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Is my existing PSU up to powering my new build? Second opinion please!

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Hi everyone,

I would like to reuse the case and PSU from an existing build in a new build. The case is a Antec Sonata 3 with 120mm fan and Earthwatts 500W PSU (EA500).

The spec for the EA500 is here;

http://www.antec.com/usa/productDetails.php?lan=us&id=2...

I'm a complete newbie at this but I have been trying to read as much as I can understand about PSUs - including the very long, insightful post in this forum. From what I could gather from that, I'm guessing the EA500 is still a decent little PSU? It even has some redeeming features like 2 PCI-e connectors and the ability to deliver it's full rated power 24 hours a day at 50degC.

The wattage calculator provided on Antec's website suggests my components need between 343 - 393W depending on whether I install a HD4850 or HD4870 graphics card and if I alllow for an extra SATA HDD for future expansion. I know these caluclators are of limited use but at least it's a guidline. In the calculator, I allowed for '90% system load' and '20% capacitor aging'.

So the rest of the components are;

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R
CPU: Intel E8400 Core2Duo @ 3.0GHz
RAM: G.SKILL DDR2-800 PC2-6400 CL4 (2 x 2GB)
VIDEO: ATI HD4850 or HD4870 (former the most likely)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB SATAII 16MB
Optival Drive: 1 x LG Super Multi Blue GGW-H20L
PCI-e TV Tuner Card (antenna)
Front Bay Card Reader
Allowance for 4 USB devices

Would anyone advise against using the EA500 PSU to power the above system?

As far as the future is concerned, I did NOT allow for any overclocking but with a spare 100W or so, surely there is room for me to learn? Or to Crossfire a pair of HD850s?

Sorry if I've been a bit long-winded - any advice or opinions gratefully received.

Ta,

Andy




More about : existing psu powering build opinion

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Thanks o1die!

I've just been looking at the label on my PSU and notice that for the 12V1 & 12V2 rails, instead of listing 22a as per the weblink, my EA500 only has 17a listed for both 12v rails... My Sonata 3 c/w PSU was bought back in January last year and I've just discovered the EA500 is an older model...

I also noticed/read that the 2 PCI e connectors are 6 pin instead of 8. Will that cause problem with the build or affect performance?

Less convinced now...

Andy :-(
Power supply Master

AndyBlair1972 said:
Thanks o1die!

I've just been looking at the label on my PSU and notice that for the 12V1 & 12V2 rails, instead of listing 22a as per the weblink, my EA500 only has 17a listed for both 12v rails... My Sonata 3 c/w PSU was bought back in January last year and I've just discovered the EA500 is an older model...

I also noticed/read that the 2 PCI e connectors are 6 pin instead of 8. Will that cause problem with the build or affect performance?

Less convinced now...

Andy :-(

You should be more convinced, what the 17 amp rating means is that you have a Seasonic built version of the EA500.
The rating actually doesn't mean much as there is no over current protection on the rails, so you effectively have a single rail psu.
Look around for post's by member invisik , he runs an overclocked Q6600 and dual GTX260's on his Delta oem'd EA500.

delluser1 said:
You should be more convinced, what the 17 amp rating means is that you have a Seasonic built version of the EA500.
The rating actually doesn't mean much as there is no over current protection on the rails, so you effectively have a single rail psu.
Look around for post's by member invisik , he runs an overclocked Q6600 and dual GTX260's on his Delta oem'd EA500.


Thanks DellUser1 - I was just reading about the differences between EA500s and EA500D and the pros of having a single rail PSU. I'll definitely hang onto my EA500 for a bit longer now :-)

Confidence restored!

Andy
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