550 W psu enough for Quad Core ?

[Darkslayer7]

I am about to buy a GIGABYTE MA-770 US3 rev2.0 motherboard , and an AMD Athlon II X4 620 .
I am asking that my 550 W psu will power those components .

My Pc : *Amd Athlon 64 X2 400 @ 2.70 GHZ
*Biostar NF-560 A2g+ AM2+ ready
4x1 GB Kingston Revolution 800 Mhz gaming Ram
Powercolor Ati Radeon 4870 1GB Gddr5
550 W MS-Industries Power PSU (20A on 12 volt rail)

I am on low budget , so a new PSU would kill me :/ !

 

[Upendra09]

that would would be sufficient for now but once you get more money, invest it in a better quality PSU, I don't know about that brand and low quality PSUs can be very problematic in the future.

You should also think about buying an 80+ efficiency PSU

 

[hunter315]

The 4870 is whats going to stress it out not the 620. With only 240 watts of power available on the 12V rail its really about a 300W PSU, im suprised it has managed to run a 4870 this long.

The PSU calculator suggests atleast 283W of power for your system, something like the corsair 450vx would safely power your system for years to come, and a PSU is the wrong place to skimp so its a good investment.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003&Tpk=450vx

 

[Darkslayer7]

That AMD x4 is a 95 W cpu . ( 110 W power consumption on 100 % load )

My Psu ( 550 W ) is an Industrial PSU ( mid quality , and a Local Brand )

 

[hunter315]

overall wattage doesnt mean a thing. If you really do only have 20A on your 12V rail, then you only have 240W of useful power since 80% of the power drawn by a modern system is from the 12V rail.

 

[Darkslayer7]

+3.3 V - 28 A
+5 V - 34 A
+12 V - 20 A
-12 V - 2 A
-5 V - 1 A
+5VSB - 3 A

Only my Videocard IS connected to the 12 V rail . ( 2xmolex to 6PIN PCIE , and a 6 Pin PCIE connector ) nothing more

 

[Darkslayer7]

** EDIT : Output Peak Capacity: 650W **

The PSU has 3 x 12 volt rails with 2 molex connectors ( 6 molex )

 

[rodney_ws]

I think several people have warned Darkslayer against going forward with this power supply, but he seems determined to ... well, go for it! We look forward to reading your "Did I destroy my computer?" post next month.

20 amps on the +12V rail is ridiculously low for a PSU that claims a 650 watt rating. I have a 650 watt PSU on my system at home... 52 amps on a single rail. Corsair 650 HX baby!

 

[Darkslayer7]

This psu is 4 months old . I am using it with my ATI 4870 since 2 months with no problems .

 

[rodney_ws]

No one is questioning whether it works now. Here's the thing... you came here with a question and 4 people all said the same thing. That's about as unanimous as it gets here. I guess if you keep asking eventually someone (who really doesn't care one way or the other) will tell you that it will work just fine... hell, they might even say you bought too much PSU for your application.

The point is this... you're taking a risk with that power supply. If you don't mind the risk, go for it... you were given ample warning. That is a VERY old-school PSU... you can look at the rails and tell... 28 amps on the +3 volt? Worthless in a modern system. 34 amps on the +5 volt? Again, that's worthless. Those numbers imply that the PSU you are using is from another era... one where the +12 volt rail didn't really matter for much. The times have changed... and so have the PSU requirements (for modern computers)

Go browse on NewEgg at PSU specs... NONE of them will look like yours... NOT ONE.

If you are confident you'll be able to return your various components under warranty, maybe this is an acceptable risk to you. I'm generally a risk taker... I don't have health insurance (voluntarily), I dropped the insurance on my Seadoo... and I had the min. coverage on my truck when I was still making payments... and even after all of that, I think cutting corners on a PSU is a risk I'm not willing to take. Why? In the long run a good PSU pays for itself... in terms of reliability, longevity and efficiency.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

4x1 GB Kingston Revolution 800 Mhz gaming Ram
---> Just get 2GB of RAM now and get more later. RAM prices at the moment are 2x what they were compared to 4 months ago due to shortages.

4870 1GB --> Get the 512mb version and save yourself some $$$. The 1GB version will only help on 1080p resolutions with AA turned up.


Use the $$$ you saved to buy a new PSU. You can get a good PSU for $50.

 

[OverK1lL]

That's fine, a couple of my friends are running 5850's and Phenom II 955 processors for about 3 months now, no issues as of late, but we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[jsc]

What kind of PSU's do they have?

 

[OverK1lL]

550W coolermaster eXtreme Power.

 

[jaguarskx]

I have a Seasonic S12 550w powering the rig in my sig which as two DVD Burners and 5 hard drives.