4850 and AMD X4 630, on a "400W" case-provided PSU?

[VirtualLarry]

Just wondering if you think that it would work.
A Biostar 760G board with an AMD Athlon II X4 630 (2.8Ghz), 2x2GB DDR2-800, 500GB 7200RPM HD, DVD burner. Adding a HD4850 VisionTek single-slot. Normally takes one PCI-E 6-pin connector. There is an adaptor for two molexes, and there are two molexes free on the PSU.

Case+PSU is this one:
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...er-Case-w-Keyboard-Mouse-Speaker-Black-Silver

Edit: This is a similar case, and assuming that the "400W" PSU that is in these cases are all the same, then this review is bad news.
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...00W-20-24pin-ATX-Mid-Tower-Case-Black-Silver#

Edit: I think it might be this PSU. Says 26A on 12V.
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=PS-UL400W&title=iMicro-UL400W-400W-ATX12V-Power-Supply

I'm not asking what is the best solution, obviously the best solution would be to upgrade to an aftermarket PSU. I'm just asking if it's likely to work, as-is, or not. (And whether or not it will burn out.)

Edit: According to this, it draws 110W max for the video card. Add 95W max for the CPU, and that's 205W. The PSU has 316W on 12V rail, if specs are good. Should be enough I think.
http://www.geeks3d.com/20090618/graphics-cards-thermal-design-power-tdp-database/

 

[Texashiker]

If it were my machine, I would get rid of that 400w upgrade to something like a 650w.

 

[996GT2]

A decent budget power supply isn't that expensive these days. Corsair CX430s are frequently on sale for under $20 AR, so why not stay on the safe side and get something like that?

Of all the parts on a PC to skimp on, the PSU should be one of the last.

I doubt any of those cheap no-name PSUs you linked to can provide 100% of their advertised power. Have a look at this review to see how bad a no-name PSU (even an expensive one) can be:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=187

Edit: Just took a look at the specs on that iMicro 400W and I would stay far, far away. It's rated at 25 degrees C? What a joke. Most quality PSUs are rated at 40C and above. Rating a unit at 25C makes it look better in terms of how much power it can put out, but that means nothing in real-world use. Heck, if Seasonic took one of their 500W units and rated it at 25C instead of 50, they could probably market it as an 800W unit easily.

Also, it says the unit has these connections:
Connectors: 1x 20/24pin Main Power; 1x SATA; 4x Peripheral; 1x Floppy

Where's the ATX12V/EPS12V connector for the motherboard? Or is this unit so crappy it doesn't even have one of those?

 

[Texashiker]

Also, it says the unit has these connections:
Connectors: 1x 20/24pin Main Power; 1x SATA; 4x Peripheral; 1x Floppy

1 SATA??? It looks like that power supply is several years behind current trends.

Low wattage + very few connectors = stay far, far, far away.

 

[fffblackmage]

It'll work, but it's probably crap quality. I would replace it with a CX430, as 996GT2 suggested.

 

[drizek]

No need for anything more than 350W, but you do not want a PSU/Case combo that costs less than a good 350W PSU.

Spend 35 bucks and get an antec(or anything that is 80plus certified).

 

[theAnimal]

(or anything that is 80plus certified).

80Plus certified is not an indicator of quality.

 

[drizek]

No, not necessarily, but if I had to pick just one metric by which to judge a PSU, it would be that.

Theoretically, being fully modular is probably better correlated with quality than 80 plus certification, but seeing as how his case/psu budget was $35, I think just getting something 80plus and with Power Factor Correction would be a pretty good starting point for models to look at ( I would never personally buy a PSU without reading an in depth and trustworthy review of it).

 

[Rifter]

bad idea, 400w at 25c means it might not even turn out 300w at operating temps.

 

[Texashiker]

Why are such low wattage power supplies being suggested? This leaves the op with no room for growth or expansion.

Also, depending on on what website you read, power supplies run best at 50% - 75% load. If his system only draws 300w, then he needs anywhere from a 500w - 600w power supply.

I am a firm believer in overkill for power supplies. I only want about a 50% load on my power supplies, not 75% load. And, I want room for growth.

 

[fffblackmage]

Why are such low wattage power supplies being suggested?

Because not everyone believes a good quality PSU will explode at just 75% load.

Seriously, you're acting like PSUs aren't designed to handle anything above 50% load or something. Yes, cheap POS PSUs may crap out at a mere 50% load, but good quality PSUs can typically handle more than 100% load (not that I would advise anyone to do that).

I only want about a 50% load on my power supplies, not 75% load.

Why does that matter? As long as the PSU is capable of handling it, there's no difference other than the price of the PSU.

 

[996GT2]

Why are such low wattage power supplies being suggested? This leaves the op with no room for growth or expansion.

Also, depending on on what website you read, power supplies run best at 50% - 75% load. If his system only draws 300w, then he needs anywhere from a 500w - 600w power supply.

I am a firm believer in overkill for power supplies. I only want about a 50% load on my power supplies, not 75% load. And, I want room for growth.

Read this:
http://www.overclock.net/power-supplies/872013-50-load-myth.html

Most good power supplies are conservatively rated. Take the Corsair VX550, for example. Best Buy's in-house Rocketfish brand re-brands it as a 700W unit and it still passes ATX specs even when 700W is pulled from it. Just because some crappy PSUs fail at 75% load doesn't mean the good ones all do. You could pull 550W from a VX550 all day long even in a 50C environment and it won't even skip a beat. I'd take that over a crappy 750W that can't even deliver 80% of its advertised power without blowing up (such as the Thermaltake TR2 RX) any day.

Also, keep in mind that PSUs are least efficient when operating at <20% load. A modern quad-core Sandy Bridge system with a high end GTX 570 isn't really drawing more than 125-150W at idle. If you get an 800W PSU just for that, it will likely be LESS efficient when the system isn't under load compared a 500W unit simply because the 800W isn't being loaded enough to work within a range of good efficiency.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If anyone is wondering about this thread, I should probably explain.

I sold an Athlon II X4 630 2.8Ghz quad-core computer at a flea, and to make the sale, I threw in a HD4850 (which I now wish I had back for bitcoin). The computer was built with the case-provided PSU (which should have easily been sufficient for powering the CPU + IGP).

I was a little nervous that I was going to get a warranty call, in case the PSU burned out or worse, but thankfully, they haven't called.

I decided to take the two other PCs that were built with similar/same specs, and beef them up to "gaming rigs" to sell on Craigslist (since regular desktop quads don't seem to sell). So I dropped another HD4850 into one of them, and I was running OCCT PSU test (linpack + furmark, essentially) for a few minutes, and it didn't shut down or go poof.

I was slightly afraid to run it that way for the whole hour, but I think that if it passed a few minutes, then the PSU can supply enough power for both the CPU and the video card.

The PSU specs claim 26A on the 12V rail, but who knows if that's continuous or not. I really doubt it. Anyways, it runs.

 

[SparkyJJO]

400W output, maybe when it is on fire.

I wouldn't expect it to last long-term.