywhere i asked, people told me to go for the 550W or 620W, i won't take any chances, i will buy the 620W.

 

[derek2006]

PSU calculator calculates my system out to just under 600watts 15% capacitor aging and Im running fine on 550 watts. I do heavy gaming and I haven't restarted for almost a week. So that means I haven't had any crashing or instabilities.

The x1950xt takes about as much power as a 8800gtx btw. ATI tool sais It can take up to 40 amps once it gets hot and at the overclock I have.

 

[Infernal01]

Yeah but u have a true power PSU...

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

That PSU will choke on an OCed 8800GTX.
Your CPU will bottleneck the 8800GTX, big time.


Are you talking about a case or a power supply? :?

 

[MegaManExtreme2005]

I'd go with an Enermax 620W liberty if you're on a budget or go for the Enermax 1000W galaxy PSU if you can afford it or if you plan to use GF8800GTX in SLI later.

Hope this helps. If I'm wrong plz tell me cus I'm using a Enermax 620W PSU in my recently upgraded system.

 

[Infernal01]

A power supply, not a case.

Guys, please stay on topic, i allready said that the 550W and the 620W are the only ones that i can afford, i know there are a lot of good PSU's out there, but either i can't find them, either i don't afford them...

Why don't i buy the 620W ? because it's a lot more expensive than the 550W. I want to be sure that the 550W is not enough, and then i will buy the 620W.

I also allready said that i will upgrade my CPU to a dual core one and that i will keep the PSU a few years, so take the agging in consideration. It's my problem that my CPU is not good enough for the video card.

Thanks.

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

We really can't help you if you don't give us a model number of the power supply, what we really need to know is how many amps are on the 12v rail.
Your cpu would bottleneck the 8800gts, some dual cores do.
We could also use the model of your motherboard, does it even have a PCIe x 16 slot on it or is it AGP?

 

[randomizer]

Cant you buy from a different store? Tell me some other stores that sell power supplies in your country, I would not trust an expensive graphics card on a no-name brand power supply, no matter how powerful it is.

 

[bigblack]

Well, i wouldn' trust too much the 550 if i were you. Here is a link for a photo of the chieftec 620A from a rather respectable german site. From the specifications i can see that is good enough for you. The review also mentions that it is up to it's specifications and really quiet. It also has 2 Pci -e power lines if you need to SLI. Link follows for the specs photo
http://web4.golf319.server4you.de/Review/chieftec/0691.jpg

and link for the entire review
http://www.hardware-mods.com/hwmods/oc/viewpage.php?page_id=67

From the (little) German i understand i can say that it looks good. You are in Romania, right? If you can not find a Corsair 620 (same price give or take for same specs) then you should buy that. I would if i were you...

Good luck.

 

[randomizer]

Wow things are expensive in romania. So you have about $US130 to spend... hmm its gonna be cutting it close for a power supply at that price, but it should be possible.

 

[randomizer]

But how decent is this psu? I will ask mpilchfamily what he thinks of it.

 

[randomizer]

I'd go with an Enermax 620W liberty if you're on a budget

That psu is like nearly 520RON (about $US217). He has about 300RON to spare (about $US130).

EDIT: It is so hard to find a decent psu for you at a reasonable price, romanian prices are so inflated. The 620W chieftec is the option to go with if you need to, but there are much more reliable psus available.

 

[bigblack]

It' not a no name manufacturer. Check the web site
http://www.arena-chieftec.com/?page=products_big&id=258&k_id=4&language=uk
In previous searches i have discovered that Chieftecs are manufactured by Sirtek, who also makes Enlight, Thermaltake and the likes. Check this forum thread:
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=77909585&m=8300925664&r=3800988174#3800988174

I have used various Chieftec PSUs in the past, as they came bundled in excellent cases branded Chieftec (ANTEC had the same models in cases, even same model numbers).
Never had a problem, one specific 350W is still operating perfectly with an overclocked e4300. Maybe the heaviest PSU i have used! Recently i bought the 550 model for a friend with office needs. Seemed stable at 3.3 and 5 V, the same at 12V. Has an active PFC. Well, i would say medium overall quality, heavy, trustworthy enough from previous experience. If the guy has no access or no money for something better i think he should go for the 620...

Edit: I think that Chieftec in the US is Chenming!
http://www.chenmingusa.com/

 

[randomizer]

I agree with the last point. Like I said in my last post (after an edit) romanian prices are so over-inflated that its hard to get a decent deal. I wont ever complain about australian prices again :?

As for the active PFC, meh, marketing hype.

 

[bigblack]

Finally i think that the Chieftec 620A happens to be this Sirtec model:
http://www.sirtec.com/HPC-620-A88S.php

Same specs, same looks, even same box colours and design.

Now you have enough data. It's your call! Good luck again.

 

[Infernal01]

My mainboard is Asus M2N-E (has 16x PCI-E, nForce 570)

The 8800 GTX is very hard to find, in fact, i think the store that i bought it from is the only one that has the card from more that 1 manufacturer. The store that i bought the card is the first one in the list bellow (i work there). The problem is, most of the stores have a lot more products that are not listed on the internet.

Here's a list of stores (these links are the PSU section):

http://www.dol.ro/page_prod02.aspx? (i can't link u to the PSU section)
http://www.ultrapro.ro/shop/ProduseCategorii_upshop.jsp?cat_id=2111
http://www.eta2u.ro/index.php?optio...e639ca7e8cbcd70231b7a75b3&Itemid=1&lang=ro_RO

Other stores that are not listed here, either don't have any PSU on the internet, either the only have noname's.

I found a PSU, here were i work, with these specs:
Chieftech CFT-560A-12C, 560W, ATX 12V 2.0, 3 RAIL's 12V (52A) SLI/CF Ready

Yes, i live in Romania.

 

[Infernal01]

I don't know how u didn't knew about Chieftec, it's the most popular PSU here in Romania. Surely u've heard about the Chieftec cases ? they only come with a PSU, and are very very expensive.

Here is their website : http://www.chieftec.com/

PS: I spelled it "Chieftech" instead of "Chieftec" in my early posts.

 

[bigblack]

I found a PSU, here were i work, with these specs:
Chieftech CFT-560A-12C, 560W, ATX 12V 2.0, 3 RAIL's 12V (52A) SLI/CF Ready

Yes, it's decent, same series as the 620A. If you can get it significantly cheaper (-20%) than the 620 A, get it. Don't buy it for say -10% difference, go for the 620A instead, you will not regret it. And of course forget about the 550W of your first post.

Good luck man, and happy gaming. If i can be of any help for a fellow Balkan, i will be glad to.