Overkilling the Power Supply???

[buknoy76]

Hello Everybody,

I was going to get another HDD (Seagate 300GB Ultra ATA/100) and add it to my system (consisting of 2 Samsung 160GB HDD(RAID0), 1 Maxtor 250GB SATA Ultra 16, 1 nVidia 256MB DDR3 6800 GT OC 8X/4X, and Atlhon 64 +3400 cPU). My power supply is made by ULTRA XConnect (500Watt ATX Power Supply w/ +12V/34A). My questiong is: Would I be overkilling my power supply by adding an extra HDD??? I was going to use the Seagate just for my digital photos since it is on sale at Fry's ($199.99-$40 Rebate). What should I do??? Should I get a more powerful power supply? Please help, thanks...

 

[Chode Messiah]

I don't think so, especially with the amount of amps on the 12v rails. There are certain websites with wattage calculators. I'm 95% sure you'll be fine, but don't do it until ur 100% positive it'll be fine.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Get rid of that power supply, now! Ultra makes very bad psu's, just above the generic level. On a good brand 500watt psu, you would not have to worry about not having enough power. Buy antec, fortron, ocz, seasonic, enermax, etc.

edit: I just saw that there are 34 amps on the 12volt rail, which is very good. However, I still don't trust ultra. Asuming that the psu doesn't mess up, it has plenty of power.

 

[slpaulson]

Probably not, but the quality of those Ultra power supplies is kind of suspect so it's hard to say.

 

[Chode Messiah]

I agree, but he tried another psu, and he took out all the components. This rules out the shody workmanship of the ultra company. I seriously doubt that the wattage dipped down a few hundred. It could have been a bad psu(didn't work at all, but he used 2 different psus.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: Chode Messiah
I agree, but he tried another psu, and he took out all the components. This rules out the shody workmanship of the ultra company. I seriously doubt that the wattage dipped down a few hundred. It could have been a bad psu(didn't work at all, but he used 2 different psus.

I think you've got a couple threads mixed up here. The op was wondering if his psu was enough to power another hard drive.

 

[Chode Messiah]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

Originally posted by: Chode Messiah
I agree, but he tried another psu, and he took out all the components. This rules out the shody workmanship of the ultra company. I seriously doubt that the wattage dipped down a few hundred. It could have been a bad psu(didn't work at all, but he used 2 different psus.

I think you've got a couple threads mixed up here. The op was wondering if his psu was enough to power another hard drive.

I think ur right:roll:

 

[buknoy76]

Which is the best brand in your opinion??? Which do you have???

 

[PurdueRy]

Good brands = Antec, Seasonic, sparkle, Enermax, OCZ, PC power and cooling...those are the ones that come to mind initially there are plenty more