PSU Question

[AEIOU9]

Hi,

I just took out my old tower and upgraded all the components, except for the PSU. I'm wondering if my old PSU will be able to handle this new hardware or if I need to replace the PSU too. My PSU is a ThermalTake Xaser III Silent Purepower 560 watt (from ~2003/2004).

Here is a list of the components I'm putting in my new build:

1. Asus M4A87TD
2. AMD X2 555 BE
3. 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600
4. MSI GTX 460 Hawk
5. Crucial C300 SSD
6. WD 320 GB HDD
7. Two optical drives
8. Wireless card

Please note, I do plan on overclocking. Thoughts?

 

[Davidh373]

560W would hold up to this build, if I may I would like to point out that many of the parts in you list come together to make an extremely unbalanced build. I hope you haven't ordered the parts so I might be able to poke around with your budget and get something much better.

 

[fffblackmage]

While it might provide enough power, I would just replace it for the new build anyways.

If you answer the questions in this sticky, it'll be easier for us to provide more feedback on your build.

 

[AEIOU9]

560W would hold up to this build, if I may I would like to point out that many of the parts in you list come together to make an extremely unbalanced build. I hope you haven't ordered the parts so I might be able to poke around with your budget and get something much better.

What aspects seem unbalanced and what would you recommend?

Questions

1. What YOUR PC will be used for? Gaming, photoshop and routine tasks

2. What YOUR budget is? After rebates, no more than $600

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from? USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Tend to like nVidia, not interested in SLI

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are? PSU in the original thread.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads? I have read similar threads and hardware reviews.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds? Will overclock.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with? 1920 x 1200

9. WHEN do you plan to build it? Next few weeks.

 

[Davidh373]

1. Get either an Athlon II X4, Phenom II X4, or an i5. Dual cores aren't great for something that will last these days. The Black Ed. stamp doesn't really matter unless you want an EXTREME overclock.

2. Save some money, buy GSkill Ripjaws at 1333MHz instead.

3. Why get a 320GB drive for $45 when you can get a 500GB drive for $50, or a 1TB for $70?

 

[Blain]

While it might provide enough power, I would just replace it for the new build anyways.

While it may have been rated to provide enough power back in 2003-2004, I'm like you and would replace the old PS anyway.
There's no reason to put new components at risk to save a couple of bucks.

 

[mfenn]

I agree with David about your build being unbalanced and needing to replace your PSU. A 2010 PC draws much more power from the 12V than a 2003 PC did, and thus your PSU might not have the right distribution to handle the new PC.

As for the rest of your components, I agree with David about getting a quad (955 BE). The HyperX you have is fine, as long as you're talking about this 2x2GB kit for $40 AR. I'd also recommend swapping out the C300 for a Sandforce, but they are pretty close in performance.

Now let's talk about the single silliest part in your build: the MSI Hawk GTX 460. $215? You have got to be kidding me. The Hawk doesn't really overclock that well, so you might as well get a normal GTX 460 for $160 and use the savings to finance the quad.

 

[betasub]

A 2010 PC draws much more power from the 12V than a 2003 PC did, and thus your PSU might not have the right distribution to handle the new PC.

This is a big problem for older power supplies: they tend to have most of their output directed towards 3.3V/5V. And then there's the problem of connectors: 24pin for the motherboard, 8pin for the mobo/CPU, plus SATA and PCIe power - do you really want to have to mess with adaptors for all of these?