How do I pick out the right power supply?

[bX510]

How do I pick out the right power supply?
How do I calculate what my computer uses?
What are those rail things?
I want to know everything inorder for me to be able to pick out the right power supply.

 

[imported_AndyT]

You can serach around for a PSU calculator, but they don't tell you much except what they estimate your wattage should be. If they broke things down and told you the wattage required in your 12v rails it would be much better.

If you list all of your components we can give you a good estimate of your needs.

I do have 2 recommendations: Buy a name brand PSU that you can trust and has a good reputation and buy a larger wattage PSU than what most guys will say you need. If you need 400w and you buy that you will have no room for upgrades in the near future. Spending a little extra can save you replacing the PSU in 6 months or even a year.

 

[bX510]

My build was aimed for SILENT / POWERFUL computer. I am actually aiming for a quiet psu as well.

1. Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt

2 ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

3. EVGA 768-P2-N837-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO HDCP Video Card - Retail

4. Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail

5. CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail

6. 2 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

7. SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBN - OEM

If anyone interested in the price, Subtotal: $1,578.44

 

[sonoma1993]

you want to find a good quality power supply, that has good amount of amps on the 12v rail. I believe with today current systems, you want to have at least 20amps on each of the 12v rails. if your going with like a brand new nvida gforce 8800 series card in like sli, you want a power supply with more like 26/27 amps I believe, I could be wrong though. But yeah, good quality power supply with alot of amps on the 12 volt rails, will work very good for you

 

[AVP]

Here are the recommended power supplies from Jonny Guru, a power supply specialist. Just hit this link up to his forums:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103

Though unless your going to sli your 8800gtx you probably don't need a tier 1 powersupply. A Pc Power and Cooling, Seasonic, Corsair or Enermax among others, of at least 500-600 watts will do you fine.

 

[bX510]

haha tier 1, WoW

 

[engiNURD]

also, check out http://psu.thetruck.net

//edit:
since you want powerful and silent, go for a Corsair 520W PSU (made by seasonic). Jonnyguru has a nice review of it, check it out.

 

[Operandi]

SPCR Power Supply Fundamentals -- Read that and you should be all set.