I'm building a new system and I am wondering if my Fortron 350W PSU will provide enough power for it. Here it is:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550, 2.33 GHz
XFX 8600GT XXX Edition
Asus P5N-E SLi
2*1GB Kingmax/Twinmos DDR2 800MHz
LG GSA-H22NBAL

and probably + one fan on the case

Probably Not. How many hard drives will you have? Any additional PCI devices? Any other optical drives? Any USB devices powered solely by the system?

See the calculator at: http://www.extreme.outervision.com [...] orlite.jsp

I would say no as well.

I get 298W with 20% cap aging. I assumed one SATA hard drive, 2 USB devices, a 56K modem, and a memory card reader, all running flat out at 100% but with the CPU at 95% TDP.
Fortron is supposedly a quality brand, so I think you'd be safe as long as you don't overclock. Still, any upgrades should probably include a bigger PSU. Choose one from Tier-3 or better from this list:
http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiere [...] ngs?t=anon

my vote is no

go here;

http://www.extreme.outervision.com [...] orlite.jsp

enter the necessary data and figure it out.

BTW.. if you PSU has anything other than a 24 pin connector and PCI-E connectors off the PSU.. I'll be the answer is no.

Hey everyone,

Sorry I forgot to mention, there's a SkyStar2 PCI card (DVB-S) and an old SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit soundcard as well, and 1 SATA HDD.

With that said I made the calculations with that psucalc and got 298W.

What do you think about this one here:
http://www.thermaltake.com/product [...] 008990.asp

It's affordable for me, but the question is it going to be enough? Maybe if I ever try overclocking, how much will I be able to go with this one?

Thanks very much for everyone's input!

That PSU should be fine even with overclocking.

It will be fine with no overclocking. I used the rig in my config right now with an FSP 450watt for a long time until a friend needed it, then I upgraded. Just don't overclock and it'll work just fine.

Remember,

PSU's provide "MAXIMUM RATED CAPACITY" (MRC) ratings.. so a PSU that claims it's 350 is a max value.

PSU's are notorious for only achieving 80-87 % of "MRC". And MRC is in therory a short burst not intended to run at that capacity for hours on end.

In your case you are going to be using a 350 watt PSU. Let's say your PSU is old and the very best it can sustain is say 80% of MRC. So 350 x 0.8 = 280 watts. Your calculations indicate you need 289 watts (presuming a full load).

One of the things that kills systems is excessive stress on the PSU's ability to provide sufficient evenly regulated power at the correct voltages to the computer components.

I have a simple question for you.

So tell me... are you really interested in jepordizing your new system to a permenant failuere because of a PSU that just wasn't up to the task the one time you wanted / needed all the capacity it could provide?

Or ......

Would you prefer to have a PSU that you KNOW has the capacity to sustain your systems full load for a long period of time?

I think using your 350 Watt PSU is living on the edge.. personally I wouldn't do it.. I try to allow for a minimum of 20% more than I need and frequently 50% is where I feel comfortable..

So... in your case.. (let's say you need 300 Watts to sustain full load)... I'd certainly be looking at a bare minimum of a 400 watt PSU ( could deliver 320 watts) and I'd more likely be looking at a 500+ (should be able to deliver about 400 watts).

The other thing you need to recognize is how many rails are in your PSU.. Personally I prefer a PSU with a single rail.. you get to use more of the capacity of the PSU's rating that way...

The choice is yours..

Best of luck

I see, I read some other threads on the same matter and I am convinced I need a good PSU.

Now I'm only looking for suggestions, something not more than $60 US.

Anyway, will I see some more positive votes for that Thermaltake I mentioned in my previous post?

You might want to consider an Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU. I just purchased one online from Frys on sale for $49.99 - NO rebate required - marked down from $89.99. A real deal. The Frys stores in San Jose CA area also have the same special in their stores and you save the shipping - I bought mine online and paid $8 for ground shipping. By the way - this unit is certified to have 80% or better efficiency accross most power ranges and has two 12 volt rails @ 17A each.

You might also find this link helpful: Recommended Sub-$150, high-efficiency PSU's

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1460

You will see the Antec Earthwatts PSU on the list and at the above price it is 1/2 to 1/3 of most other items listed.

That same website also has a review on this PSU:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_de [...] page_num=1

Thanks for the recommendation, I'm sure it's a nice PSU, rather good deal, but perhaps I should've mentioned that I'm from Bulgaria and I was actually surprised to find there's one store that actually has this psu, but it's in regular price, of course, $110 US without tax. I'm afraid I can't spend that much for a psu.

So I'll have to order some of the things from a local store probably this Tuesday so should I go for that Thermaltake?

Thanks!

Yes it will run but as to the performance it would be not good. Not enough power to suplly the power hungry specs you got.