Can a 500watt PSU handle: Q6600, 4GB, 2x 3870, 2x SATA HDs?

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

You can get an estimate at least with a PSU calculator like the one I linked.

I also recomend keeping your eye on the Earthwatts EA500 because of it's 80 plus efficiency vs the 70% on that FSP. It's kinda pricy but newegg frequently puts it on sale and if your lucky it will go on sale soon with a $30 rebate.

Oh and BTW I just noticed that FSP only has one 6 pin PCI-E connector. I think you can get adapters to power a 2nd card but I wouln't recomend that. Run the PSU calculator with your OC and any upgrades you may do and see if you can get by with 500w and if so grab that EA500 when it goes on sale. Or heres a good deal atm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151040 69.99 after instant savings, 80 Plus certified, and seasonic is a really good brand. They also make the antec earthwatts PSUs.

it says I'll need 539 watts, so I should get a 600 watt just in case

It is not going to work. That psu is rated for 30a on the 12v rails. That would be ok if you had only one 3870, but with two, you need much more. Read this review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/472/8/ on page 8 they recommend a 800watt psu with a 45a 12v rail. Don't necessarily look at the wattage. In cheaper psu's it can be misleading.
Look at the corsair 620HX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139002 with 50a
, $145 after $25 rebate, or the
PC P&c 610 silencer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703005 $119

For another source, let's try local information:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/0 [...] age17.html
Note that that is total power consumption (357W) for:

CPU Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (Quad-core 3 GHz)
Motherboard Asus P5E3 Deluxe (X38)
Memory Crucial 2 x 1 GB DDR3 1333 MHz 9-9-9
Hard Drive Western Digital WD5000AAKS
Hitachi T7K250
DVD ROM DVD Player Asus 12x
Power Supply Coolermaster RealPower Pro 850W

That does not include losses from the PSU, but a 500W PSU supplies 500W to the computer, and can draw more than that from the wall.

Will people please stop talking from their rear when it comes to PSUs? Do recall that just because something puts out the wattage you need, it can be on the wrong voltages. The 3870 will draw up to around 16A on the 12V line, so make sure your PSU delivers at least 25A (very vague guess) or so of 12V current, or you'll be unhappy.

I agree on this


The PSU has 2x12V rated at 18A and that combined equals 36A.
Those are probably peek values and the PSU can probably put out 28-30A continuous.

30A*12V=360W

So I would say yes you can but dont push that q6600 too far with voltage. Keep it at stock volts and 3GHz to be on the safe side.

It can be done and it could possibly run for years but would it be wise?

Get something with 3 or 4x12v rails at 18A

Thanks for sharing the PSU calculator link. I did not know there was such a thing. The noob is learning still!

This looks like you checked the CPU box as being four CPUs, when it should have been one. The calcualtions are based on how many CPUs there are in the computer, not on how many cores a CPU has. This seems to be a common mistake that people make.

Okay, I found this PSU. Its a 600 watt and has four +12v rails rated at 18a each. I have actually used this exact PSU before for my friends machine, and it works great. Heres the link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341001
Its a OCZ GameXstream 600watt PSU

My friends machine is:
Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 @3.4Ghz
ASUS Intel P35 P5K-E Wifi
4GB Mushkin DDR2-800mhz
ATI Radeon HD 3870 512mb
320GB WD SATA HD

With the 2 3870s in Crossfire your most critical question should be will your P/S cover the 12v rail amperage requirements, I'm not familiar with Crossfire I've just come out of using an SLI setup of 2 7800GTX, and the P/S handling more than one graphics card 12v rail delivery is very important, I would suggest a P/S with a single 12v rail delivering around 60A on the single 12v rail, that would more than cover your needs and pin down the total watts, because you'll probably end up in the 750w range to get one.

Its very important to get a P/S at this time that can handle things further down the road when age causes the efficiency to start dropping, when it comes to a P/S in either an SLI or Crossfire setup, you don't want to skrimp on the power needed, you didn't seem to skrimp on any of your listed specs, so give your system more than it needs now!

If you do you won't regret it in the future!

I had a 700W Fortron, it started out fine, one 7800GTX no problems, later down the road when I purchased a second 7800GTX and started running in SLI, at first it seemed to be no trouble, until I started gaming @ high resolutions and the 7800s were drawing their full load, then the trouble began, and if you don't have the 12v amperage available the same will happen to you.

I was lucky on the outcome, you may not be so lucky, get a P/S with the 12v rail amperage you need, that information should be listed somewhere in the video cards spec requirements, and you won't regret it later. Ryan

Edit, Heres my suggestion for your setup>
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703009

Ahhhhhhhh..., that makes sense. Been a while since I've had my own case of "End User Error".

Edit: Yup, it says the thing about the quad sockets right there plain as daylight. No more drinking while posting for me! ;-)