What can a 350W PSU power?

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: dclive
Even if I don't agree with your conclusions, I admire your thoughts.

Perhaps you could tell us why you believe an 8800GT with a processor as what the OP has listed so far, in a system defined by what he's listed so far, would have a problem with 350W.

I specifically did not reach any such conclusion.

Derek Wilson from Anandtech says about 210W: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=13

Actually the number from that page that you were looking for is 105 W. That is the high-side estimate for the power draw of the 8800GT provided by NVIDIA. The system power draw figures are not nearly as helpful since they are total system power numbers (presumably including all rails), and since the OP is probably not going to be running a Core 2 Extreme X6800.

... which suggests a decent 350W PSU would be plenty.

What does that have to do with a SmartPower? ;P

Without better numbers, and with historical agreement from Anandtech of these numbers, I think they're credible and valid. From my read of the OP's interest, assuming no wild overclocks, he'll easily (easily!) be able to satisfy his needs and have mountains of headroom.

You still do not have enough information to support such a conclusion. Again, I am encouraging you to collect information and then see where that leads you, instead of reaching a conclusion and then looking for data to support it.

Are there any studies of this black art, as you mention, or is this discussion hypothetical? How do you know the 'half life', so to speak, is 2 years and not 20, for example?

When waves of power supplies with bad capacitors began failing shortly after system power demands started rising, that was a pretty strong indicator that those supplies were not going to make it 20 years. The general phenomenon of capacitors aging and failing, and this being exacerbated by heat, is well-known and is the reason that capacitors are often over-specified by quite a large margin.

Originally posted by: natrap
Does anyone think this is of any value http://www.extreme.outervision.../psucalculatorlite.jsp ?

There have been past threads about it. Because it does not separate out the different voltages, its usefulness is limited. It's better than nothing.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Aluvus

Originally posted by: dclive

Without better numbers, and with historical agreement from Anandtech of these numbers, I think they're credible and valid. From my read of the OP's interest, assuming no wild overclocks, he'll easily (easily!) be able to satisfy his needs and have mountains of headroom.

You still do not have enough information to support such a conclusion. Again, I am encouraging you to collect information and then see where that leads you, instead of reaching a conclusion and then looking for data to support it.

The system shown in the AT review is far more than what the OP is talking about, and requires significantly less power than what the OP has. What, exactly, do you think the problem will be?

 

[John]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
So nvidia recommending a minimum of 28a on the 12v rail for a 8800gt is just a fairy tale ?

That's for the entire system, and it's on the high side to factor in poor quality psu's. An EarthWatts 380 would easily power a C2D & 8800GT under full load at <60%, and the fan should be ~24dB according to SPCR. It can deliver its full rated power (24 hours a day rated at 50ºC) and comes with a 3 yr. warranty for only $20 shipped AR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...16817371005&Tpk=ea-380

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: dclive

The system shown in the AT review is far more than what the OP is talking about, and requires significantly less power than what the OP has. What, exactly, do you think the problem will be?

No, the system in that review needed less power than the OP's supply is rated for. That is an important distinction.

As I have indicated twice already, maybe the SL350 will be fine. And maybe not. There's no particular reason to assume that the OP's system would need less power. If he were to use a Pentium D, it might need as much as 55 W more power than the Core 2 Extreme in that review.

If it were my own system, I would be following John's link. It's even compatible with the OP's pricing requirements.