How many watts?

[billsbury]

I'm building a system with an AMD X2 3800+, 1 GB DDR RAM, 3 Hard Drives, 2 Optical Drives, and an eVGA GeForce 7800 GT video card. How large of a power supploy should I get?
500 watt? 550 watt? more?
Thanks.
-Bill

 

[billsbury]

Oh and how do I know if it has dual-rails or whatever it's called?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

How much are you willing to spend on the PSU? I would recommend something from Seasonic or Fortron. PC Power and Cooling are the best, but they are overpriced.

 

[Ricemarine]

500w should be sufficient, an Antec NeoHE 500w (not for asus boards, incompatible), enermax liberty 500w, seasonic s12 500w (recommended), PC Power and Cooling 510w (very expensive and loud). You can always get the antec truepower II 550w, seems good to me, but never tried it.

You can tell if it has dual rail by if it says +12v1 and +12v2, meaning 2 rails.

 

[harobikes333]

500W seasonic is a good pick I think🙂

 

[billsbury]

Well, I'm gonna say about $100 is what I'm willing to spend, but I also want to make sure my machine has a good power supply. So I'm flexible to a degree.

 

[harobikes333]

k well get the seasonic500W then🙂

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: Ricemarine
500w should be sufficient, an Antec NeoHE 500w (not for asus boards, incompatible), enermax liberty 500w, seasonic s12 500w (recommended), PC Power and Cooling 510w (very expensive and loud). You can always get the antec truepower II 550w, seems good to me, but never tried it.

And I will personally recommend Seasonic's S12 series. Wonderful PSUs, solid power, quiet... I have two in my machine, and I couldn't be happier.

 

[billsbury]

How did you know that the NeoHE 500w is not compatible with Asus boards?

 

[halw]

See the yellow highlighted section of this: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article273-page5.html

 

[ShadowBlade]

I reccomend the Fortron AX500-A.

You can tell it has Dual 12V rails because in the listing of amperage on each rail it says "12V1~16A, 12V2~16A"

 

[diapickle]

All you need is this.

 

[V00D00]

If you constantly use the powersupply at higher than 60% of it's rated load you will increase wear on it and lower it's lifespan.

 

[Ricemarine]

Originally posted by: billsbury
How did you know that the NeoHE 500w is not compatible with Asus boards?

Reviews state a lot about problems with the Antec NeoHE 500w having problems with their asus boards.

 

[ribbon13]

/thread

 

[thegimp03]

Seasonic 500 or the OCZ Powerstream 520.

 

[bob4432]

also, on your build assuming that since you are getting a 7800GT you will be gaming, go 2x1GB Ram

 

[alimoalem]

500w should do but you might be able to get away with a good 450w

 

[imported_rod]

500W is more than enough. Also, I was gonna post a link, but diapickle beat me to it...

RoD

 

[Wentelteefje]

Hmm, the PSU calculators aren't that good... A decent 450W - 500W should do fine... Enermax, Antec, Fortron, OCZ... Maybe take a TruePower II 500W, silent, powerful and very stable... $ 100 is a good budget if you want quality...