Power requirements DFI versus others

[slatr]

Why does DFI specify a 480 watt power supply for their boards?

I don't see other manufacturers mentioning 480w as a minimum.

The reason I ask is I really want to get a DFI board and Athlon 64 now. I don't have to overclock now, I could wait till I can get a new power supply. Just have an Antec 350w now.

Should I really be looking at other boards, or get the DFI now and get a better power supply later?

 

[RobsTV]

For comparison, running Jetway with Opteron 146 overclocked to 3GHz (normal everyday use 2.4GHz) and ATi X800 PCIe, + more, all in a mATX case with 200w power supply. No problems or issues.

 

[arcas]

I'm guessing DFI recommends a 480W PSU mainly as a CYA measure. Specifying a PSU that strong probably eliminated a lot of the problems reported by people using $5 PSUs. The fact is, most people will fall into the 150W-200W range in normal use and almost nobody routinely exceeds 300W. If you have a resonably strong 12V line, you're probably in good shape no matter which board you choose. Especially if you don't have a 6800Ultra or SLI config.

That said, the price difference between a crap PSU and a "reasonable" PSU is less than $40 so you're not really saving much by skimping if you're shopping for a new PSU.

I encourage you to browse dfi-street.com forums before you decide for or against a DFI board. I've been fairly fortunate with mine (aside from a buggy bios that won't let me enable PowerNow with my Opteron 165...but then Opterons aren't officially supported) but other people have lots of frustrations.