Fortron 300W PSU a good idea with AthlonXP 3000+ System?

[Nebben]

My friend is looking to uprade the incredibly crappy generic "500 watt" PSU that came with his case. Would this be sufficient for his needs, plus a little headroom for expansion? Looking for something < $40, this would hit the mark at $36.99 shipped.

Any issues with this, being only 300 watts? (I have been getting the vibe from everyone on here that wattage is generally overkilled by many people with the 450-600 watt PSUs with pretty basic systems.)


http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-937&depa=0

 

[Techno Pride]

assuming it's an ATX 1.3 or older PSU, it should be ok.

 

[wisdomtooth]

15 amps is respectable for a 300W PSU and should work with an Athlon XP 3000+ yes.

However, it will NOT be sufficient for present-day systems that use power-hungry video cards and CPUs-- Cards like the NVidia 6800 takes 6 amps already.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a single-rail PSU today unless it has at least 18 amps continuous output on the 12V.

 

[Zucarita9000]

Originally posted by: Nebben
Any issues with this, being only 300 watts?

I'm running all these hardware with an Antec SL350 (350 watts) with the folowing ratings:
5v 35a
3.3v 28a
12v 21a

3GHz Prescott
2 DDR dimms
2 optical units (one DVD-RW & one DVD-ROM)
3 SATA hard drives
1 Radeon 9800 Pro
2 120mm Panaflo fans

And I have plenty of power left. Unless your using a monster setup with 4 or more hdds, dual 6800 vid cards and a 3.8GHz Prescott CPU, there's no need for 600+ watts of power. You should be fine with it.

 

[Cheesetogo]

That 300watt fortron should be plenty.

 

[duragezic]

I'm running a Fortron 350w from Newegg although the one you linked is a higher quality line I think. My system is roughly the same... XP 3200+, two hard drives, 9800 Pro, one optical, and that is it. I have a bit of room for expansion, so your buddy should be alright. If you want more future-proofing like if he decides to get a high-end video card sometime down the road he doesn't have to worry about getting yet another new PS, then I'd go a little higher.

 

[Jeff7]

My Kill-A-Watt says that this system is sucking up only 185W under load:

Athlon XP-M 2.0GHz
768MB PC3200
Radeon 9500
Abit NF7-S rev2.0
5 7200rpm hard drives
WinTV-PVR 350
Seasonic 460AGX PSU


I don't know how much is being drawn from each voltage rail though.

 

[mrbios]

The 300W Fortron should do fine. I run a 3000+ Athlon 64, Radeon 9800 Pro, 2 hard drives, etc. etc. on a Zalman 300W power supply, and it runs just fine. (Just so you know, Zalman = Fortron design. Even on the sticker is has "FSP-300", aka Fortron Source Power)

 

[chocoruacal]

Originally posted by: Nebben
My friend is looking to uprade the incredibly crappy generic "500 watt" PSU that came with his case. Would this be sufficient for his needs, plus a little headroom for expansion? Looking for something < $40, this would hit the mark at $36.99 shipped.

Any issues with this, being only 300 watts?

That is plenty for the system you describe.

(I have been getting the vibe from everyone on here that wattage is generally overkilled by many people with the 450-600 watt PSUs with pretty basic systems.)

People with the latest vid cards definitely need the wattage. Your friend also needs to think about his upgrade path...300W is enough for his system now, but may not be if he upgrades 6-12 months down the road.

 

[chilled]

I#'ve got a 235W FSP PSU. A meagre 8A on the 12V rail. Runs XP2800+ (TbredB, 2.25GHz), 512MB RAM, 80GB HD, GF2 GTS, dual optical drives. No problems whatsoever.

I say you'll be fine...

 

[fstime]

Thats fine

 

[Painman]

I own one of these Fortron 300W PSUs, it's a damn nice PSU for the $. The unit that Newegg sent me has a fan speed control knob, which is not evident in the pictures there.