PSUs

[adams901]

Hi,

I am making some major upgrades to my computer and want to know if my current PSU can handle the load...

I Currently have a 250/300 watt Power Supply Unit and the following will be connected to it

Asus A7V8X Motherboard
XP2600+ CPU
30GB HDD
123GB IBM HDD
CDRW Drive
CDROM/DVD Drive
Floppy Disk Drive
Soundblaster Live
GeForce 4
Front Case Fan
HDD Cooler Fan

Do you think I should invest in a higher wattage PSU?

Cheers
Adam

 

[Will]

Well, different people will give you different opinions on this. Personally, I'd go for a bigger psu, because you may as well if you are shelling out for that sort of system.

 

[Dimebag]

I Currently have a 250/300 watt Power Supply Unit

So its 250 OR 300W? Or can be switched? Or you're not sure?

300W for what you've said should be fine!

I ran twice as much off that for ages with an overclocked power hungry 1.1@1.2 athlon. 9 case fans, 5 hdds, 2 scsi cd drives, all pci slots full etc...

Dont take any notice of the people who say things about NEEDING more than 300W. Just as long as its got a fairly good 5V line then it will be fine, trust me.

Dimebag

 

[GDW]

If u have a 250w PSU at the moment it most probably will not work, in fact youl will probably blow the 5v rails if you even attempt to switch it on.

A 300w PSU will probably work but u may get frequent voltage warnings from the Aus probe software.

For all it costs go for a 400w PSU to be sure

 

[adams901]

Thanks guys.

Not sure if it is 250 or 300, i couldnt see any stickers on it saying

 

[Wilier]

Originally posted by adams901
Thanks guys.

Not sure if it is 250 or 300, i couldnt see any stickers on it saying

Power the PSU up, stick your tongue on the end of the mobo connector. If you die, its probably 300, if you also die, it could be 250 watt. Let us know either way.

Helpfull heh.

 

[danger]

Originally posted by Wilier


Power the PSU up, stick your tongue on the end of the mobo connector. If you die, its probably 300, if you also die, it could be 250 watt. Let us know either way.

Helpfull heh.

lol that actually made me chuckle

 

[Embattle]

Its not just whether its a 250w/300w PSU, it also depends on make as some 300w PSUs are crap. I would suggest that you invest in a new PSU, maybe a Enermax or Chieftec.

 

[Xavier]

i wouldn't recommend enermax uke:

 

[~YuckFou~]

I use an enermax 400w, with fans that help keep my athlon cool, it work just fine

So, nah nah na nah nahhh

 

[jaketo]

Good to see this board is populated by qualified electricians! But it comes as no surprise that PSU wattage is now considered as another system spec to brag about!

For your list of hardware, 250w will be perfectly fine.

 

[xane]

As one of the people Dimebag thinks you shouldn't take notice of, you can read about my experience with an underpowered PSU here. Whilst the CPU manufacturers may well cite 300W as sufficient, the mobo manufacturer may tell you otherwise.

I was getting problems with 300W using just a lowly 850Mhz Duron, sometimes it is not the CPU that needs the power.

 

[Happy Go Lucky]

camazotz...now that you have fixed your problem, what do you now get on 5v rail. I get 4.97v ?

jaketo.. lol

& Xavier, why do you say that, luckily I have a 340w chieftech?

 

[xane]

The machine in question, using the Epox mobo and Duron 850Mhz, is recording 4.98V using MBM5, with the el-cheapo eBuyer 400W PSU in it.

 

[Embattle]

Mine is currently 4.97 which is just fine.

 

[GDW]

Originally posted by jaketo

For your list of hardware, 250w will be perfectly fine.

/snigger

 

[]SK[]

After alot of shit I found my PC XP2200 wouldnt run on a 340W PSU. Changed to a 550W and it worked fine.

Read about it here.

 

[Happy Go Lucky]

xp2200+ should use less power than the older xp's

I think it needs 1.65v, while my xp1900+ has 1.75v (default)