Do I need a new PSU?

3p0ch

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Apr 7, 2009
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I'm currently in the middle of doing some upgrade to my rig and need to know if I need to buy a new power supply. My spec right now are:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L mobo
Intel E6300 C2D OC'd to 2.24 GHz
4 Gigs (2x2) OCZ RAM OC'd
EVGA 9600GT OC
(1) Seagate 500Gb 7200RPM HDD
(3) Western Digital 1Tb 5400RPM HDD's
(2) DVD Burners
(1) 52-1 Media Card Reader
4-port PCI-USB add in card
(3) Case Fans

Right now I'm running a Raidmax 530 Watt Modular PSU. I'm getting ready to add:

4 Gigs (2x2) OCZ RAM (for a total of 8)
4-port PCI-SATA add in card
(1) Blu-Ray Burner
and maybe swap my 9600GT of a new 200 series nVidia graphics card.

What size PSU do you recommend. I know there use to be a site where you could go check what you would need but I can't seem to find it.
 
The power you need is mostly determined by the vga card. Without upgrading the vga card you will be OK.

There is little sense in upgrading the vga card unless it is a couple of tiers better, like to a GTX260-212. Such a card wants a psu capable of 36 amps on the 12v lines, and your psu is marginal for that. The wattage is ok, but the amps may not be, they do not specify that, which is not a good sign.
Raidmax is considered a tier 5 unit on this list:
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx
For $45 you really should not expect much.

Something like the corsair 550VX will deliver 41a costing $69.99 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

You could try it, probably safely, but if you experience some flakey operation, the psu would be the first suspect.