Okay, what's the Power Supply standard now?

[The_MaguS]

I'm gonna be throwing together an athlon 4000+
gforce 7800
1 gig ram
2 dvd drives
audigy, etc...


How much power supply to do I need? 500?

<font color=blue> There's no such thing as hell, but you can make it if you try.</font color=blue>

 

[Ned_Flanders]

Wrong section mate.

______________
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[morbidangel]

atx 12v 2.03 550watts

 

[Starfishy]

This is the standard? I think not.

 

[apesoccer]

<A HREF="http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/" target="_new">Wattage Calculator</A>

I wouldn't go solely based on what this says, but it can give you a ball park figure. If they don't have the 7800, it uses 110-120 peak watts (if i'm recalling the right info).



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[Starfishy]

I just build two systems with these specs and ran 350W generic PSU's on them:

A64 3200+ (venice)
DFI LP NF4 Ultra-D
eVGA 6600GT PCI-e (128Mb)
2x512mb Geil DDR
2x DVD burner
160Gb Seagate HD
<A HREF="http://www.anitec.ca/?mode=product_detail&pid=1005&mcid=13" target="_new">ACT Case</A>

I used the PSU that came with the case. So far I know one of the rigs has been used playing LOTR:BFME a lot and has not crashed yet.

I used to be told on this forum that trying the PSU you have is always best and then upgrade if its not enough. This is one area where I think many people (especially on this forum) spend too much money and effort on. I think that many of us could get by with a cheaper PSU than what we run (including my own rig).

I think this latest trend in buying better PSU's than necessary is brought on by people thinking that the PSU not having enough power can take other components with it. I do believe this can happen if the PSU is faulty, but I have never heard of a PSU that didn't have enough wattage killing other components.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

but I have never heard of a PSU that didn't have enough wattage killing other components

Killing? Me neither. But making people think that other components are what is failing in their PC instead of the PSU? Definately.

Personally, I like to overkill a little on <i>all</i> of my components. I have better cooling than I need. I have better RAM than I need. I have a better quality motherboard than I need. Etc. Why? Because it gives me that much more assurance that years down the road everything will still be running peachy-keen. I build my PCs to last, even after I upgrading a piece here or there. So having extra PSU headroom is fine in my book.

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[Starfishy]

Yeah, but so many cases these days come with PSU's. I just find it such a waste when I am building someone a rig and I go out and buy a PSU that they might not have needed. I usually tell them that I have not purchased the "best" PSU, because I got this one for free. But if they have any problems than this is the likely problem, and I always have extra PSU's laying around that I will test in there system and then buy them the appropriate one. If they need a new PSU then I will usually buy one with a little head room, as you have stated, but if they don't need it, then its just extra money.

 

[RichPLS]

So your like the weasel computer geek salesman going for cash instead of quality... Oh boy, where can I find one of those guys in my area!

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
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So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[RichPLS]

So really, this Athlon 2400 with a GF 5200 and gen 300watt PSU is fine for my small server workstation?

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[P4Man]

>So really, this Athlon 2400 with a GF 5200 and gen 300watt
>PSU is fine for my small server workstation?

No, but it should be fine for a huge small desktop laptop

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[RichPLS]

awweright, but I'm not spending more than $350! And I want one of those big 17" CRT's too.

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[Todd_a]

Really if you are willing to sink about $1200 into just a CPU and graphics card I think you can sink $100 into a power supply. I preffer Antec and their new True Power 2.0 is a pretty nice line. The price differances is not big so I say get the best. The 480w is $89 +$7 shipping here:

<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103929" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103929</A>

The 550w is $119 +$7 shipping here:

<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103933" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103933</A>

This is the True Control 2.0 and lets you adjust the voltages with a front pannel controller that goes is an external bay. All their newer power supplies are VERY quiet. Being an ATX2.0 standard means that they have 2 seperate 12v rails, a 70+% efficiency, and include all the nice stuff like SATA and PCI-E power connectors. As far as I know both the 480w and 550 include 2 PCI-e connectors.

Now really if you are looking at a Venice cored Athlon64 4000+ your system will likely only draw less than 250w, but you do not really want to run a power supply near its max rating for very long unless it is a good brand like antec, but if say you switched to a dual core and SLI, a 480-550w power supply would do you good. That 480w is a very good deal.

 

[Starfishy]

I wasn't saying that you shouldn't spend money on a PSU if you need to. If I build a gaming system, and the case does not come with a PSU then I will buy a PSU, and I will buy a good one just to ensure that I do not have to buy 2 PSUs cause the first one sucked. I will however always try a PSU that I have sitting around (not 2nd hand, but one that I got in a different case), or try the one that came with the case (if it did). It doesn't make sense to me to spend the money if it is not necessary. My customers know that if they have a problem with there system they can call me and I will fix it for free (labour). If they need a new PSU then I will put one in. I don't consider myself a cheap as5, and I certainly don't think I rip people off.

 

[danizaken]

Oh cool so the True Control also features voltage adjustment.

 

[Guest]

Yeah I heard 16V on the 12V rail is tha bomb!

Oh I just got a SP500, its modular, its quiet, its atx V2.0 and theres no light so I can sleep at night!

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[Todd_a]

Yup. Pretty much you boot into BIOS and tweek the voltages very slightly until the read the correct voltages.

If I was on a REALLY tight budget I might use a PS that came with a case, but I rearly can get one to last more than about 6 months. The only case/power supply comboes I ever recommend is some of Antec's like ther 1650B which comes with an Antec Smart Power 350w. This is a good case as both the PS and case fans are pretty quiet and the cooling is good too. This is odd for a "budget case. They also run about $60 or so which is pretty good for what you get. These are great for Athlon64 systems as the new Venice cores use so little power, that when combined with even an x800XL and you overclock the CPU to 2.6Ghz, you still are likely only running about 200w and everything stays cool... and quiet.

I have 3 Antec power supplies and they run perfect. The oldest is 4 years and I run my systems hard and overclocked. My 480w True Blue ran 24/7 under heavy loads for about 3 years strait and I do not air condition my house most of the time, so I see room temps of 90'F quite often in the summer.