350Watt PSU for my A64 2800+?

[masshass81]

I'm looking to get an Antec Smart Power SL350Watt PSU... +3.3v@28a, +5v@35a, +12v@16a

This is the rig I'm looking to get:

A64 2800+
nForce250Gb mobo
512mb Corsair PC-3200
Radeon 9200
80Gb SATA
52X CD-RW
Onboard Audio

I'm sure that the Antec 350W is good enough for this current setup, but I would like to ba able to upgrade to an A64 3700+ and/or 1Gb of ram in the future... Will the Antec 350W be good enough for that upgrade. btw, I will NOT be upgrading the GFX card in the future since this system is used mostly for programs and apps

 

[Algere]

I think so

 

[Sonic587]

Definitely.

 

[Geomagick]

no problem here.

a nice well balanced setup for your needs.

 

[pipsey]

The PSU would be fine..

I know you won't be using this rig to game, but I really don't think there's any reason pricewise not to go with the Radeon 9600 nowadays. Mwave has an ASUS Radeon 9600SE 128MB for $80, and it's running just fine in my friend's linux/windows dual boot system. Just a thought

 

[masshass81]

I know, I wish I could spring for the 9600, but I'm building this system for a friend and she is only lookin to spend around $700 so I might even have to downgrade to an ATA HDD, because I'm also getting a monitor, keyboard/mouse, and that antec case so I need all the extra few dollars to cram everything into the budget.

I'm not getting an Athlon XP since there isnt much headroom for cpu upgradeability with sockets A. I wanted this $700 system to be upgradeable in the future and I think the 754 socket is great for that (up to A64 3700+) =). I just think that getting an Athlon XP 2600+ or 2800+, I would only be able to upgrade to a 3200+ before I have to buy a new mobo. But any suggestions/modifications to this system would be great

 

[moparmaga]

You will be fine, I'm running the following on a cheapo generic power supply that I bought before i know the importance of a quality power supply.:

A64 2800+ Clawhammer @ 2.0 ghz 3200+
Chaintech Nforce3 250
1 gb Mushkin PC3200
Radeon 9800 Pro
1 40 gig 7200 Seagate
1 LiteOn DVD burner
1 Nec DVD-Rom
1 Hauppauge Tv Tuner Card
1 Chaintech Av-710 Sound Card
3 12" Cold Cathodes
4 80 mm case fans
1 front case led temp display

You should be fine on a good quality supply if i can run all of this on my generic PowerUP PS.

 

[Lyfer]

The 12v is the single most important rail on PSU's today, I would recommend atleast 18A on the 12v, your psu has only 16A which is fine for modest components but if you later decide to pop in some SerialATA driveS/Geforce 6800 GT you will more than likely to start to see instability in your voltages. It really depends on PSU too, I had a cheap Allied 300W that would run an old KT333 board/1700@2ghz/Radeon 9500@9700 pro/2 HDs/2 opticals all perfectly stable. It was originnally suppose to be powered by an enermax 300w that flaky and wouldn't post my rig at all. (go figure )

Just remember not all PSU's are built the same, but usually Fortron is the most consistent in there voltages, ask anyone who owns one.

 

[Jhatfie]

You should be okay with that power supply, but as Lyfer said, if you add more components like a 6800 Ultra or overclock you might be asking for trouble. I had problems with two different power supplies (Thermaltake 480W and Antec 430W) on my overclocked A64 setups before breaking down and getting the superb OCZ Powerstream 520W and Enermax Noisetaker 470W. Mostly it came down to the 12v rail getting to heavily loaded under heavy use with the previous supplies and the modest 18A they offer is not enough in my opinion. My thermaltake would drop all the way down to 11.4v on the 12v rail under load and the Antec was not much better. My new OCZ never drops below 12.03v and the Enermax 11.97v on the same two overclocked systems under load.

 

[mickles]

I personally have a PSU rated +12V@30a...

I have heard of instability @20a, but my volts only read at approx +12V@12a on average. I'd be safe and go with something with 20+ amps.