is 500w enough for this computer

intel e8400 3ghz
2gig ddr2 kingston 667mhz
one 120gig hard drive 7200rpm
one 80gig hard drive 7200rpm
asus 8800gt 512mb
motherboard: asus p5k-vm
case: antec 3 hundred

IF it's a quality PSU. AMPS, not watts is what matters.
Read here for a while:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/

Your GPU card etc needs xxx amps as does other stuff................. What does the card need?

500w is usually enuff if it's a decent PSU.

It's enough, even if it's not a "decent psu."

500w gives enough headroom to cover that setup.

how's this power supply?
http://www.antec.com/us/productDet [...] odID=27500

If it isn't quality, 500W is not enough. JonnyGuru did a roundup of bargain bin power supplies, and they had a cheap PSU that said it was rated for 650W die at 184W of load. Most died before rated load, and getting near that point had voltage ripple way outside of ATX specifications.

Can you give us the exact model of the power supply?

Edit: beat me to posting, the Earthwatts are a great line of PSUs, cheap, SeaSonic built and high-efficiency, it will have no problem with your setup.

that psu will be fine.

ok
thx for the help guys