Power supply question..again lol

[whtddusy516]

Ok, so now i know about the ratings and such...this is the power supply im going to need

SLi-Certified
At least 450-Watt
24 Pin


but im not sure what size my powersupply is i think its an ATX 12v but im not quite sure...I looked up some power supplies at new egg under that catagory and none of them were Sli-certified, but i guess it doesnt have to be, ill just buy a new case later on if thats what i need to do.

Thanks

 

[DonNagual]

I think I found a question in there somewhere......

You want to know if you can use a standard ATX power supply in your case? First we need to know what case you have. If you don't know, then you could also take a look at the PSU you have in there now and see what size it is. It will tell you on the sticker attached to it.

 

[whtddusy516]

I have an Aspire X-Sonic, the Sticker said ATX 12V so im guessing thats what it is lol...and sorry about that not being clear about what i was asking lol

also, if it had modular cables that would be very helpful...i hate power supply cables lol

 

[KingCody]

it doesn't have to be SLI certified.

most single card systems only need 350watts, dual card systems such as SLI or CrossFire systems need the extra 100w to power the second card. an "SLI certified" PSU would have 2 PCI-E power connectors, but any good quality 450w or higher PSU should work fine, you may just have to buy a cheap PCI-E power adapter that's all.

P.S. I hate power supply cables too, but modular PSUs can get quite expensive. personally I just cut off and tape the wires I don't need. this will of course void your warranty, so it's up to you whether you want to risk it or not.

EDIT: your case should be fine, but do not get another Aspire PSU, they are garbage. get a quality brand such as Antec, Enermax, Sparkle, or Fortron to name a few.

hope this helps

 

[nork]

The main question has been answered properly, of course. I just wanted to add this:

Im glad to see that KingCody pointed out that you can use a 350 watt ps in a standard system as a lot of people think you need 400 and more watts. I have seen systems with onboard vid, nic,audio, a hard drive or 2 and running on 80 to 200 watts power supplies. Standard vendors like HP, Dell, Compaq, etc use power supplies less than 200 watts on some of their pc's they sell.
The truth is that you can have a ton of stuff running on these power supplies, a lot more than what is suggested by those charts and such. Part of the reason is that you usually dont have all your hardware being used all at the same time. But the other reason is that even 200 watts is fine as long as you dont have external video. These days, though, you can get a decent 400 watt ps at newegg or directron for $25 to $40, mainly up closer to the $40 mark for better ones. So why buy a 200 watt ps!

Last, junk power supplies have very poor to partial to no thermal protection at all. When a good ps goes bad it sacrifices itself for the rest of the hardware in the pc, thats thermal protection. A cheap ps doesnt and so all or part or most of your hardware, like your vid card, hard drive(s), and other parts will get destroyed in the event of a power low/high, short or whatever.
This is the best reason I can think of to get a decent power supply!

 

[nork]

whtddusy516 has mentioned some good names. I have been using Enermax for a long time and swear by them, but there are others that are as good and better.
We can give you a list of some good power supplies at newegg.com, or you can just look around in here. I know i have posted a list of good ones at newegg on a few other posts in here, but i would be glad to do it here if you want it.
Seems to me there is or was an Antec on sale for $24.99, as well as a few Fortron power supplies for under $40, another Antec ps around $35, and a few other good ones as well.