Power for my Core 2 Duo system - 430 watts enough

The I

Member
Aug 6, 2005
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Posted in this forum as I don't see any one specifically for power and powersupplies.

The sub-title says most of it. I need to decide whether to go with the larger model. I?ve chosen Seasonic because I heard good things about it, and I know that it?s very quiet ? which is a high priority for me.

The specs for the system I?m building (mostly for knowing the power envelope of the system):
Core 2 Duo E6600 2,4 Ghz 4Mb with Scythe Mine cooler @ as much as possible
Asus GF7900GT TOP with after marked Zalman VF 900 cooler ? I might overclock it beyond the stock overclock
Asus P5W DH Deluxe
2 GB Kingston DDR2-667-memory (KVR667D2N5K2/2G)
Lian Li S80 case

I am quite aware that, given the modest power requirements of the Core 2 Duo, I should be more than fine at stock speeds with a 430 watt model. And logically I do not plan on either SLI or crossfire.
But will I get problems when I start overclocking the beast?
 

coldpower27

Golden Member
Jul 18, 2004
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Yes, the 7900 GT ands the E6600 are both some of the most power efficient components in their respective classes.

430W should be sufficent. As well the Seasonic S12 is a quality power supply so it shouldn't be an issue.
 

theteamaqua

Senior member
Jul 12, 2005
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my 500w Asys (uname brond is it??) can do GeForce 7800GTX 510/1300 ( fro mstock 430/1300) and Pentium D 920 at 4.1Ghz .... i set vcore to 1.5935 in BIOS ... i am guessing its eating 130+ watts of my total power, my GPU also eats a lot , too. But i think that 430w should be enough ...

PS: 920D is like 2.8GHz stock
 

Kwint Sommer

Senior member
Jul 28, 2006
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With a 7900GT in their I doubt it will come up but if you ever think that you might use the Crossfire option then you will need the 500W supply. Otherwise the Conroe are so efficient and at low enough clocks that you shouldn't need more. I used a 500W to OC an old Socket 478 3.2 GHz Prescott to 4.08 GHz and they require a lot more juice so a 430W should be fine for an E6600.
 

The I

Member
Aug 6, 2005
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Ok thanks for your replies everyone. I'll stick with the 430-unit then and save around $40-50 where I live. The 430 unit is a bit more silent as well :)

The reason I don't think so much of Crossfire and Sli is:
1. Cooling two power-hungry gfx-cards is about twice as noicy as cooling one.
2. I'm not that demanding a user, and by the time I might consider upgrading my gfx-system I very much doubt upgrading to a crossfire/sli solution will be nearly as powerfull as just buying a good middle or upper range gfx-card.