What's the fastest cpu I should get with a 300W power supply?

[isasir]

Looking to order an Athlon XP CPU today. I have a 300W power supply, and I don't really intend on overclocking. It seems that some people recommend a 400W power supply for the 2400+ CPU I was looking at...

 

[Mik3y]

well, i say you should get a stronger psu anyways, because i know you will intend to upgrade, perhaps a new gfx card, or wutever. otherwise, it doesnt really matter wut speed cpu u have. in fry's one time, they were selling a p4 3.0c with a radeon 9600xt and etc with a psu of only 325W. you can get a 3200+ and it should be fine, as long as you dont get too strong of a vid card.

 

[isasir]

I have a GeForce 3 Ti200 64 mb RAM vidcard that I bought from my friend about a month ago.

 

[Mik3y]

hmm..., i say get the fastet xp processor u are willing to spend on, and the try it on your system. it'll still run, but MAY cause some errors. and if that happens, then get a new psu. otherwise, i say stick with the 2500+ if u wanna save money.

 

[isasir]

Well I was looking at a 2400+, so it seems like I should be ok then.

Can a power supply that isn't strong enough do any permanent damage to any of the computer components? I'm assuming not, but I want to make sure.

Thanks.

 

[Mik3y]

not, it shouldnt cause any permanent problems. if anything, it will just crash, or shut down the comp, or cause some other errors. go with the 2500+ because its got a much more powerful core.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: isasir
It seems that some people recommend a 400W power supply for the 2400+ CPU I was looking at...

That's a hugh myth and should be taken with a grain of salt. You can easily run a 3200+, HDD, 9800 Pro, 2 optical drives, and a floppy off a quality 300w powersupply.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: isasir
Well I was looking at a 2400+, so it seems like I should be ok then.

Can a power supply that isn't strong enough do any permanent damage to any of the computer components? I'm assuming not, but I want to make sure.

Thanks.

Yes, if your psu isn't putting out enough on the 12v rail, it can ruin the drive motors in your hard-drives. Of course, that's quite rare, since the cheap psu's usually have plenty of 12v juice; they just usually lack in 5v amperage, which will only lead to stability problems.

 

[nick1985]

wattage means almost nothing!

what brand is it? a 300 watt antec, or any other quality PSU, will run any rig out there within reason. id rather have a 300 watt antec than a 500 watt cheapo. watts mean jack SH!T. its the rails that count.

when will n00bs figure this out...