250w psu enough?

[kryptonian99]

This is my first time attempting to build a pc. Here are the components I have so far:
Mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9&cm_re=asus_mini_itx-_-13-131-659-_-Product]
CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872]
2 sticks of this memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144371]
I have a 220g laptop HDD. I will be getting a slim dvd drive, and a radeon hd 5600 or 5700 series GPU. I'm trying to fit all this into a very small case. The only thing that will fit is a mini itx power supply. The largest one I have been able to find is 250w. Would that be enough? When I plug it into psu calculators it comes back really close, but there is no option to select a mini itx board. I don't know if that matters or not. Any insight would be extremely helpful.

 

[4745454b]

Your CPU link doesn't work, its been deactivated. It does show similar items however, and they were 45W CPUs. Lets toss in another 50W for the board and other stuff, and your at ~100W total. This leaves you 150W for the GPU if you want to hit the max of your PSU, which I don't suggest. The 5670 is <75W, you'd probably be around 150W total. Should be fine.

 

[kryptonian99]

Thanks for your help. I'm not sure what happened to that link. It's the AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana. It's a 95w supply. So that would put me up to 200w. Do the hard drive and dvd drive not add much?

 

[4745454b]

Should be a part of that 50W figure. They will use a lot on boot up, but once your going the hdd uses around 5-7W and the DVD even less unless its in use.

Whats the point of this build?

 

[Herr_Koos]

Don't just add rated wattages together and think it will be enough. Peak power consumption could exceed that by quite a bit. 250W is VERY border line. methinks.

 

[damasvara]

I wouldn't be so brave pairing a 250W PSU with a moderate power consuming GPU. The limit is too close. A 5570 would be the better option if you can't get you hands on a 350W PSU.

Theoretically, a PSU shouldn't be stressed with >70% load. It will run alright, but not for long.

 

[4745454b]

Depends on the PSU. The quality ones can run at max output for as long as you need/want. AFAIK the ITX PSUs are generally quality units at well. I'd also point out that laptop PSUs are generally less then 70W, and they have a CPU and GPU to deal with. You don't hear a lot of upset people about that.

 

[damasvara]

^ Mobility GPU and CPU are designed to be as low as possible in terms of power consumption. The highest power consuming high-end notebook I know only consumes approximately 100W. A member here told me that, using his i7 and 16GB RAM laptop. :O

As for desktop PC, under full load, the PSU will be forced to supply stable voltages in the long run. As we all know, anything under full load will have shorter lifetime. Even if a desktop PC is using an ODD and HDD from a notebook platform, which is negligible in terms of power consumption (less than 10W difference), the main power consumer is still the desktop platform CPU and GPU.

We're talking about ITX PSU here, with all its limitations. Including hardware support. I wouldn't even think about arguing on this issue if the OP doesn't state his intention to use a discrete GPU, yet for his sake, I'd say not to gamble on the PSU. I've had my share of loss, I sure don't want to see others experience what I have.

To back up my argument, here's AMD's data sheet for the HD5670:

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/ati-radeon-hd-5670-overview/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5670-overview.aspx#3

Although the PSU requirement across the 5450 to 5670 is the same, I need to point out the actual power consumption between the 3 cards. With 5670 close to 5750, which (really) requires a 400W PSU, the 5570 which is close to 5450, will be a more reasonable option.

 

[4745454b]

I'm not denying that the 5570 would be a better choice. If this is a gaming build then I'd actually keep the 5670 and drop the CPU down to a 45W one. But a 95W CPU with a 60ish watt GPU is around 150W. This leaves plenty of power for the mobo and drives.

Have you ever dealt with Shuttle computers? They don't have huge PSUs in them. People stuck 8800 and 9800GTs in them all the time.

 

[damasvara]

^ Well, if in real-time application, the 250W is enough, then I can only wish the best for the OP. As a first hand user, your opinion should be more reliable than my theoretical precautions.

FYI, I do have experience with the portable, shoe-box-sized Shuttle PCs on my previous job. Minus the 8800, of course. I use to work as a stage crew for LED TVs and panels, with the Shuttle PC as the controller. Never tested the power consumption though.

 

[4745454b]

For the record, I personally never used a shuttle. But I know enough people who did. They didn't come with huge PSUs, and as you said yourself the one at your work had an 8800 in it. The TDP of the 8800 is higher then the 5670, so assuming a similar CPU TDP I don't see how its a bad idea. I was going to mention that a 95W CPU with a 50W GPU with a ~50 rest of system is around 200W. 200W is 80% of what the PSU can output so its not like its running totally as hard as it can. I'd also like to point out that I agree that the 5570 is a better choice. No sense in pushing the hardware harder is needed. Either drop the 5670 down to the 5570, or drop down to a 45W CPU. If you do both your looking at a ~150W draw, or only 60%. Easier on the PSU.

 

[kryptonian99]

It will be a HTPC. Mostly used for hulu and netflix. Some light gaming, Starcraft 2 mostly. Would a 5570 be enough, or would I be better off to drop the cpu to a 45w double-core?

 

[damasvara]

HTPC for Starcraft 2? That's a pretty contradictory profile. :lol:

Well, for lower power consumption, both solution will definitely works best. Using a 45W/65W TDP CPU and an HD5570.

But that SC2 will be quite an issue for the GPU, since it needs at least a 9800GT (about equal to 5670, according to Tom's chart)

For light multi-threading, a dual core CPU should get the job done. SC2 is not that CPU demanding anyway.

Therefore, the more reasonable setup would be using a dual core 3.0GHz 65W TDP paired with the HD5670. I'd say, that would be your best bet.

Hint: AMD Athlon II X2 is quite a power saver if you know how to undervolt.

 

[kryptonian99]

Thanks for all your help, as you can tell I'm a complete noob at this. I did find one 300w mini itx supply, but it hasn't gotten very good reviewshttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817338042
The 250w I was looking at gettinghttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817338042 has gotten better reviews.

 

[infernox_01]

what resolution will you be playing starcraft 2 at? is your case slim? if its slim you are limited to low profile cards. there are low profile 5570s and 5670s so thats not a problem. if your not limited to low profile cards then you could go for the gddr5 version of the 5570 which is faster then the ddr3 5570.

 

[kryptonian99]

As regards resolution, I'm not very picky. I'll play it low if need be. I play it on my old laptop right now on the lowest settings possible, and it still looks fine to me.
As for the case, I'm fitting it all into my Xbox 360 case since it died on me.

 

[damasvara]

^ In that case, the 5570 with a Athlon II X2 it is then. That 250W PSU will be more than capable to handle them.

 

[kryptonian99]

I might have found the answer to having a faster cpu and better gpu. Would this psu work with my setup?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103044It doesn't say what the main connector it uses.

 

[damasvara]

Wow, a 460W! But the price is also a wow, 79 bucks! :O

Anyway here's what I found.

www.sparklepower.com/pdf/SPI4601UG.pdf

http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2110449_-1

It's definitely the solution to your issue. Although, with your PC using profile, a faster CPU and GPU would be a bit of an overkill. But as long as you got the cash, I'm with you. :lol:

One thing bothers me though, an Xbox case? I'm not so sure you can even put a GPU in it. You might wanna compare between the case size and the low profile GPU. Since you can afford an $80 PSU, why not go for a nice cute HTPC case? Unless it's a preference thing. I'm simply giving some alternatives.

 

[infernox_01]

what type of power supply is that? theres also this 700w power supply that looks very similar.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103045

im using a HD5570 inside my dell inspiron 530s which has 250w power supply. in terms of width, its 3-4 inches wide so only low profile cards can fit. in kryptonians case i would go for a gts450 low profile or a HD5750 low profile since he has 460w.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261078&cm_re=gts_450-_-14-261-078-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131363&cm_re=5750-_-14-131-363-_-Product

as for the processor, you can only use a max of 95w so i would recommend either the x3 445, the x4 640 or wait for the x4 945 to come back in stock.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103809

 

[kryptonian99]

Best answer selected by kryptonian99.