Need help defining power supply

[mlingerfelt]

Hi guys!

I´m building a new system but I´ve never done it from scratch and I´m not sure how strong a power supply I´ll need.

My system will be:
- Core 2 Quad Q 9300 2,5 Ghz
- Evga Nvidia Geforce 9800 GT 512 Mb
- Gigabyte EP45C Mobo
- 4 Gb Ram DDR 3 1333 Mhz
- 2 hard drives of 250 Gb each @ 7200 rpm using raid

I´m not in the US and a friend (who has a slightly less powerful Core 2 Duo machine) recommended a Zalman power supply. He uses a 460W, but I don´t think this would be enough for me.

Can you help me out?

Thanks!

 

[krazyk12]

i recommend at least a 550w. but if you have the money get a 600.

 

[Zorg]

At which site do you shop? It's a lot easier to recommend a PSU if we know what's available and the relative prices.

English is preferable.

 

[mlingerfelt]

Thanks for the replies. Well, I like to make comparisons at Newegg.com, but it´s not much use because I can´t buy from them...

The sites I use are not in English, but maybe you could point out the bewst brands and power capacities...

The most common brands around here are:
- Zalman
- Seventeam
- Extream
- Corsair

Thanks again!

 

[Zorg]

Go with the Corsair. You could get by with a VX450 but I would get the VX550 to leave some room and lower the actual/max load ratio.

The eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5 recommends a PSU of 316W with an OC to 3G, Vcore of 1.25V, 9800XT and a 100% load.

Plug in the numbers yourself and see.

 

[mlingerfelt]

Thanks again, Zorg.

Just one more thing: because of local support and warranty issues, it might be better for me to get a Zalman PSU. Is this not a recommended brand? If it is, what would be the equivalent to the Corsair VX 550?

 

[Zorg]

I don't know which Zalman you are talking about. Here are two reviews of Zalman PSUs one 600W and one 500W. They both got good reviews.

Zalman ZM500-HP » Reviews - XSReviews.co.uk - Trusted Hardware Reviews

JonnyGURU.com - Zalman ZM600-HP 600W

 

[mlingerfelt]

Great! This will certainly help me choosing. Thanks again!

 

[Zorg]

Good luck with it.

 

[mlingerfelt]

I´m back with more questions...

I was looking at the specifications of 2 models you mentioned - Corsair VX550 and Zalman ZM600-HP - and a couple of doubts remained:

1) Specs of my graphics card (Evga Nvidia Geforce 9800 GT 512 Mb) recommends +12V with 26A. The Corsair PSU clearly supports that, as it has a single +12V@41A. The Zalman, however, has 4 of 12V @ 16A each. Question (hope it´s not extremely dumb): will the Zalman support my graphics card?

2) In case it does, which would be better: the single, dedicated rail of the Corsair or the 4 separate ones offered by Zalman?

Thanks again!