Yet Another Power Supply Question

[Magubbi]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for another power supply question. I've done some research but I still don't know how to determine if I have enough power.

My power supply is currently a High Power HPC-300-101, and says Intel v2.03. It is exactly the same one shown here.

I has always worked fine on my system, which was:

AMD Athlon XP 1900+
512MB DDR RAM
Sound Blaster Audigy
Gainward GeForce3 Ti200
Lite-On 24x CD-RW
Maxtor 40GB Hard Drive
Western Digital 60GB Hard Drive
Maxtor 80GB Hard Drive
Linksys Network Card
3 Case Fans

Now I am going to upgrade/add the following:

AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (Upgrade)
Gainward GeForce4 Ti4200 (Upgrade)
Lite-On 40x CD-RW (Upgrade)
Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM (Add)
Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 PCI Adapter Card (Add)
Maxtor 120GB Hard Drive (Add)

Would it be necessary to upgrade my power supply?

Thanks in advance for replies.

Edit: Shoot, forgot the link.

 

[dunkster]

I'm not familiar with your PS, but 300 Watts is implied by the model designation.

That seems right on the ragged edge for your current rig, let alone the upgraded rig. You can determine much from simply observing the rail voltages under load - within 5% is usually fine, more than 5% variance is marginal and -10% usually results in problems.

I'd look into a larger PS, at least 400W and perhaps 500 Watts for future-proofing.

The least expensive 500W PS I'm aware of is the Leadman PowMax 500W unit (I have one). It's nominally priced at $50, search on PriceWatch. Good rail voltages, quiet, two fans and a 3-pin plug to monitor PS fan speed (~2900 rpm). You can easily spend more than twice that amount.

Hope this helps!

 

[hopeless879]

I personally think your wasting your money upgrading a 1900+ to a 2200+. I can almost gaurentee the only difference you will see will be synthetic. You will not see any real world performance increase.

Just my opinion.

 

[sawhizzo]

You could, of course, upgrade anyway and sell me the cpu for cheap...

Not that I think a 1700 would work in my MSI K7t Turbo, can't remember.

 

[Magubbi]

Originally posted by: hopeless879
I personally think your wasting your money upgrading a 1900+ to a 2200+. I can almost gaurentee the only difference you will see will be synthetic. You will not see any real world performance increase.

Just my opinion.

It's a free upgrade.

 

[Magubbi]

Originally posted by: dunkster
I'm not familiar with your PS, but 300 Watts is implied by the model designation.

That seems right on the ragged edge for your current rig, let alone the upgraded rig. You can determine much from simply observing the rail voltages under load - within 5% is usually fine, more than 5% variance is marginal and -10% usually results in problems.

I'd look into a larger PS, at least 400W and perhaps 500 Watts for future-proofing.

The least expensive 500W PS I'm aware of is the Leadman PowMax 500W unit (I have one). It's nominally priced at $50, search on PriceWatch. Good rail voltages, quiet, two fans and a 3-pin plug to monitor PS fan speed (~2900 rpm). You can easily spend more than twice that amount.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the advice, dunkster. How would I observe the rail voltages under load?

 

[pcman2002b]

Heck, I'm running a similar rig on a 200 Watt Power Supply and it doesn't give me fits. Screw the PS upgrade and use the money to buy something else. Granted my PS gets a little warm now and then but who cares!

 

[AnMig]

"Thanks for the advice, dunkster. How would I observe the rail voltages under load? "

I second this question

The only time I can see my voltages is when I am in the bios.

does sandra, mbm, wpuid allow you to see the voltages dynamically?

or are you guys using a hardware monitor that came with your boards?