Re: ANOTHER PSU question...

Arrgh! 8 day old thread.

"RalfG" <itsnotme@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uQr64dIzHHA.312@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It depends on the specifics of your system configuration and intended
usage. Upgrading the video card has typically been the biggest
consideration in PSU power requirements. At one point in the recent past
video card power requirements jumped from the <20watt range up to
potentially over 60watts for some high end models. Video cards without a
secondary power connector can't draw more than the bus limitation,
something around 40watts IIRC.

My P4 Media Center (Radeon x600 PCIe video) came with a 350watt PSU.
Internally it is still the stock configuration (1Gig Ram, 300Gig SATA, DVD
burner and DVDrom yada yada) With a USB wireless adapter added and
external USB harddrive running the idle load on the UPS is less than
170Watts. Without the external drive or monitor running, the idle load
from just the computer, wireless KB-Mouse, IR controller and USB WiFi is
only between 112 and 125 watts. Turning on the webcam bumps that up
another 20 watts or so. Even with a second external drive connected I
haven't had the system do anything that ever drove the average power load
above 250 watts for more than a few moments.



"RJK" <notatospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:utPrrBmxHHA.4736@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks Anna,

No problems atm, ..am planning on cobbling together new, (out of "older
generation / cheaper" parts - already ordered cpu & mobo - might try and
make use of Dads' previous midi/ATX PC case - no 12v 4pin on its' psu
though), PC at my leisure, then eeeeeeveeeeeeeentually move over to it.
...My old faithful under the bench is a 6+ years, and more, old Lian-Li
case with a cheap Q-TEC 550watt <lol> / Socket A PCchips
M848A(lr?)/XP2600 Barton/768mb pc2700 166mhz/DDR333/ 2x80gb 6Y080L0
Maxtors / Liteon LH-20A1P-10C 20x dvd-rewriter (treated it yesterday) /
oldish LG 16x10x40 cd r/w ...and it's a HONEY / solid as a rock. Daren't
upset it ! ...so for lots of obvous reasons, I'll spsend the extra
money and eventually build a whole new one, get it installed, and iron
out any problems, and after several months hoping to duplicate my XP Home
and apps. platform, I could then move to it :-) ...Tweaking up XP is
the hard / long winded part !

Have been reading newegg and Tomshardware PSU reviews (Fortron/Seasonic
:-), and lots of others.
After lots of reading wildly differing opinions, I was beginning to
suspect that something around 400 quality watts would do, then there's
the consideration that even quite high quality psu's perform more stably
at their "middle" loading range.
I've been eyeing up the Seasonics at my favourite hardware vendor :-)

....thanks again,

regards, Richard


"Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uwJfQNixHHA.2432@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Richard:
Don't get too caught up in this wattage business. You've got a
relatively modest system (even if & when you'll need "extra capacity")
so I would think a 400W+ PSU from one of the usually reliable sources,
e.g., Antec, Enermax, Fortron, Seasonic, etc., should serve you well.
Your cost should be well under $100. Why don't you simply access
Newegg's site and see their offerings together with user comments? And
there are a slew of websites that devote themselves entirely or partly
to reporting & testing power supplies.

BTW, you don't mention your current PSU. Is there some problem with your
current unit or you have some suspicion that it's not functioning
properly?
Anna


"RJK" <notatospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:efVR7ZfxHHA.4352@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PSU wattage ???
Have trawled through site after site, tried several different "wattage
calculators" that give wildly different figures, seemingly because they
want you to click on a "buy a psu here" link !!

Anyhooo! ...can someone give me a more accurate idea for watts, for
ordinary desktop midi-tower innards as follows. (I know that if one
goes too "cheap" one could end up with a 250watt psu badged as a
500watt etc. so I'll probably buy and ANTEC.),
...and I most likely will want to add an IDE pci card and another IDE
hd, at a later date.

ATX Conroe865PE motherboard with Realtek LAN and sound on it.
Pentium D925 (2x3ghz - 2x2mb L2 cache)
3 sticks of DDR400
Nvidia 6200 AGP card
pci - Creative SB Audigy 2
pci - Intel K56 flex. data/fax/voice modem, (I think that's still in
there!)
2 x 7200 IDE hd's
1 x floppy drive
4 x 80mm fans
1 x dvd r/w drive
1 x cd r/w drive
Occasionally, I plug in my old Canoscan N650OU scanner (UBS powered),

...and of course, some extra capacity but, not too much !!!

TIA, regards,

Richard


"RJK" <notatospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23cx53IZxHHA.4736@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi, I'm really out of date with hardware !

I'm about to cobble together an 865PE motherboard with a Pentium D925
on it,
...motherboard has a AGP slot so that I can use my old graphics card,
....Antec PSU I've been ogling has a 6 pin pci-e supply, does that
just dangle unused (alright then "gets tied up":-)
http://www.antec.com/uk/productDetails.php?ProdID=04644
In other words, will PSU be okay if that 6 pin power supply is unused,
just like one can tie-up the 4 pin cpu power supply if not used on
older boards/cpu's that don't need it 4pin power.

regards, Richard








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