Hi all.. Well..Ive virtually built my machine but now im stuck on which power supply to get... I want to make sure its powerful enough to run my machien but I also dont want to put in too much power or blow my machine up. My computer consists of: ATX Sunbeam Samurai Case Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe Motherboard AMD Athlon 64 FX57 2800 MHz CPU GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB Graphics Card - 400W or greater power supply with 12v current rating of 26A 4GB DDR Ram Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Fatal1ty Xtreme Gamer Sound Card 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500 GB Hard Drives - thats 1000GB total Pioneer BDC-202BK Rewriter DVD Rom Iomega Internal Zip Drive Scythe Card reader and Flopy Drive And there’s a couple of fans that need to be plugged in as well. Any idea on what size power supply to get and what the best makes are? Need anymore info just ask.. Cheers Mike
You won't blow up your PC by using a too higher rated PSU, all it means is that if the system requires an amount of power to draw from the PSU it will be able to (up to the rated power of the PSU). You want something that can handle high amps on the power rails, and ideally has a high efficiency rating. I use an Enermax Galaxy 1000W and have had no problems with that but as well as being probable overkill for your needs, it is also very big in size and a lot of cases can't take it, I also have a Corsair HX 620 PSU which as well as being high spec has a 5 year warranty and is quiet. Personally I never touch cheap PSUs and I tend to keep the ones I buy for ages (a lot longer than most other parts).
So i can virtually buy any power supply providing it is higher than the minimum requirments in wattage of the highest wattage componant in my system? Also when deciding on which higher power i require... will I have to combine ampage or wattage of all my componants and buy a power supply that is equal or greater in wattage or ampage compared to the componants? Cheers Mike
You just need to add the sum of the parts together. Motherboard will draw hardly anything at all. Graphics card will take a lot of power as shown in your first post. CPU will need a certain amount - going up if overclocking. All other components add up ie PCI cards, HDDs, Optical drives, Fans Lights, Controllers. The follwoing will give you a good idea what you need to look for as a minimum spec. http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
No you cant just buy any power supply as long as it says it's more watts then you calculated. You see the thing is that a crappier PSU might say 500W but blow up after 200W. Just stick with a good brand like Corsair and you'll be fine.
Thanks BigDK your wisdom and words are much apreciated..along with your links lol.. GrandpaBW you say you have the same motherboard as me.. How do you rate it? any good?
that link BigDK gave me.. Ran through it and it tells me I need 558w power supply.. Closest I can get is 550w or a 600w.. Can you get one thats just under? or will i need to go for the 600w?
I seriously doubt you need that much power for your PC. Try to go through it again, you might have messed something up.
When you confirm what you need, it's best to go over, you will always get away with less most of the time, but having it covered is the best way to go, and it allows for future expansion of the system.
So although i only need those 558w I can get away with a 600w without causing any problems? Understandably when your paying over 1000 pounds for a machine you dont wanna harm it lol
this power supply would work great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005 it has 610 watts and 49amps on a single 12v rail. but no modular cabling. this one would also work. i doubt that you need 558watts. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001 520w 18 amps on 3 12v rails and it is modular.
