Can my 300W PSU support 8 Core AMD+ CPU?

[Marian Boricean]

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the novice question, but I can't find out if the reason of my PC shutting down is because of the PSU.
I bought a 300W power supply and I connected to my new PC which has a 8 Core AMD+ processor. The PC starts fine if I connect one Hard drive, but as soon as I connect the 2nd one, it just shuts down before booting. Is it because of the power requirements? Do I need to purchase a "bigger" PSU?

 

[Ghostman 1]

Not sure of the specks of a 8 core cpu, But 300 watts is a little low for ANY computer now days.. I would up it to at least 500 to 600 watts..But make sure you buy a Good one, BRAND NAME, with 80% certification ...

 

[Big B]

Agreed. Even a high-quality 300W is dicey for an 8-core Bulldozer. They can use up to 125 Watts themselves, and with power supplies, different voltage leves are given: 3.3V, 5V, and 12V. The CPU, Hard drives and video cards of today are all running off the +12V rail, and it's unlikely that 300W unit is all 12V. You might have 200W of that 300W---at best.

A newer power supply will likely offer a more 12V-centric power layout.
I also agree that a 500-600W unit should be fine, assuming you're not going with a Crossfire or SLI multi-GPU configuration or a ton of hard drives (like 10+).
I would look at the following brands for best luck: Thermaltake, Antec, and Corsair. It does come down to the particular model, but these are easy to find and tend to have consistently strong units in good power supply reviews. The only exception to these three: the Antec Basiq line--if it's still produced--because it's junk.