would going from a 300 to 350 watt power supply make any difference?

[hclarkjr]

i have a lot of things in my case and was wondering if it would be worth upping my power supply by 50 watts or should i go for a 400 watt? thanx

 

[hdeck]

i would up to a 400

 

[Bovinicus]

I would upgrade to a 400W, that way your system will be a little more future proof. I like Antec's Trupower PSUs. They are high quality, and they are reasonably quiet too. Goto www.tomshardware.com and check out their recent review of 21 different PSUs.

 

[amdskip]

The truth is that 350w should be more than enough for any computer out there right now as long it's a true 350w power supply. Many manufacturers use false advertising to sell the bigger power supplies because it works.

 

[Alphazero]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Are you having any serious problems with your current PSU? Save yourself the money.

 

[stultus]

The truth is that the most important thing is not the number of watts but the quality of juice. If you are going from an Antec 300W to some no-name 350W/400W that would be bad. I expect lots of people to disagree with me, but I recently downgraded from a 350W to a 300W and performance is better. Don't get caught up in the "Big PSU" hoopla. Just make sure you get a quality power supply.

 

[KF]

I've got a 230W Antec power supply that works as well with an Athlon mobo as the 400W which I bought because a > 300W was recommended. Judging from the temperature of the air coming out, it is coasting.

Since the ratings put on the side of the power supply are almost totally BS (according to the Tomhardware tests), the buyer must beware. At one time -years ago now- a power supply over 250W was rarity and it was probably a quality one. Not even remotely the case any more.

Judging by what happened during THG tests, neary all PSs must be operating far below maximum capacity. (If they weren't, people constantly would have their PSs catching fire too!) That must be because few of the devices actually pull as much current as the maximum.

I see people worrying about their PS being too small because they have added two fans. Come on, people! A fan usually pulls 3W at max and you've got it hooked to a 300W supply.

According to the info at THG, the CPU is operated from the 12V supply. Amazing. Why, when the CPUs operating voltage is under 2V, and there is a 5V supply with a huge current rating?

 

[fluxquantum]

Originally posted by: amdskip
The truth is that 350w should be more than enough for any computer out there right now as long it's a true 350w power supply. Many manufacturers use false advertising to sell the bigger power supplies because it works.

my enermax 350 is doing a fantastic job so far

 

[BFG10K]

would going from a 300 to 350 watt power supply make any difference?

Only if your 300W is not capable of handling your current system. If you've got to upgrade I'd recommend a 400W just to be safe.

 

[hclarkjr]

well i took most of the advice given and got an antec 400 watt and yes i am having trouble with my radeon 8500LE locking up in games. i have troubleshooted this thing for 2 weeks so far and am about ready to get gun and shoot it for good