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How to choose power supply

D

dadoph

Junior Member
I'm thinking of buying a Coolermaster 530 RC-530-SSN1 case and need a 350-400w-ish powersupply. I know absolutely nothing about power supplies. Here's what I'm planning to put in the case:

Epox EP-9NPA+Ultra motherboard
AMD Athlon64 3000+ (maybe a 3200+)
Seagate 160-200mb ATA HD
Connect3d x700 pcie video card
CDRW drive
512mb ram (to start, will be going to 1gb)

that's it for now, probably will add a DVD driver/burner later.

No overclocking planned for now.

Any particular brands to seek out or avoid?

I'm not looking for a super high end rig. Just something for typical home use, light gaming by the kids, digital photos, mp3's etc.

Thanks.


 
If noise matters, then go with a single fan (120mm preferrably) model. Seasonic is well known for their silent power supplies.


Other than that, what matters the most is current on the 12V rail. While that rig may not need more than 20A, I'd go a bit ahead of time and buy a PSU with 25-30A.


There are some pretty cheap Fortron PSU's over at newegg. This one's only $37, and gives you 36A on the two 12V rails combined. This model costs $3 more and has "only" 34A (still plenty), but with a 120mm fan that's facing inside the case, which amounts to less noise and better cooling. Fortron is a reliable brand, you don't have to worry about their PSU's blowing up your comp.
 
This is a decent primary explaination of PSUs Text . It will not bombard you with an
over load of technical jargon. If you read it, the SeaSonic is more efficient and quiet. The
Fortron is a bit 😉 louder, but has much more headroom. Your call.


Galvanized

Edit1: Link no workey.. www.tomshardware/howto/200401221.. Link took me to Tom's site, but not the article.

Edit2: Go to Newegg and look at the +12v, 22A rating on the 300watt ZIPPY. Judge all other
350-400watt PSUs by that spec. It does have a thermal fan!
 
Seasonics are nice, but save yourself a little cash and go with an Antec Smartpower 2.0 power supply. They're very reasonably priced (much less than Seasonic's), fairly quiet and do a good job overall. For a system like that, a SP2 would do just fine 😀

And hey, that's quite a nice choice for a case. Don't forget to buy a 4-in-3 device to stick in the front so you can get some extra cooling! I was going to buy the same case but then I saw the Ammo Cooler Master 533 and was amazed by its ventilation :thumbsup:
 
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