Antec ISK 300-65 and Core i7-2600S enough watts?

[nLinked]

I have that Antec case which came with a 65W PSU. The PC is very basic, no graphics card, no devices, mini-ITX board, 1x SSD hard drive.

The Core i7-2600S says it's TDP is 65W. My PSU is 65W. Will it actually struggle in real life or can I get away with it?

 

[jpeyton]

The ISK300-65 actually has a larger PSU inside it; Antec includes a 65W power brick, so it's limited to 65W by default. But you can purchase a larger power brick for it (120W+) and the PSU is capable of supplying more power to your system.

Personally I think 65W is cutting it close. I would personally buy an ITX case w/o PSU and put a PicoPSU 80 (or higher) inside it: http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-80

 

[Zap]

The ISK300-65 actually has a larger PSU inside it; Antec includes a 65W power brick, so it's limited to 65W by default. But you can purchase a larger power brick for it (120W+) and the PSU is capable of supplying more power to your system.

Interesting. Got any links for more info on that?

 

[RaiderJ]

I've got that same case, and it does have a beefier PSU, just limited by the power brick. You can always try the CPU, then up the power brick if needed.

 

[tomoyo]

Interesting. Got any links for more info on that?

I forgot the links, but I can guarantee this is true. You can check the internal power converter for the 300-65 and note it handles far more power than 65 watts. I'd say to be on the safe side something like a 90-120w power adapter would work well. The only other thing is making sure the power connector fits correctly.
You can see the device here, it is a MD-135 - http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...sk=view&id=320&Itemid=61&limit=1&limitstart=4

 

[nLinked]

I forgot the links, but I can guarantee this is true. You can check the internal power converter for the 300-65 and note it handles far more power than 65 watts. I'd say to be on the safe side something like a 90-120w power adapter would work well. The only other thing is making sure the power connector fits correctly.
You can see the device here, it is a MD-135 - http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...sk=view&id=320&Itemid=61&limit=1&limitstart=4

This is great news! A cheap power brick that fits should allow me to upgrade to the i7. Thanks, I'll give it a go, if it doesn't work, I'll have the upgrade the PSU board itself then. Cheers

 

[General Kenobi]

An interesting limitation. Thankfully not so hard to get around, but it's somewhat odd to have it so close there out of the box.

 

[tomoyo]

Btw personally I run a Core i3-2100 on the ISK 300-65, and had planned to upgrade to a 90w adapter if it didn't work. However I did full tests including max load on both cpu/graphics + optical drive and didn't get above like 60 watts. Also tested some games successfully and I'm of the conclusion that I will not have any issues. Of course ymmv in this. And obviously best to be minimal, I basically just have the cpu/mobo and very little else in the system. Also it has a 2.5" hdd. Mobo even has integrated wifi so there's zero add on cards.

 

[Zap]

This is great news! A cheap power brick that fits should allow me to upgrade to the i7.

Why not just get the ISK300-150 version with the 150W internal PSU?

 

[tomoyo]

Why not just get the ISK300-150 version with the 150W internal PSU?

Unless they changed the psu, the 150w is pretty low quality and not very quiet. That's also the main reason I went with the 65. Plus it takes up less space inside the case.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Antec-ISK300-150-Case-Review/934/6

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Just get a quality corsair vx450. Don't skip on the psu

 

[Zap]

Just get a quality corsair vx450. Don't skip on the psu

This is wrong on a few levels.

#1 That PSU was discontinued a while back, so good luck finding a new one.

#2 The case we are talking about (Antec ISK300 series) is around the same size as some of the super high wattage PSUs. We're talking about the WHOLE COMPUTER. Good luck shoehorning a VS450 in there.

#3 A system with a low wattage Sandy Bridge CPU and using integrated graphics will use very little power. 450W is grossly overkill for such a system.