400 is enough?

[guynaa]

i made a computer specification:
(sorry for the Hebrew, just look at the names)
מעבד Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Box
לוח אם ASUS P5K
כונן קשיח Westren Digital WD3200AAKS 320GB
זכרון OCZ DDR2 2048MB (1024MBx2) 800MHz CL4
כרטיס גרפי Leadtek WinFast PX8800GTS 320MB PCIe
צורב LG GSA-H62N X18 DVD
מארז ללא ספק A-Top X-Blade
ספק כח ThermalTake TR2 500W


anyway, the salesperson offered me another psu he told me that that specific model of the thermaktake psu is known to have problems and he offered an Enermax 400W liberty instead. he told me that the 400W will be enough and this psu is far superior.
i would like to know if its true and if it can run this system overclocked?

 

[zenmaster]

Keep the Thermaltake.

THey are not bad PSUs and 400w is very borderline.
It should work, but I'm not sure I would want my system that borderline.

 

[bill_bright]

Use the eXtreme PSU Calculator Lite to determine your power supply requirements. Plug in all the hardware you think you might have in 2 or 3 years (extra drives, bigger or 2nd video card, more RAM, etc.). Be sure to read and heed the notes at the bottom. I recommend you set Capacitor Aging to 30% and if you participate in distributive computing projects, I recommend setting TDP to 100%. Then look for brands listed under the "Good" column of PC Mechanic's PSU Reference List. Don't try to save a few dollars by getting a cheap supply. Digital electronics needs clean, stable power. A good, well chosen supply will provide years of service and upgrade wiggle room.

Plugging in what you listed, and setting aging to 30%, I get 330W so the 400W should be fine with stock clock settings. HOWEVER, I have not seen any trend nor can I find any reference to the TT TR2s having any problems. TT PSUs have a good reputation so I would be suspicious of his motives and wonder if he is just trying to get you to buy a new supply. I would not get rid of a perfectly good TT 500W for a 400W supply. Enermax as a brand is good, but on par with TT. Are you having problems with the TT?

 

[lostandwandering]

The Thermaltake TR2 is not a very highly rated unit, where as the Enermax is, so in those terms the Enermax is better. The 400 watt Liberty will run your system both stock and overclocked, but it doesn't leave you a whole lot of room for upgrades (if you plan on upgrading this system). Are there other units that you could get for the system from the shop you are purchasing from?

 

[guynaa]

i don't have problems with it because its just a list so far, i haven't ordered it form him, i do have lifetime warrenty so i dont think he has a motive of selling me something he will need to replace for free.

i think of maybe getting a usb sound card (i m a musician) will it still be enough?

 

[guynaa]

btw i ran eXtreme PSU Calculator Lite and it recommed me 328W does that mean i m good?

 

[bill_bright]

i think of maybe getting a usb sound card (i m a musician) will it still be enough?

Plug it in the calculator and find out. It should be, especially if the USB device has its own power supply.

i do have lifetime warrenty so i dont think he has a motive of selling me something he will need to replace for free

Then, again, why is he pushing the 400? Is there something wrong with the 500W?

i ran eXtreme PSU Calculator Lite and it recommed me 328W does that mean i m good?

Ummm, well, 328 is less than 400, and less than 500 too, so yes. But as zenmaster noted, with the 400, you do not have much wiggle room. If you decide to add more drives, more RAM, a bigger video card, that 400 may not be enough.

 

[guynaa]

in assumption i wont add ram or a video card, will this current system work 100% good and stable?

 

[zenmaster]

There is nothing wrong with the Thermaltake.

Here is a review of the 430w version of the same PSU
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/332/5

The 500w version will give you plenty of power.

You could suggest a 450w Corsair as an alternate possibility.

The Enermax is a better quality PSU, but the Thermaltake is not bad.
Also the Thermaltake is more likely to limit you in the future if you choose a more power hungry GPU.

 

[bill_bright]

will this current system work 100% good and stable?

No one can promise that - but "in theory", yes.

 

[zenmaster]

While you are not likely to upgrade immediately,
It would not be unreasonable to think in 1-2years you would want
More memory and a faster GPU.

While your Setup is fine for now, you will need more power as newer games come out. And from the GPU selected, it sounds like you are a gamer.

 

[guynaa]

alright i think ill stick to the enermax, thank you all for helping!

 

[bill_bright]

alright i think ill stick to the enermax, thank you all for helping!

Why? Is the TT you have broken? If not, there's no reason to replace it and you should stick with the 500W PSU.

 

[lostandwandering]

Why? Is the TT you have broken? If not, there's no reason to replace it and you should stick with the 500W PSU.

He hasn't bought anything yet, so in essence he is just changing his build list. Each unit has its trade offs. The Enermax has fewer watts, but a stronger +12v rail. The TT has more watts, but a weaker +12v rail. Either one should work for his system, so if there isn't really a difference in price, it doesn't matter.

 

[bill_bright]

My mistake - I was thinking (serves me right! - it's tough trying to live up to my last name! ) that he already had the TT.

L&W is right. A quick look at the specifications tab for the Enermax 400 shows +3.3V@26A, +5V@28A, +12V1@20A, +12V2@20A, -12V@0.6A, +5VSB@3A. While for the Thermaltake 500 the specifications tab shows +3.3V@30A, +5V@28A, +12V1@14A, +12V2@15A, -12V@0.3A, +5VSB@2A.

Pretty impressive (and surprising to me) about the Enermax. So I checked the Enermax website and note here (click on "+specifications") it says for the +12V, it is 30A combined. That makes more sense, but is still very good.

Another good thing about the Enermax is it has a rated efficiency of 80% while the TT is rated at only 70%. This means for every 100 watts consumed, only 20 watts is wasted (in the form of heat) with the Enermax while 30 watts is wasted with the TT.

 

[onestar]

The enermax does well. Go with that one.