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how big of power supply should i get?

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by comprun, Mar 20, 2005.

  1. comprun

    comprun Guest

    pretty soon i will be getting a geforce 6800 ultra video card for my comp.....my ? is how big of a power supply should i get....in my comp i have 1 cd/rw drive,1 dvd drive,1 floppy, 2 hard drives 2 case fans soon to be 3, a7v8x mobo, athlon xp 2800, and 2 sticks of neon light. thanx in advance to all who reply
     
  2. jaydeeX3

    jaydeeX3 Guest

    personally i would go with at least a 500W PSU....that should be enough with room to expand in the future....
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 20, 2005
  3. matty8887

    matty8887 Regular member

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    A 400watt would do that easily with a bit more to expand later on but i would go with a 500w+ psu with a good quility name, dont go for a massive psu eg 600w with a crappy name as they arent that powerfull and will probably fail soon enough.
     
  4. comprun

    comprun Guest

    k thanks alot guys
     
  5. jaydeeX3

    jaydeeX3 Guest

    not a problem.....
     
  6. haimback

    haimback Regular member

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    Should always have a look at your motherboards site (even though your getting new graphics card) it may tell you what supply the board needs with different loads - Asus is a good example - they give a power rating needed for three differnt loads (varying the amount of devices,cards and processor speed) and give power needed for each load.
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2005
  7. Xian

    Xian Regular member

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    Most people way overestimate on their actual power requirements. You are never using everything at once at full power. For instance when you play a game you will be using your processor and video card but you won't be using your cdrw at all. When you are burning cds you won't be using the full power of your video card and barely touching your processor.

    I would get a name brand. I prefer Antec power supplies myself. I have one PC with a 420w and another with a 350w. The 350w one has a similar load on it as your system with the exception that is has a Geforce 4600.You don't want to get a cheap one. If your power supply overloads there will be a very good chance of it damaging motherboard components or memory chips.
     
  8. Balable

    Balable Member

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    Yeah on the safe side I would go with a 600w power supply
     
  9. ScubaBud

    ScubaBud Regular member

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    It seems today that a 400 watt PSU is becoming the standard. Not too much and not too little. On my work bench I have an Aspire case with additional lights inside and out, 5 case fans, CPU fan, graphics card fan, and two fans in the 400 watt PSU. Its a P4 2.26 with an Nvidia GeForce5200. I also have two Antec cases, one with a 380 watt and this one with a 420 watt. Never a problem with any of them.
     
  10. subodai

    subodai Member

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    first and foremost you DO NOT need a 600w psu, neither are you likely to need a 500w psu
    if you get a good brand 400/450 say antec truepower or somthing
    not these flashy uv reactive see through 600w uber cool mod psu's for £15... they WILL fail.. the amps on the rails is BULLSHIT.. only ever EVER buy a brand name psu, avoid at all costs no-name, qtec and other such cheap named psu's you want antec, hyper or something to that effect dont spend less than £60 on a psu or your looking at a fried system for sure... and that sir is a fact.
    good luck with the 68
     
  11. Starbuck1

    Starbuck1 Guest

    Everyone has their own opinion, right?? I'd buy a 450W to 550W range and go with the most efficient one out there; look at some reviews; spend the money; you want this to last and not f'up any expensive parts like the $400+ dollar 6800 Ultra!! DOH!

    http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20050228/power_supply-01.html

    Good Luck and keep us posted.

    starbuck
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 21, 2005
  12. Starbuck1

    Starbuck1 Guest

  13. Nephilim

    Nephilim Moderator Staff Member

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    If you want the best available then take a look at the PC Power & Cooling Turbo 510. It is quite simply the best built PSU available, has the tightest regulations of any PSU available and is warranted for five years. PC Power & Cooling rate their wattages at real world temps unlike many vendors who make their wattage claims at temps lower than an operating PSU will ever see.

    I had to replace my Vantec Stealth 420 when one of the rails decided to drop to half what it was supposed to put out. I said to hell with it and bought a Turbo 510 Deluxe and have been nothing but impressed with it from the minute I hefted that heavy b@stard out of it's box. All the wired are sleeved in black mesh too.

    To my knowledge it's the only PSU on the market right now that's officially rated to handle the new power hungry SLI systems which is a testament to the power and quality of the Turbo 510.

    If I sound like a commercial for them it's because I'm so impressed I'll never buy anything else :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2005
  14. comprun

    comprun Guest

    wow thanks for all the replys guys..........j/w is Ultra a good brand for a power supply cuz i kinda like there x-connect cables???
     
  15. Nephilim

    Nephilim Moderator Staff Member

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    Last edited: Mar 21, 2005
  16. EYEShurt

    EYEShurt Regular member

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    pfft screw the ultra go with a x850 xt pe lol
     
  17. comprun

    comprun Guest

    thanks for the link nephilim............well eyeshurt i would love to go with the x850 xt but thats running around 600-700 bucks...........i was lookin at 6800 ultra at tigerdirect that is 400 bucks
     
  18. EYEShurt

    EYEShurt Regular member

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    TRuE ThAT
     
  19. haimback

    haimback Regular member

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  20. Nephilim

    Nephilim Moderator Staff Member

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    Nice link!



    Anyone that uses it should be sure to give themselves 10 to 15% extra for the extra draw at startup :)
     

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