Is this PSU enough?

[funkrocker049]

I'm looking for a reputable power supply that is relatively quiet and won't break the bank. I'm doing a system build pretty soon, and have been pricing out parts. I figure the case and PSU are a good place to save some money, but I know that a good PSU is very important.

The unit I'm looking at is this one (NewEgg) by SeaSonic. It's 330w and a number of reviewers on NewEgg claimed to have had success using it in similar setups. I'm really just looking to run stable at stock speeds, for now. There is a possibility of OC'ing sometime down the road (hence my mobo selection), but that can be addressed later on. Here are the proposed specs:

AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+
EPoX EP-9NPA+ Ultra motherboard
gigaram 2GB (2x1GB)
eVGA GeForce 7800GT 256MB
2 IDE HDDs
2 Optical drives: 1 dvd-rom, 1 dual layer burner

So, yeah. Any commentary on the quality of that SeaSonic unit would be great. Also, as an aside...what are some thoughts on that gigaram memory? Thanks alot.

 

[biostud]

I would choose atleast the 430W for that setup, specially if you ponder on o/c later on.

 

[dexvx]

Its good.

 

[Mem]

I would go for higher wattage as well.

My moto is simple with PSUs,go for good quality brand like Antec,Tagan,Enermax,Seasonic etc... and get as much wattage as you can,you already have gone for a good brand quality wise,why not go the rest of the distance and go for one of the 500w or 600w Seasonic models,that will see you through several upgrades down the road and serve you well for years to come.

Other options like Tagan 480w are very good choices too.

 

[stevty2889]

A quality 400-450w should be plenty, but a 330w is really pushing it, especaily if you plan to do any overclocking. How many Amps does it have on the 12v rail? Seasonic is good quality, but not sure 330W will be enough. Doesn't hurt to try though, so long as the 12v rail isn't too weak.

 

[Juno]

you have four drives being running on by 330w which is no good. you need at least 400w to be able to handle those situation.

last year i had three hard drives, a dvd drive and a cd burner. my 400w died on me because it couldn't handle FIVE drives at once. so i bought a better psu which is 500w and it has been running since.

 

[0roo0roo]

u should probably get the s12 seasonics... 330 might work i dunno, it might be close though. but with seasonic u do get the full rated watts. my 300 runs 2.2ghz barton/6600gt/4hd/2 optical/1gb if u can afford the 7800gtx u can afford the s12. it ranked tops in the custom pc magazine psu tests where they went up to 100% loads, most fail or turn to sh*t efficiency/loud/voltage flux at 100% but not the seasonics.

 

[aatf510]

330w would probably work, but that's really pushing it. I would go for at least 380w just to be sure.

 

[GamerExpress]

Originally posted by: biostud
I would choose atleast the 430W for that setup, specially if you ponder on o/c later on.

Yeah i have to agree, Seasonic is a great brand, I wouldn't feel safe with a PSU with that wattage powering such a nice setup. I think I would look at some of the Fortron's, they are on sale at a few places, I think you can get a 500w Fortron for only like $10-20 more then that Seasonic.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

get the 500watt seasonic s12

you cant fall off....its awesome

 

[funkrocker049]

Thanks for the reply, everyone. I'm probably going to move to something with a little more wattage...probably in the 400 range.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: funkrocker049
Thanks for the reply, everyone. I'm probably going to move to something with a little more wattage...probably in the 400 range.

The 330 watt S12 is fine, no need to go higher. See what real PCs draw in this SPCR article.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Originally posted by: funkrocker049
Thanks for the reply, everyone. I'm probably going to move to something with a little more wattage...probably in the 400 range.

I sure wouldn't. Go to the eXtreme PSU calculator. I calculated you need 464 watts minimum (including an extreme overclock of 2.7 Ghz at 1.55 volts). Go there and put in your stuff at 100% utilization and see what it tells you. Then go over to PC Power and Cooling and get one of their Silencer series. Or go for the 510SLI model if you got the cash flow.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune

Originally posted by: funkrocker049
Thanks for the reply, everyone. I'm probably going to move to something with a little more wattage...probably in the 400 range.

I sure wouldn't. Go to the eXtreme PSU calculator. I calculated you need 464 watts minimum (including an extreme overclock of 2.7 Ghz at 1.55 volts). Go there and put in your stuff at 100% utilization and see what it tells you. Then go over to PC Power and Cooling and get one of their Silencer series. Or go for the 510SLI model if you got the cash flow.

Those power calculators are full of sh!t, read the link above.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Their calculations seem pretty close to the extreme PSU calculators. Looks like yourjust a tad too full of sh!t to make a useful remark.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Try JSCustomPC's Power Wattage calculator... I know, they're still talking about AGP etc., but your GT is below a 6800 Ultra, and your CPU is 89W...

Count some 50W more, and you'll have the maximum power draw under load, and a 100W extra is the minimum I would buy, if you want to be sure (especially when thinking about OCing...)

For 10 bucks more, you can get yourself this Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W...

EDIT: That eXtreme PSU calculator comes up with some 282W... I haven't count overclocking with that... This figure looks pretty thrustworthy IMO... I would advise minimum a 380W PSU...

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
Their calculations seem pretty close to the extreme PSU calculators. Looks like yourjust a tad too full of sh!t to make a useful remark.

Need help with numbers?, ok.

Even the most power hungry system in the article; the 3.8GHZ P4, 6800GT system didn't break 200 watts DC. That?s not even half of the 465 watts you came up with the OP's system which would be drawing far less then that P4 based machine.

 

[aatf510]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune

Originally posted by: funkrocker049
Thanks for the reply, everyone. I'm probably going to move to something with a little more wattage...probably in the 400 range.

I sure wouldn't. Go to the eXtreme PSU calculator. I calculated you need 464 watts minimum (including an extreme overclock of 2.7 Ghz at 1.55 volts). Go there and put in your stuff at 100% utilization and see what it tells you. Then go over to PC Power and Cooling and get one of their Silencer series. Or go for the 510SLI model if you got the cash flow.

Those power calculators are full of sh!t, read the link above.

They are seriously full of crap..
I have a kill-A-watt unit myself, and I measured no more than 311 watts from SLI system (4400+ OC, dual 7800GT OC, 2x raptors in raid 0) the wall outlet at maximum load, and by maximum load I mean 2 instances of prime95 + 3dmark05 + file copying from cd-rom.
That's 311watts from the wall outlet, and then the true waltage after efficiency is under 234 watts