350 Watt PSU too much?!?

[Britboy]

I just ordered a 350W PSU and case from a local computer company and the guy was trying to persuade me to get the 300W instead. He said 350W was overkill for the system I was building:

Athlon 1.4, KT266A Mobo, 512MB DDR, 40GB IBM HD, 10GB Fujitsu HD, Geforce 2 Pro, Soundblaster, NIC, 52X CD, 16X Burner.

He said the system did not need that much power, the PSU would generate a lot of heat with the power that was not being utilized, that it would also shorten the life of the PSU:Q

Sounds rediculous to me. My understanding was that the more power you have the better. Besides, the PC sits there idle most of the time anyway until you come and use it. What do you guys think?

 

[Adul]

Don't listen to that fool. A higher rated power supply won't hurt you any. You will only draw what you need for that systm to run. Besides that 1.4 really sucks some power and a 350 is needed in same cases. Also, you never want to run a powersupply at maximum load. That will definitely lead to a shorter life has it stresses to provide power. Best to have some margin in there.

 

[daweasel]

You may need the extra power down the road too.

 

[HappyPuppy]

He was either jerking your chain or he didn't know what he was talking about. Yeah, the 300W PSU would probably be adequate, but it certainly won't hurt anything to have some reserve power. And the comment about the 350W PSU generating more heat and shortening it's life is pure BS. The larger PSU will probably last longer because it is not being taxed or maxed out.

 

[snidy]

I have 400, it's better to have extra power for future upgrades, and it won't hurt your system to have extra.

 

[ukDave]

lol

what a pile of crock!

i've got a 431w biatch and its nice and cool. Althugh it is the Enermax dual fan. but its silent too!

too much power damaging the PC, stupid!

 

[Britboy]

I don't think he was yanking my chain, I think he was just an idiot, which is why I ordered the 350 Watt. Its like saying if you need to go 100mph drive a Ford Festiva, rather than a Ferrari. And this guy works for a computer reseller, just think what advice customers in retail stores are getting!!

 

[BaDaBooM]

Aw-Aw-Aw! (gorilla grunting) More power! You can never have too much power!

 

[HaVoC]

All modern PC computer supplies are of a switching design, meaning they will only provide as much power as needed up to their practical delivery limit. If you only use 50% of the rated capacity, it won't waste any energy. I'd recommend getting as large a PS as you can afford. You don't know how much juice processors will require in a year's time.

 

[Mem]

I`ve 350w and I only have 900mhz T-bird with one HD,DVD etc,anyway you can never have too much power and at the end of the day it`s your money your choice so the guy should know better.

 

[MasterHoss]

Yeah, although you don't need a 350W ps, if you want one, you might as well get one. It's not going to do anything bad--he may be right about generating more heat but oh well.

 

[ColpoUulo]

Always better to be safe than sorry!

 

[187]

a good name brand quality 300w ps will suffice for the system you are building but 350 never hurts! i find that the 300w that fail are the crappy brand generic POS.