PSU wattage needed for my configuration

[Alopez777]

Hi,

Need help determining what wattage PSU I need for the following system configuration:

GA-k8N-Ultra-9 (Motherboard) (939 Socket)
CPU- AMD X2 4600+
RAM- 2GB Gigaram (2x 1GB modules)
CD/DVD- 2 DVD drives
HDD- 1- 160 GB System Drive, 4-250GB drives configured for RAID 5
Video- 1-GeForce 7950 GT 512 MB DDR3 PCI

I currently have the following PSU installed (Coolmax CF480B Fanless 480W Power Supply) but not sure if this is sufficient enough.

Thanks in advance for your help.

gorda

 

[law9933]

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

 

[sieistganzfett]

i honestly think that power supply calculators are full of sheit. it says 322W for your system, and that is from what only what you mentioned in your post, i didnt add any other things in.
http://www.mgepconline.com/product.asp?PRID=4679 has the specs on your power supply. no idea what that 480W is rated at, probably its at 20C operating temp (not going to occur in the real world). once its at about 40C which is typical for a power supply, its going to be a lot lower than 480W and thats the "max" which will not be tolerated long at all. its very important is what it can really handle continuously at a given temperature which is may only be half or two thirds that max once your power supply is at about 40C internally.

Output +3.3V@30A, +5V@45A, +12V@18A, -5V@1A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2.5A

most important for you is the 12V rail, as it would be for anyone with a high end video card. i think your cutting it very close with that power supply. Another major issue is a lot of power supplies out there are just plain garbage. a true high quality one i recommend would be made by pc power and cooling, but they are not cheap. look at the outputs, etc, details of the specs and you will see a big difference.

 

[Athlonite]

you right about the low wattage of the PSU for the system specs but not about 322 watts for his system i added it up and got 466 so for the sake of stability and head room i'd gor no less than a 550W

 

[John]

A 550w psu for the OP? His rig isn't even going to pull 125w under normal use. A quality 350w psu will run his rig without breaking a sweat.

example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104936

 

[bluestrobe]

Originally posted by: John
A 550w psu for the OP? His rig isn't even going to pull 125w under normal use. A quality 350w psu will run his rig without breaking a sweat.

I think the OP's PS is good enough.

Where did you get 125w at? Some newer processors pull more than that. Actually my P3 dual rig probably pulls more than that.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: bluestrobe
I think the OP's PS is good enough.

I never said that it wasn't. However the +12v rail is a little on the skimpy side (18A). I'm sure a lot of people have Coolmax psu's, but IMHO the 480w in the OP's rig is far from a quality unit judging by the rail distribution alone.

Where did you get 125w at? Some newer processors pull more than that. Actually my P3 dual rig probably pulls more than that.

I pulled the number out of thin air, but it should be fairly accurate. My X2 3800+ @ 2.7, 2GB DDR, 3x WD 320GB HDD, 2x DVDRW, 7950GT, X-Fi, Floppy+card reader, and 18" LCD only pulls 165w as I am typing this message.

 

[bluestrobe]

Originally posted by: John
I pulled the number out of thin air, but it should be fairly accurate. My X2 3800+ @ 2.7, 2GB DDR, 3x WD 320GB HDD, 2x DVDRW, 7950GT, X-Fi, Floppy+card reader, and 18" LCD only pulls 165w as I am typing this message.

How did you measure that?

 

[John]

Originally posted by: bluestrobe
How did you measure that?

UPS monitoring software + killawatt.