Power Supplies

[Steg55]

I am building a machine for a client and basiclly i want to know if a 350w PSU will cope with the following :
Athlon 64 3500+
Asus A8V
1Gb Corsair Value RAM
9800Pro
SATA 160Gig HDD + DVD/RW Drives
A few fans etc.

The budget is very limited and if I don't go for a decent Casetek 350w PSU the other option is a REALLY cheap ebuyer or qtec 500w PSU (about £20) - which simply cant be good quality

The machine will not be overclocked, will probebly never be put under the stress of heavy gaming - its just got to run word and do some video editing every now and then

Steg

 

[tterris]

you can probably sacrifice some cpu for a better gfx card

 

[Steg55]

Meh - thats the spec he asked for - im just doing the building

Steg

 

[JimRaynor]

why would he get a better graphics card if he's probably never gonna game?

 

[tterris]

video editting, which i dont think requires a 3200 + cpu.

 

[cyberknight]

I would advise against overclocking with a 350W PSU. you'd want 18A or more on your +12V rail. Maybe 15A if you're really that tight on the budget.

But still, I don't think it's ever a good idea to go that cheap out on a PSU unless you like random reboots when the computer is stressed.

 

[beatle]

Originally posted by: tterris
video editting, which i dont think requires a 3200 + cpu.

Video cards have zero impact on video editing. It's all CPU.

 

[Hajime]

Cheap-o or generic PSU's are -never- a good idea.

Don't go for the 3500+ and get a 3200+ instead if you have to. Having that PSU mess up the system, cause random lockups, etc. etc. isn't worth it.

 

[uOpt]

Originally posted by: beatle

Originally posted by: tterris
video editting, which i dont think requires a 3200 + cpu.

Video cards have zero impact on video editing. It's all CPU.

Unless you offload all your video compression/decompression to de/encoder cards.

It's a very complex question and not enough info about the environment and intended use has been given.

 

[Goi]

Get a cheaper video card and use the money you save on some better PSU from Enermax, Antec, Sparkle, Fortron, Seasonic or any of the other big names.

 

[PingSpike]

Get the forton 350watt from newegg with the 120mm fan. They're a pretty rugged beast and only cost like $45 shipped. And sacrifice on video card or something to cover the cost. You really wouldn't be doing a machine like that justice without at least putting a quality PSU in it.

 

[Zinn2b]

Fella look at your pc specs. GET a good quality 500 watt PSU. Just tring to save you problems down the line. You can pay out a little more now or a lot more later your decision

 

[Gamingphreek]

No he does not need 500Watt for video editing.

Just get a Seasonic 400Watt Super Tornado, or an OCZ Powerstream series PSU. If those are too much always take a look at Antec, and Enermax.

I agree though get a 3200+ you wont need a 3500+ and it is IMO not worth the money (for your purposes) over the 3200+.

-Kevin

 

[Zinn2b]

THe reason I suggested the 500 watt PSU is that he may upgdade say a nvidia 6800 ultra or something like that and yes he will need 500 watts of power. Always try to look into the future. I hate it cost me money when I don't

 

[Gamingphreek]

But still at PEAK power consumption that is MAX IIRC the 6800UE uses 112Watt. The processor if AMD uses a MAX of ~160 watts and Intel a max of ~220. Then you average in the reest of the maxes and you get peak power consumption which is unattanaible as you cannot equally stress all components at once.

I see your point though (ie future proofness). If hes worried about money and wants to save a little just go with a good 400Watt. It is a fact that the Seasonic can hold steady for a LONG time at ~420-400. The OCZ 420 can hold at 520 for a couple of minutes (haven't heard any try for any longer though).

-Kevin

 

[bobsmith1492]

Power supplies are overrated..... it seems like the magic bullet of late is "want more 3DMarks? Get a $300 600 watt power supply! Can't get too much power....."

Bleeshers; my first ever power supply was a Deer 300 watt which came in a generic case. It's still running fine to this day and has been on 24/7 nearly what.... 4 years?