How many devices off a 350W PSU?

[Dougmeister]

Can post the exact model, etc. of the Antec when I get home if it is significant.

MB = Soyo DragonPlus v2.0

Currently have:
AMD 1700 CPU
1 GB RAM
4x AGP nVidia card
3 ATA hard drives
1 external USB hard drive (w/ it's own power supply, so a non-issue, right?)
1 DVD burner

Can I safely add a SATA drive? Can I add two? How do you know when it's too much? What will happen?

Thanks.

 

[StrangerGuy]

You will have no problem adding another hard drive or 2.

 

[Dougmeister]

Thanks for the quick response.

Is there a formula for determining this type of thing?

 

[Malladine]

hdd don't take much, 20 watts each max. I would say you can add a couple of sata ok. What will happen is your system won't boot or more likely will shut down during intensive work periods.

 

[Lonyo]

I have 3 HDD's, 2 opticals, 1GB RAM, 2500+ and a 9800Pro off a 300W PSU.

 

[Pythias]

It really depends on the strength of indivdual rails as opposed to max wattage touted by many manufacturers. Btw, look for a unit rated for continuous power instead of peak.

If most of your hardware is running off the 12v, then look for a psu with a strong 12v rail, etc;

 

[designit]

I have Antec smart power 350w, 2x12v rails(1650B case/psu combo) w/
case fan, A64 3000 venice oc'ed, 9600xt (40watts), 2 SATTA, 1 PATTA, 2 IDE dvd+cdrom wr, floopy, modem, 2-90mm+1-120mm fans, wireless key/m, speakers- All run smooth. I dont see why go beyond 350w for normal setups.

 

[V00D00]

Different hard drives draw different amounts of power. Look at the labels of your hard drives and optical drives. It will say voltage and amperage. So look at the maximum power output in amps on your psu for hte 5v and 12v and add up all your hard drives to see how close you are.

This is not a way that I have ever used, but I geuss it's a way to do something.

 

[AmberClad]

I have an 350W one powering my rig with no problems.

 

[JTalbain]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
I have an 350W one powering my rig with no problems.

for ur 350w PSU, what brand and whats the 12v rail rating? im going to be getting a system soon that's not as power consuming as urs but im still worried about the whole PSU.

i have a 350w PSU from coolmax (recommended over at SCPR for its quietness) with 15A on the +12v rail.

im gonna be getting the following system, which i'd imagine to be less power-hungry than ur rig:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (socket 754, clawhammer)
ASUS K8N-E nforce3 motherboard
1 gig of ram (2 sticks of pc3200)
ATI Radeon 9800pro
1 80gb seagate drive
1 160gb seagate drive
SB Live 5.1 card
ATI TV wonder TV tuner
4 80mm case fans
1 120mm case fan
Vantec fan controller
1 Mitsumi floppy drive
1 BTC DVD drive
1 NEC 3540a DVD burner

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: JTalbain

Originally posted by: AmberClad
I have an 350W one powering my rig with no problems.

for ur 350w PSU, what brand and whats the 12v rail rating? im going to be getting a system soon that's not as power consuming as urs but im still worried about the whole PSU.

i have a 350w PSU from coolmax (recommended over at SCPR for its quietness) with 15A on the +12v rail.

im gonna be getting the following system, which i'd imagine to be less power-hungry than ur rig:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (socket 754, clawhammer)
ASUS K8N-E nforce3 motherboard
1 gig of ram (2 sticks of pc3200)
ATI Radeon 9800pro
1 80gb seagate drive
1 160gb seagate drive
SB Live 5.1 card
ATI TV wonder TV tuner
4 80mm case fans
1 120mm case fan
Vantec fan controller
1 Mitsumi floppy drive
1 BTC DVD drive
1 NEC 3540a DVD burner

Yeah, it looks like you have a fairly comparable component loadout (several HDDs, two opticals, a TV tuner, sound card, etc). I only have one 120mm case fan, no 80mm ones. But the A64 shouldn't be nearly as power hungry as my Prescott, so you should be good to go. I have the second one on this page. If I were to buy a new one today, I might go with the Blue Storm version though.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: StrangerGuy
You will have no problem adding another hard drive or 2.