How much power do I need?

[Anavrin]

Things I will be using.

Plexwriter 121032A
1.2 Ghz Athlon-C
12x DVD drive
IBM Deskstar 30 Gb 75GXP
IBM Deskstar 45 Gb @ 5400 RPM
Asus A7V266 (probably runs hot)
Case fan + CPU fan (obviously...)
Small variety of PCI cards (sound, NIC, etc...)
Asus V7700 (GF2 GTS)
256 megs of PC2100 RAM (probably runs pretty hot)

I'm guessing I'll need a 350 watt power supply. Is that accurate or should I go for more/less?

 

[jaydee]

300W should do it, but the more the merrier.

 

[Anavrin]

Hmmm... AMD says 300 watts if minimal. And I don't think what's listed above is "minimal".

But then again, I've never dealt with power supplies until now, so I really have no ground to support my opinion.

 

[madthumbs]

The most important thing you want to concern yourself with is quality. A good 250W will do better than a cheap 400watt. Cheap power supplies can cause overheating, instability, fires, etc. I recommend going with a good brand like Sparkle or Enermax. If you plan on adding a lot of stuff, or using the power supply in your next PC or upgrade, get one with a high power rating.

 

[Howard]

A 450W Enermax will do you nicely. That may be overkill, considering the quality of their products. Maybe a 330W?

Order from here

 

[Anavrin]

Well, I can buy an Enermax 330/350 watt PS from a local store at https://shop.pccanada.com/sp_cases2.shtml.

But they're not listed under AMD approved

 

[jaydee]

madthumbs has a good point. Enlight, Sparkle, Enermax are all good. 300W of one of those should do you fine. Everything in my system (check sig) runs great on 300W Enlight.