Is 300W really enough power?

[Caiwyn]

I'm running a P3 1GHz, with a DVD-ROM, a CD-RW, Zip drive, LS-120, two IBM hard drives (a 20 GB and a 60GB), 2 256MB sticks of PC133 SDRAM, an AGP Voodoo5, four PCI cards (ATI TV-Wonder capture, SoundBlaster Live Platinum, Firewire adapter, and DVD card) as well as a CNR network adapter, plus a couple of USB devices.

That's a lot of stuff.

So the dilemma is this: I use this machine primarily for audio recording and editing, so I want it to be as quiet as possible. I'm considering picking up a power supply from quietpc.com - but the most those put out is 300W. I'm worried that all these components are going to require more.

I've considered the Enermax whisper power supplies, but they apparently have temperature controlled fans which speed up and slow down (causing more and less noise) depending on the temperature level. I need a *STABLE* noise level more than anything else, so those won't do.

I'm basically trying to choose now between a 400W Sparkle power supply and a 300W supply from quietpc.com - anybody got any recommendations for me?

 

[Mem]

What about Antec 400w PSU?

 

[Hender]

I have a PIII 550, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, floppy, two IBM hard drives, 4 sticks of 128 MB PC-133 RAM, a Voodoo3 3000, 4 PCI cards (TV tuner, NIC, sound card, SCSI card), a serial connection to my UPS, a serial connection to my digital camera, and 4 USB devices all running off a 235W power supply with no powered hub. I think 300W will be more than enough for that system.

 

[OS]

The quality of the power supply matters more than the wattage.

 

[Caiwyn]

Sweet baby Jesus... I would expect that to be remarkably unstable. But it's not, I take it?

 

[nortexoid]

that'll be more than enough..

 

[jsbush]

In my opion 300watt's is more then enough.

 

[Zach]

300W is fine, but if you are buying new anyway, go ahead and get a big daddy. I've run what you're thinking about before, except the chip was slower (a K6-3, no ideaif they used less/more wattage), and I had SCSI drives and CDROM's.

 

[Caiwyn]

Hm... Do you guys think if I dropped even further down to 275W I'd have any problems? I don't want to run unstable here...

 

[heffe734]

300 W should be okay unless you get an amd 1.2 or higher and you wanna OC.

 

[LXi]

Looking at that list, I know for sure 250W is not enough, I have about as much stuff, I recommend going with at least 350W. 300W is on the borderline, take the safer route.

 

[Jiggz]

300W is more than enough! As for making the thing quiet, you can always replace the fan by buying a quiet 80mm.