how much Power do I need ?

[cshum2]

I have a computer that has:

DFI-Ultra-D
AMD Opteron 165
1 74Gb raptor (might add another 74Gb raptor in the future)
2-250Gb HD
ATI x1900xt
2-DVD+/-RW
Creative X-fi
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150
2X1gb PC3200 OCZ platnimun
Front panel card reader
3-case fans
Zalman CNPS7700-CU Copper CPU Fan

Would a 400w PSU be enough ??

I looking looking a buy a Enermax Liberty 400w or 500w, Seasonic 430w or 400w or Antec TruePower 2.0 480w or 550W

Which PSU would you suggest ??

thanks

 

[Praxis1452]

I would suggest a 500W one... Though 400W might do it...

 

[Operandi]

400 watts is plenty. I would suggest the 430 or 380watt Seasonic S12.

 

[Smartazz]

Plan on overclocking?

 

[cshum2]

yes...will do some overclocking

 

[InlineFour]

seasonic s12 400W.

 

[JoeFahey]

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

 

[mechBgon]

I'd get the TruePower II 550. You're planning to have two 7200rpm drives, two 10000rpm drives, two optical, a number of fans, the board can take two PCI-E video cards, you're going to OC, and DFI themselves recommends a minimum 480W unit. Stack the deck in your favor :evil:

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I'd get the TruePower II 550. You're planning to have two 7200rpm drives, two 10000rpm drives, two optical, a number of fans, the board can take two PCI-E video cards, you're going to OC, and DFI themselves recommends a minimum 480W unit. Stack the deck in your favor :evil:

Those recommendations come from idiots trying to run their systems with $20 400-500 watt PSUs; a quality 400 watt unit is more then enough.

Originally posted by: JoeFahey1
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

These things are horribly inaccurate, don't waste your time.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: cshum2
DFI-Ultra-D
AMD Opteron 165
1 74Gb raptor (might add another 74Gb raptor in the future)
2-250Gb HD
ATI x1900xt
2-DVD+/-RW
Creative X-fi
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150
2X1gb PC3200 OCQ platnimun
Front panel card reader
3-case fans
Zalman CNPS7700-CU Copper CPU Fan

I know you didn't ask but if you didn't already buy the parts there are a few changes you might consider.

DFI-Ultra-D >> ASUS A8R32-MVP
2X1gb PC3200 OCQ platnimun (OCZ??) >> Crucial or Corsair Vaule RAM

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I'd get the TruePower II 550. You're planning to have two 7200rpm drives, two 10000rpm drives, two optical, a number of fans, the board can take two PCI-E video cards, you're going to OC, and DFI themselves recommends a minimum 480W unit. Stack the deck in your favor :evil:

Those recommendations come from idiots trying to run their systems with $20 400-500 watt PSUs; a quality 400 watt unit is more then enough.

I'm sure there's an element of truth to that, but look at the difference in price, it's not as if it's very large in absolute terms. Examples:

Difference between Antec SmartPower2.0 400W and SmartPower2.0 500W: $13.

Difference between TruePower II 430W and 550W: $20.

Given what the rest of the system's worth, I'd have no problem spending an extra $20-$40 for the "towing package" on the power supply. But I'm just crazy like that.

mech's work rig runs a TruePower 2.0 480W. No regrets.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I'd get the TruePower II 550. You're planning to have two 7200rpm drives, two 10000rpm drives, two optical, a number of fans, the board can take two PCI-E video cards, you're going to OC, and DFI themselves recommends a minimum 480W unit. Stack the deck in your favor :evil:

Those recommendations come from idiots trying to run their systems with $20 400-500 watt PSUs; a quality 400 watt unit is more then enough.

I'm sure there's an element of truth to that, but look at the difference in price, it's not as if it's very large in absolute terms. Examples:

Difference between Antec SmartPower2.0 400W and SmartPower2.0 500W: $13.

Difference between TruePower II 430W and 550W: $20.

Given what the rest of the system's worth, I'd have no problem spending an extra $20-$40 for the "towing package" on the power supply. But I'm just crazy like that.

mech's work rig runs a TruePower 2.0 480W. No regrets.

The quality of the numbers is more important then the quantity. Those Antecs are decent units but the Seasonic S12 is a better PSU in all regards. Besides dose it really make any sense to have a PSU that can output 550 watts when the most the system could ever theoretically draw is 250?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: Operandi
400 watts is plenty. I would suggest the 430 or 380watt Seasonic S12.

a 380 wtt seasonic is def not enough to power an xt. if you even owned one i 99% doubt you'll use a 380watt psu to power your system.

if i had an xt i'd get nothing less than a 550-600+ watt psu
i'd rather not skimp on the most important part in my system

 

[mechBgon]

I'd have no problem recommending a 500W+ Seasonic either, go for it.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS

Originally posted by: Operandi
400 watts is plenty. I would suggest the 430 or 380watt Seasonic S12.

a 380 wtt seasonic is def not enough to power an xt. if you even owned one i 99% doubt you'll use a 380watt psu to power your system.

if i had an xt i'd get nothing less than a 550-600+ watt psu
i'd rather not skimp on the most important part in my system

It is enough, and if I could justify spending that much money on a video card I would do just what I recommended.

You can do whatever you feel is right but if I had to guess I would say that the Ops configuration would top out at no more then 250 watts load.

 

[Luckyboy1]

(might add another 74Gb raptor in the future)....

Between that and the desire to overclock, you'll want a bit of head room. Yes folks, get ready to say Uhg etc!!! Here comes the link!!!


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817711002

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I'd get the TruePower II 550. You're planning to have two 7200rpm drives, two 10000rpm drives, two optical, a number of fans, the board can take two PCI-E video cards, you're going to OC, and DFI themselves recommends a minimum 480W unit. Stack the deck in your favor :evil:

Those recommendations come from idiots trying to run their systems with $20 400-500 watt PSUs; a quality 400 watt unit is more then enough.

Originally posted by: JoeFahey1
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

These things are horribly inaccurate, don't waste your time.

really, then how do I know if my psu is enough for my system?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

if you have money to buy a x1900xt you should be able to purchase a psu that supplies sufficient power for it and the rest of the system. not just the bare minimum, that ocz 520 should be fine. as long as you're not going crossfire anytime soon

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
if you have money to buy a x1900xt you should be able to purchase a psu that supplies sufficient power for it and the rest of the system. not just the bare minimum, that ocz 520 should be fine. as long as you're not going crossfire anytime soon

It's not the bear minimum, 380 is plenty. If you want more headroom there is the 430 watt S12 or even the 500, which is more then enough for Crossfire.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Smartazz

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I'd get the TruePower II 550. You're planning to have two 7200rpm drives, two 10000rpm drives, two optical, a number of fans, the board can take two PCI-E video cards, you're going to OC, and DFI themselves recommends a minimum 480W unit. Stack the deck in your favor :evil:

Those recommendations come from idiots trying to run their systems with $20 400-500 watt PSUs; a quality 400 watt unit is more then enough.

Originally posted by: JoeFahey1
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

These things are horribly inaccurate, don't waste your time.

really, then how do I know if my psu is enough for my system?

Know the power draw of your key components.

The important ones are the CPU and GPU/s. Hard drives can be a factor if you have 3+ but even then they draw ever little once spun up, less then 10 watts. The rest of the components are really pretty insignificant; factor in 50 watts just to be safe.

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: Smartazz

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I'd get the TruePower II 550. You're planning to have two 7200rpm drives, two 10000rpm drives, two optical, a number of fans, the board can take two PCI-E video cards, you're going to OC, and DFI themselves recommends a minimum 480W unit. Stack the deck in your favor :evil:

Those recommendations come from idiots trying to run their systems with $20 400-500 watt PSUs; a quality 400 watt unit is more then enough.

Originally posted by: JoeFahey1
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

These things are horribly inaccurate, don't waste your time.

really, then how do I know if my psu is enough for my system?

Know the power draw of your key components.

The important ones are the CPU and GPU/s. Hard drives can be a factor if you have 3+ but even then they draw ever little once spun up, less then 10 watts. The rest of the components are really pretty insignificant; factor in 50 watts just to be safe.

thanks.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Luckyboy1
(might add another 74Gb raptor in the future)....

Between that and the desire to overclock, you'll want a bit of head room. Yes folks, get ready to say Uhg etc!!! Here comes the link!!!


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817711002

You didn't link to Magnum PC?

EDIT: OP, see sig. You might end up with a PSU that can handle more than what you have, but that really isn't a problem, right?

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I'd get the TruePower II 550. You're planning to have two 7200rpm drives, two 10000rpm drives, two optical, a number of fans, the board can take two PCI-E video cards, you're going to OC, and DFI themselves recommends a minimum 480W unit. Stack the deck in your favor :evil:

I agree here....I have had lesser systems with antec 430's not be able to handle the load with ocing...i wouldn't touch this system with anything les then 480...That is my 2 cents and I have had many heavy oc'd systems...

Ask MarkFW900....His 430's (antecs) have showed him the inability on a couple of his systems and that was with lesser video cards...


power issues are one thing you dont want to have to worry about or try to figure out after you start having issues....


I recommend

Antecs 480 -550 truepower 2
OCZ 520 watt powerstream to 600watt
Seasonic 500watt

 

[cshum2]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: cshum2
DFI-Ultra-D
AMD Opteron 165
1 74Gb raptor (might add another 74Gb raptor in the future)
2-250Gb HD
ATI x1900xt
2-DVD+/-RW
Creative X-fi
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150
2X1gb PC3200 OCQ platnimun
Front panel card reader
3-case fans
Zalman CNPS7700-CU Copper CPU Fan

I know you didn't ask but if you didn't already buy the parts there are a few changes you might consider.

DFI-Ultra-D >> ASUS A8R32-MVP
2X1gb PC3200 OCQ platnimun (OCZ??) >> Crucial or Corsair Vaule RAM

Why Crucial or Corsair Value Ram ?
are they good for overclock ??
what ram are best for overclock???

 

[alimoalem]

crucial is good for overclocking but some people have had issues with them dieing on them. i don't think corsair and dfi are too friendly with each other. g.skill is a good brand for DFI. ocz's aren't bad either

i would recommend a seasonic s12 or enermax liberty 500w. better to always be on the safe side. plus, overclocking adds quite a bit of more watts.