Power Supply for PC Build

[Taxon]

Hey all

I'm looking at building the following setup in the coming weeks:

AMD Phenom II 720
4GB DDR2/3 RAM
Socket AM2+/3 Motherboard
ATi 4870 or 4890
500GB HDD
DVD drive etc.

Still not decided on the motherboard & RAM combo. My question is, how much power will this require? I thought 650W would be a safe bet, but a friend insists 500W is enough for the 4870 and even the 4890. Is there much difference between the two cards in terms of power consumption? I will of course be buying a high quality PSU.

Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[z1ggy]

A good 500 watt shoudl be fine, but if you get a CF compatible board you may want the get the 650 incase you upgrade in the future.

 

[Lunyone]

Corsair 550vx, Antec 500w Earthwatts, Seasonic 500w, PCP&C 500w will all do quite well for your build. If you want a bit more upgrade path than the Corsair 650tx/750tx, Antec 550w/650w, Seasonic 550w/600w, or PCP&C 610w/750w will all be nice upgrades for not too much more $ (~$10-40 more).

 

[pcslookout]

No more than a 450 to 500 watt power supply. I can't believe how many people overestimate power supplies now. Finally been able to see how much my gaming system takes and it is only 240 to 250 watts during boot up. When gaming it only goes up to 350 to 360 watts. I thought I was using way more than that but at least I know the truth now. It is not a low end system either. If you would like to know the specs I would be more than happy to post them.