Power Supply help! Don't have enough power, must buy quick!

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arianon

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Hey guys, ok I put together a machine quick a couple months back after my old Athlon XP box fried. But I've been running it underpowered and I need to pick up something this week so I can overclock this next weekend. My specs are:

Pentium D 915 w/ Zalman 9500
Gigabyte DS3 Rev. 2 w/ Switch MCX159-CU
4gb OCZ Platinum pc6400
ATI X1800XT 512mb w/ Zalman 900cu (still stock, need more power)
Rosewill Silicon Image Raid Controller
2x WD 250gb Sata II
2x DVD Burners
Floppy Drive
Bluegears B-Enspirer
Antec P180 w/ 4x 120mm fans

all running off a Thermal Take TR2430 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023

I've got a couple of options, I was wondering whether to go with a:

Corsair HX620 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002

SILVERSTONE ZEUS SST-ST65ZF
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817163108

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI (or the 600 watt model)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002



Or I was thinking of keeping the TR2430, and getting one of these:

Thermaltake W0099RU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153037
which a local store is selling one for $40, which would make it a lot cheaper solution but maybe not as good?

I'm not that knowledgeable about power supplies, so please let me know! I want to overclock the processor and graphics card, and then with the Intel price drop in July drop in a q6600 or e6850 or whatever is a great deal.

Thanks a ton!

Ari
 
apt403

apt403

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The Corsair or Silverstone unit will work fine. Just go with with the one that's cheaper.

Not to many people around here like the Gamerxstrem line. They're pretty much just rebranded FSP Epsilon's, which are cheaper then the Gamerxstreams. Running dual power supplies is more trouble then it's worth, people have done it, but it's not a very good idea.
 
J

jackluo923

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What problems are their for running a dual power supply system? Why isn't it a good ideal? Isn't it like a redundant power supply? If one fails, the 2nd one can take over temporarily.
 
ausch30

ausch30

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No that Thermaltake unit you linked ties into your existing PSU and is just for running video cards. Your best bet would be to just go with a good quality PSU.
 
apt403

apt403

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Eh, it's just not practical. For one, most cases arent really made to house dual power supplies, so finding a place to put one inside a case without doing some modding might be tough.

Second, a power supply usually has to be hooked up to a mobo to power on, since the on/off button on the front of the case is connected to the mobo. This can be bypassed by using a paperclip or something of the like to short a green and black wire on the 24 pin connector. While that'll turn the psu on, you would have to take the door off your computer whenever you wanted to powered up.

Without heavy modding a second psu can only power certain components, like the gfx card or HDD. I mean, you COULD rig something up so both PSUs would work in tandem, but it requires alot of work.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

http://www.procooling.com/index.php?func=articles&disp=56&pg=1

See? Not exactly easy.

The simplest way of using dual power supplies would be to connect things to the second psu that don't pull all their power from the mobo. The optical drive, HDD, case fans, case lighting and gfx cards that require PCI-E power connectors all pull some or all of their power from the psu itself, they don't use the mobo as a middle man. If you just hook those things up to the second psu it'll take some load off the main psu. But still, if you can afford to get a single, high power unit, that's the way to go.
 
weskurtz81

weskurtz81

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Did you think about the PSU before you put all your new components at risk? You don't really need a 600W PSU unless you are planning to run a quad core and a 8800GTX. It never hurts to plan for the future though, but that tends to be hard to do in the tech arena.

At any rate, you largest problem with your current PSU isn't the total wattage, it is the 12v wattage. A good 500W psu would work for your system, but any of the higher models will work fairly well also. Make sure to get a good quality supply though, with a nice amount of amperage on the 12v rail(s).

wes
 
Rugger

Rugger

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Without heavy modding a second psu can only power certain components, like the gfx card or HDD. I mean, you COULD rig something up so both PSUs would work in tandem, but it requires alot of work.
Click to expand...
Did you actually look at the link that he gave for the TT W0099RU? Here is a link to the MFR website. This is a separate PSU designed for powering GPUs. The thing will actually mount in a 5.25" drive bay.

Arianon: The separate GPU PSU is interesting, but with your current PSU and the intention of overclocking I would lean towards upgrading to a single, higher quality PSU. Of the PSUs that you listed, the Corsair and Silverstone would be the best options. My rig is a 3800+ (S939), two Samsung Spinpoint HDDs, single DVDRW, Audigy 2ZS, X1800XT (512MB), 2GB RAM, and the odd external USB-powered 3.5" HDD. I run all of this on a Antec NeoHE 430W while maintaining a constant 15% OC on both CPU/GPU and running Folding@Home 24/7. Folding uses all idle CPU cycles, therefore keeps the CPU at 100% load 24/7. I have no stability issues and think you can get a PSU with less beef. You could easily power your rig with the 520W version of the Corsair.
 
randomizer

randomizer

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Dont bag the TR2, I ran my system (in my sig) for 3 months on it, crashed alot and rebooted in oblivion without heavy cpu undervolts and underclocks, but it kept on chugging. Its the best super cheapo psu around I reckon, easily recommend it over a generic on a low power system. Of course, its no good for you or me.
 
A

arianon

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Thanks for all the help guys! Didn't know that about the GameXtremes, I was going off thew newegg reviews where people were raving about it. Guess I'll knock that one off the list.

If I put my decision down to the silverstone or corsair which one would be better? I like the modular design on the Corsairs, but I like the side mounted 80mm cooling on the Silverstone because in the p180 the power supply is mounted in a little passageway with a large 120 fan pushing air through it, not sure if there will be some heat bottled up around the powersupply with the top mounted fan?

I really like the hx520 as well, only reason I was looking into the 600s is that I want to add a quad core processor and be able to upgrade to a better beastly graphics card at some point, as well as add a 10k drive for caching (my 250s are in a raid0 config) plus maybe another fan or 2 and maybe another network card/wireless card. Just wanted the head room.
 
A

arianon

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Picked up the new Corsair HX620 last night. Made a world of difference, my machine is now booting up significantly faster, removed some small graphic anomalies that occurred occasionally. Also the video card is now overclocked and quite happy :) It's like night and day, thanks for all the help guys!
 
G

Guest

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Dude, dual core processors won't even turn on without a 1000w power supply. If you want to overclock you'll need at least 2 1kw PSUs.

OK, seriously, look into how much power you will actually need. Look at motherboard reviews which compares the power used by the total system. Well equiped computers use less than 400w. The amps on the 12v rail is the only big concern and any decent 500w power supply will provide enough power for a quad core and an 8800 GPU.
 
ZOldDude

ZOldDude

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Apr 22, 2006
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Hey guys, ok I put together a machine quick a couple months back after my old Athlon XP box fried. But I've been running it underpowered and I need to pick up something this week so I can overclock this next weekend. My specs are:

Pentium D 915 w/ Zalman 9500
Gigabyte DS3 Rev. 2 w/ Switch MCX159-CU
4gb OCZ Platinum pc6400
ATI X1800XT 512mb w/ Zalman 900cu (still stock, need more power)
Rosewill Silicon Image Raid Controller
2x WD 250gb Sata II
2x DVD Burners
Floppy Drive
Bluegears B-Enspirer
Antec P180 w/ 4x 120mm fans

all running off a Thermal Take TR2430 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023

I've got a couple of options, I was wondering whether to go with a:

Corsair HX620 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002

SILVERSTONE ZEUS SST-ST65ZF
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817163108

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI (or the 600 watt model)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002



Or I was thinking of keeping the TR2430, and getting one of these:

Thermaltake W0099RU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153037
which a local store is selling one for $40, which would make it a lot cheaper solution but maybe not as good?

I'm not that knowledgeable about power supplies, so please let me know! I want to overclock the processor and graphics card, and then with the Intel price drop in July drop in a q6600 or e6850 or whatever is a great deal.

Thanks a ton!

Ari
Click to expand...

Call the toll free # for PC Power & Cooling and ask for a Tech....they will sale you a 750 (60 amps 12volts rail) for only $169 USD.

NO PSU is better than PC Power & Cooling.
 
apt403

apt403

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NO PSU is better than PC Power & Cooling.
Click to expand...

That's too much of a generalization. The PCP&C unit you're talking about is based on a Seasonic design, which means that they're awesome power supplies, but not the best. The 1000w Turbo-Cool is, AFAIK, built by PCP&C themselfs, and it's one of the top power supplies money can buy.
 
rwayne

rwayne

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I will tell you from experience that the OCZ Technologies GameXtream PSUs are awesome. I put a 600Watt one in a friends PC that I built for him and was so impressed by it I bought a 700 Watt one for myself.

The thing is whisper quiet, has a 3 year warranty and has one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings on NewEgg.com. It has won a lot of awards also.

The wiring and the cable connectors are really, really nice. I you have to see them to know what I mean.

At the time I bought mine there was a Rebate which made it cheaper than the 600 Watt Model. I purchased mine on March 10th and got the rebate in about 2 weeks ago. They are good for their word.

700 Watts on 4 rails. That is stable power. I would encourage you to get one.
 
Rugger

Rugger

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You're using less than 1/2 the rated capacity of the PSU. It should be runing rock solid. I'm not saying that it is a bad PSU, i'm just sayiong that you shouldn't be having any issues with it considering your current usage.
 
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