Ll I be safe with a corsair CX430 430w PSU to power my system?

[paradigmGT]

I am looking at running a Radeon HD 5850 (max draw of 150w according to HWcompare), a Core2Duo Q6600 CPU, and 2 SATA drives.

Will a Corsair CX430 430w be sufficient?

Also what about a Thermaltake TR2 600w PSU... this one isn't 80+ rated where as the Corsair unit is... should I expect that it will make more power than the corsair?

 

[ko888]

For a system using a single Radeon HD 5850 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater system power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 28 Amps or greater and have at least two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!!! Sufficient Total Combined Continuous Power/Current Available on the +12V Rail(s) rated at 45°C - 50°C ambient temperature, is the most critical factor.

Overclocking of the CPU and/or GPU(s) will require an additional increase to the maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current ratings, recommended above, to meet the increase in power required for the overclock. The additional amount required will depend on the magnitude of the overclock being attempted.

You may find power supplies on the market that supply more than enough Wattage to run the system. However, some of them lack Sufficient Amperage capacity on the critical +12 Volt rail, which is necessary to properly power the critical components in the system (i.e. CPU and GPUs). This is the reason why graphics card manufacturers may overstate the power supply wattage, usually by at least 50 Watts, in an attempt to take into account some of those power supplies that have the weaker +12 Volt rail(s).

The Corsair Builder Series CX430 (SKU# 75-001666 / CP-9020046), with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 32 Amps and with one (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector, is electrically sufficient to power your system configuration with a single Radeon HD 5850 graphics card but is deficient by one PCI Express supplementary power connector so you will have to resort to using a dual 4-pin Molex peripheral to 6-pin PCI Express adapter cable.

The Corsair Builder Series CX500 (SKU# 5-001667 / CP-9020047) has two (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors. This one would be more suitable for your use.

The Thermaltake TR2 600W (W0388RU), with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 48 Amps and with one 6-pin and one (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is more than sufficient to power your system configuration with a single Radeon HD 5850 graphics card. This particular model was made by HEC/COMPUCASE had horrible reliability problems so it was discontinued and was replaced with the TR2 TR-600P model with 80 PLUS Bronze certification made by FSP.

 

[paradigmGT]

Best answer selected by paradigmGT.

 

[paradigmGT]

For a system using a single Radeon HD 5850 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater system power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 28 Amps or greater and have at least two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.

Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!!! Sufficient Total Combined Continuous Power/Current Available on the +12V Rail(s) rated at 45°C - 50°C ambient temperature, is the most critical factor.

Overclocking of the CPU and/or GPU(s) will require an additional increase to the maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current ratings, recommended above, to meet the increase in power required for the overclock. The additional amount required will depend on the magnitude of the overclock being attempted.

You may find power supplies on the market that supply more than enough Wattage to run the system. However, some of them lack Sufficient Amperage capacity on the critical +12 Volt rail, which is necessary to properly power the critical components in the system (i.e. CPU and GPUs). This is the reason why graphics card manufacturers may overstate the power supply wattage, usually by at least 50 Watts, in an attempt to take into account some of those power supplies that have the weaker +12 Volt rail(s).

The Corsair Builder Series CX430 (SKU# 75-001666 / CP-9020046), with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 32 Amps and with one (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector, is electrically sufficient to power your system configuration with a single Radeon HD 5850 graphics card but is deficient by one PCI Express supplementary power connector so you will have to resort to using a dual 4-pin Molex peripheral to 6-pin PCI Express adapter cable.

The Corsair Builder Series CX500 (SKU# 5-001667 / CP-9020047) has two (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors. This one would be more suitable for your use.

The Thermaltake TR2 600W (W0388RU), with its maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 48 Amps and with one 6-pin and one (6+2)-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors, is more than sufficient to power your system configuration with a single Radeon HD 5850 graphics card. This particular model was made by HEC/COMPUCASE had horrible reliability problems so it was discontinued and was replaced with the TR2 TR-600P model with 80 PLUS Bronze certification made by FSP.

Wow that is an awesome, well informed post. Thanks a lot!

 

[paradigmGT]

How do you figure how many electrical and what type of connections the HD 5850 video card needs? I am actually now looking at an HD 6850 instead and am trying to figure this out...

 

[ko888]

How do you figure how many electrical and what type of connections the HD 5850 video card needs? I am actually now looking at an HD 6850 instead and am trying to figure this out...

Consult the graphics card manufacturer's product web page for the specific card.

In most cases the number and type of required PCI Express power connectors will be specified along with the recommended minimum power supply wattage. For AMD GPU graphics cards I haven't seen any power supply +12 Volt continuous current rating specified by any of the manufacturers nor AMD them-self.

For a system using a single Radeon HD 6850 graphics card AMD specifies a minimum of a 500 Watt or greater system power supply. The power supply should also have a maximum combined +12 Volt continuous current rating of 25 Amps or greater and have at least one 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector. Some of the non-reference design Radeon HD 6850 graphics cards require at least two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors.