New Config - Need PSU Wattage Advice!

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ArcanePathos

Geek Trainee
Hey ya'll, I'm new around here. :cool:

It's been about four years since I built a new machine... a lot has changed in that time, and apparently I've had my head up my butt while a lot of new technology has come out. Certain devices like SATA items seem to use less power than mainstream IDE HDD's, but of course other things like nVIDIA's SLI are power hogs.

Simply put, I'm making a new machine (and finally joining the 21st century) and I have no idea how powerful of a power supply I need. Any advice would be MUCH appreciated. I'll start this by just throwing out there what I'm looking out for parts right now:

+ AMD Athlon 64 4000+ / 2.40 gHz
+ Biostar TForce4 SLI NVIDIA Socket 939 ATX board / PCIe / SLI
+ GeForce 7300 GT / 512MB GDDR2 / SLI / PCIe 16x
+ 1 GB DDR400 RAM (from my old computer, saving a bit of cash for now heheh)
+ 2 standard IDE 7200 RPM HDD's (from old computer)
+ 1 IDE DVD/CD device
+ 1 SATA HDD (board is SATA-ready)

I am guessing a PSU around 500 watts is what I'm looking for, but it's just been so long since I did this and I want to be sure. Thanks in advance yo!! I'll be checking this frequently if you have questions about my configuration.

Arcane
 
500 watts would be fine, as long as there is enough power on the +12 volt chain. I just bought this for my new server, and I have three harddrives, and it is totally sufficient:

Thermaltake 500 watt power supply

Thermaltake is a great company, I have used their products for years and never had an issue.
 
ArcanePathos,

When you buy a power supply look for the following criteria sorted with level of importance, based on my humble experience:

1. Brand Name (most important, list is on PSU sticky).

2. Weight (I know this is controversial, but my experience tells me that the efficiency of a power supply less than 3 pounds is doubtable).

3. Price range (research recommends not to buy a psu less than 30$)

4. When are about to buy a psu look on the table at the back of the PSU, and see how much amps are on the 12v+ rail. If it's a single rail, 30 amps and up will be enough for most of your needs. If there are 2 12v+ rails, like one is 18 amps, and the other is 16 amps, you add them.

5. Buy a psu with wattage not less than 480 watts.

My own preference is a dual rail 12v+ psu it promises more stability, cheaper, and I think (but I am not sure) it produces less heat.

Of course most of the info I am providing you is from researching user opinions, technical online articles, and some of them are my own conclusions.

But I am not an electrical engineer to judge a psu based on other technical criteria . As I believe my own conclusions are enough for a normal consumer like me to buy a good psu, I believe it will be useful for you too. Hope that helps.
 
No, from my personal experience I don't recommend power supplies originally made for server cases, because these power supplies (especially the ones with a single rail 12v+) are not high on ampere on the 12+ volt, since they are not intended for gaming purposes.

Although it could work of course, I don't recommend risking.

Check the criteria I told you about, and also as I told you check the power supply sticky: http://www.hardwareforums.com/power-supply-sticky-5218/

You will find two important things in this sticky:

1. All the good and the bad brand names.
2. The original psu supplier of the brand name.

You should always more carefully check for the main supplier of the psu chipset rather than just the brand name. For example, my psu is called AcePower, it's not very popular I guess.. but when I look at the back of the psu box I find HEC, which is one of the main suppliers listed in the good section.

I bet you have all the info you need now, if non of the brand names or psu suppliers are available at your place, you must evaluate by the criteria I told you about in the first place. Good luck.
 
pradeepmahato: Feel free to create a new thread rather than dropping in on another, it makes it much less confusing when you do so. As it is, I've moved the relevant replies here in it's own thread.
 
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