Answers to my AMD XP PSU Questions... Maybe yours too.

[Mallow]

It seems like there is a never ending discussion on the anandtech forums about the best/minimum PSU to use for a system. I always thought it weird that people thought they needed 550W PSU for a regular type system when my system (AMD XP 1800, 3 WD HDD's, DVD, CD-ROM and lots of other goodies) was running fine with a cheap 250W PSU. At that point I knew nothing about PSU's... since then I have tried to educate myself on the subject of what all those little numbers on the PSU actually mean. I hope we can all share some knowledge here.

Here is a great resource I found on the AMD web site. It tells you all of the actual specs. that AMD wants in a PSU. I may be nub and everyone already knows all of this stuff, but we all gotta learn sometime

AMD Builders Spec. Guild for Desktops

Or... you can find the web page here: AMD Athlon Power Supply Page

It is a very nice read and I suggest all who are unsure about the actual power needs of their system.

I invite all people to post their knowledge of PSU's and exactly how all of the actual numbers come together in their understanding. Lets finally get to the bottom of how much power we all really need

 

[mechBgon]

AMD's guide is thorough, but it's a daunting task to add up the amperage draw on each channel for every device. It also leaves the future out of the equation. How long will you keep the PSU? Would you like reserve power for the hot new board/CPU/memory that comes out two or three years from now?

Then there's "holdup." At home, I plug my surge strip into one of those two-prong-to-three-prong adapters... residents of the USA know what I'm talking about here. I accidentally put my foot on the cord, levering the plug out of the wall. The monitor conked out. I've done this before, so I realized why and hastily kicked the plug upwards. Monitor came on... and hey, how about that, my Enermax 365 had enough holdup power that the system was STILL RUNNING. :Q <-- (my brain) You've got to admit, it's cool having a PSU with a bit of reserve power to iron out voltage sags when the dishwasher, dryer or furnace kick in.

I see Compaq uses 220W power supplies for their new AthlonXP business PC's. Personally, I use an Antec TruePower 430 (and an APC BackUPS Pro 1000VA) for a similar system. No way would I settle for less than a decent-quality 300W PSU, no matter what AMD's worksheet says... Call me crazy.