What wattage power supply do I need?

[mtnagel]

Since I'm not concerned with the looks of my case, I've got my eye on a $30 case that has a 300 W power supply. Will that be sufficient to run everything (I will have 2 hdd's and 2 optical drives)?

Thanks
Matt

 

[Sunner]

Some specs would be nice.
You could probably run 5 Pentium-90's on that PSU, while a 3.6 GHz P4 with a GF6 Ultra would probably cause a meltdown unless it's a very high quality PSU, which I doubt if it comes in a $30 case.

 

[mtnagel]

Sorry, I didn't know it was dependent on the processor. It will most likely be a AMD XP 2200 - 2500. Not sure which motherboard yet. And like I said, it will have 2 hdd's and 2 optical drives.

 

[Nessism]

Originally posted by: mtnagel
Since I'm not concerned with the looks of my case, I've got my eye on a $30 case that has a 300 W power supply. Will that be sufficient to run everything (I will have 2 hdd's and 2 optical drives)?

Thanks
Matt

With all due respect, you are asking for grief using an el cheepo case/ps. Save your pennies and buy a decent Antec or similar that will provide you some insurance and future upgrade path headroom.

Just my opinion as always.

Ed

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: mtnagel
Sorry, I didn't know it was dependent on the processor. It will most likely be a AMD XP 2200 - 2500. Not sure which motherboard yet. And like I said, it will have 2 hdd's and 2 optical drives.

By far the biggest power hogs in a modern system are the CPU and the GFX card(unless it's some low end card, Radeon 9200 or similar).
Just go with some case without a PSU and get hold of a 300W Fortron or something, Fortron PSU's are cheap and good quality, and with an Athlon in the range you mentioned you'll be fine with a 300W PSU.

 

[Jeff7]

Agreed - a $30 case with a PSU. I'm guessing that neither will be of exceptional quality. For good components, $30 on a case, and $30 on a PSU would...well, not be outright excellent, but considerably better. Something like this maybe.

 

[mtnagel]

Thanks. So 300W is enough, just try to get a decent manufacturer, correc?

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: mtnagel
Thanks. So 300W is enough, just try to get a decent manufacturer, correc?

Should be, I guess the above mentined GF6 Ultra might make that PSU sweat, but I assume you're not putting one of those in a box like that.

 

[Boonesmi]

Originally posted by: mtnagel
Thanks. So 300W is enough, just try to get a decent manufacturer, correc?

yeah 300 or 350w should be fine, just make sure its not a generic one.
a good place to look is in the newegg refurb section link i occasionally find 460w or 360w enermax (my fav brand of powersupply) for around $25