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Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > Power Supplies, PC Cases & Case Mods > Power supply: What do I need for this system?

Power supply: What do I need for this system?

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dougslater   08-30-2008 at 03:13:54 AM

I've just built a new system with the following components:

  • Q6600 processor, peaked at 3.3GHz from 2.4
  • EVGA NVIDIA 680i SLI motherboard, I can't remember right now what I clocked it at.
  • 2x Seagate Barracudas, SATA-300s arranged in a Raid 0 array
  • 2x 12v optical drives (1 CDRW, 1 DVD recycles from the old computer)
  • 2x1GB OCZ PC6400 DDR2 Dual Channel, up to 840MHz from 800.
  • EVGA GeForce 8600 GT, not yet overclocked
  • Two 120mm case fans
  • One small chipset fan (came with the 680i)
  • Huge Thermaltake Max Orb fan+heatsink, 3.0W, sitting on some Thermaltake TG1 thermal paste
  • Generic 430-Watt Power Supply, which came with the Cooler Master case


A concise question: Is the 430-watt power supply sufficient for this system?

As overclocked, it seems to run fine. It runs Call of Duty 4 at 1680x1050 and at the highest settings without problems, although at a less-than-immersive framerate, which I have attributed at this point to the budget graphics card and not a possible squeeze on power. I plan to add more RAM and a second 8600 within the next year, and I have yet to overclock the graphics card.

Could the power supply be or become a performance bottleneck? If so, what power supply would suffice?

Thanks for your thoughts.
Doug


Message edited by dougslater on 08-30-2008 at 03:23:29 AM
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dagger   08-30-2008 at 03:25:08 AM
- 1 +

With the existing hardware, that psu should do fine. It may not be enough if you decide to get a real graphics card (no offense). 8600 is not enough to run serious games like CoD4.
http://www.guru3d.com/category/vga_2/

A second one won't make much of a difference. You should at least get a 8800gt. It'll far outperform 2 8600s put together.

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
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