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Underpowered PSU? Help Appreciated

Forum CPU & Components : Power Supplies, PC Cases & Case Mods - Underpowered PSU? Help Appreciated

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scorpmrat   11-13-2008 at 03:39:44 AM

Hey there, I have been having some issues with my computer for the past couple of months ever since I installed an 8800gt and a new power supply. My specs are, Athlon 5000x2, 8800gt (previously a 8600gt), a 430watt PSU, not sure of the amps and 12v raid and stuff ( dont know a lot about PSUs ).


So my questions is, can a PSU that does not have enough power in some way, like say the 12V rail, really slow down a computer in games? My computer has never shut off by itself from lack of power, but I know that 430 watt is on the low end for an 8800gt, but stuff ran just as good, if not better, on my old setup which had an 8600 and the stock 300 watt PSU that came on this premade computer.

Some other things about this computer as far as power consumtion, I have 2 internal HDDs, (one 320gig and an 80gig), I also have an internal dvd drive, and an external dvd/lightscribe drive.

I would really love to just get a new PSU if I knew that it would make my computer run like it should, but I cannot justify spending money on one if it is not the problem to begin with.

Sorry if this is just a big wall of text, but I thank you all for any information you could give me.

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Zecow   11-13-2008 at 04:00:04 AM
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That rig is not going to consume more than 350. I'd say....
A psu with insufficient power can damage your components. It can cause shutdowns/reboots.
A psu with insufficient Amps won't be able to power ur cards.

Reply to Zecow
bobbknight   11-13-2008 at 04:09:42 AM
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Get a PCPower Silencer 500Watt PSU

Reply to bobbknight
unclefester   11-13-2008 at 07:00:42 AM
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I would say your power supply isn't going to have enough ummph.
My PS is a PC Power&Cooling 610 Silencer with a single rail at 49 amps.
It runs at 83% efficency. Which means 610 watts times 83%=506.3 watts continous. Here a link to Antec's web page http://www.antec.com/usa/ under support you will find a PS calculator.
Hope this will help.

Message quoted 2 times
Reply to unclefester
mike99   11-13-2008 at 10:47:51 AM
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What make/model PSU? If it is some $40 no name jobby, it will be rubbish that can only produce 300W. Cheap PSUs are rated on peak power, not Max continuous, so they can only perform at max for a few seconds. The PSU will have a label giving the outputs. If a PSU is 80% efficiency it means that if the computer uses 160W, the PSU will draw 200W from the mains connection, and system will produce 200W of heat in total.

Mike.

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Zecow   11-13-2008 at 11:21:25 AM
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unclefester wrote :

I would say your power supply isn't going to have enough ummph.
My PS is a PC Power&Cooling 610 Silencer with a single rail at 49 amps.



not enough ummph?? A quality PSU does not have to be more wattage. Its the continuous current it can deliver at the specified amps. I have 4 HDD, Q6600 OC'ed, a pump, 5 Radiator fans, 4 case fans, 2 optical drives, and 4850 crossfire and I'm on a 550watt. Total power consumption is less than 420 watts.
Quality PSU would be Antec, Corsair, Toughpower, PC Power&Cooling. No name brands are prone to fail.

Reply to Zecow
coldneutron   11-21-2008 at 04:54:42 PM
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unclefester wrote :


It runs at 83% efficency. Which means 610 watts times 83%=506.3 watts continous. Here a link to Antec's web page http://www.antec.com/usa/ under support you will find a PS calculator.
Hope this will help.



@ UncleFester

This in not what efficiency means! First, manufacturers state peak efficiency, which typically occurs somewhere between 40%-60% load, not 100% load. Efficiency is a function of load and drops off with the deviation from where the peak occurs.

Second, assuming that your psu was 83% efficient at 610 w load, this means it is drawing 610 W / 0.83 = 735 W from the wall, not putting out 506.3 watts continuous as you say.

Reply to coldneutron
notsolameben   11-22-2008 at 05:06:15 AM
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If the OP is saying that his power supply is 430 watts it is likely that he has the 430 watt antec earthwatts PS. Quality should not be a problem. I'm amazed at how many people provide bad information in their responses to threads about power supplies. There is no way that his system is even coming close to pushing the limits of his power supply. The original poster may want to look at this article at anandtech.com

 

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooli [...] i=3413&p=2

 

where they analyze the power requirements of various systems. He and others will find that a system using a quad core phenom, and a 3870x2 had a total power consumption of 340 watts. I don't know whether that is at the outlet or from the power supply. I would guess that its from the outlet meaning that the load on the power supply would be even lower. In any case, there is actually some decent factual information there. Also, for those that are really concerned about their computers power supply requirements, there is a 15 dollar device called Kill a Watt

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6882715001

 

which can measure power draw in realtime from the outlet. Using this device, I've measured the peak draw of my computer to be about 490 watts at the outlet on a Corsair HX520 so the draw on the power supply would have been roughly 490watts*.80=392 watts. Here are the conditions of my test:

 

E6600 OC to 3.73 Ghz 1.45 volts (Note: overvolting components drastically increased power consumption see "Great Performance Increased Power Consumption" for empirical evidence http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 072-4.html )
SLI 8800 GTS 320mb cards OC to 642/950
EVGA 680i motherboard NB 1.5 volts
1 500 gig hard drive
1 optical drive
3 120mm fans
1 80mm fan

 

Value reported was peak load during full test of 3dMark06

 

If the OP would be more specific about the issues that he is having we may be able to better determine what is the problem


Message edited by notsolameben on 11-22-2008 at 05:08:37 AM
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