im in the process of upgrading my computer but ive never had to deal with the PSU cuz ive never built very powerful machines

this is what i think my specs will be: abit at8 32x mobo, amd athlon 64 x2 4400, 2 gig corsair xms ddr400, HIS radeon x1950 pro 512mb, 2 160gb sata western digital

i already own the x2 4400, 1 gig memory and 160 gig WD but i'm upgrading the mobo, video card, another gig of memory and another harddrive

i like the specs i chose because its relatively cheap but if you can think of a better system to build given the hardware i already have and the low budget then go ahead and make a sugestion but the main thing i'm concerned with is getting a PSU. i have no psu experience and some reviews ive read for a lot say they die within a year. whats a good brand name?

Case ?

Do you have a case yet ? Most come with a pws.Get at least 400 watt.
ATX Mid Tower (4 Bay) for lots of air flow.Use the new IDE round cables.
Ribbon cables damage very easy,especially old ones.
This is an important component.
Note : you need a motherboard manual to show where to connect pws leads.

I use an Ultra Xfinity 600. It has a total of 600 watts with a total of 38 amps on the rails (together). It powers my EVGA 8800 GTS Superclocked. That GPU requires 26 amps by itself. I just looked up your video processor and it will require a good amount of kick. Look up the specifications on the Ultra XFinity models. As you get used to reading the wattage and amperage outputs on each unit, you will get comfortable as to selecting a good unit. Remember, a lot of amperage in the 12 volt section. You will need reserve power for future upgrades. Good Luck.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

http://hardwarelogic.com/news/136/ARTICLE/1317/2007-10-15.html

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=125

"That GPU requires 26 amps by itself."
Incorrect.
That is the psu amp rating on the 12v
8800GTS = 103-106w
26 x 12 = 312watts on the combined 12v = 26amp psu
The 8800GTS requires a 26amp psu, and at 106w = 8.84 amps
The cpu, drives and such also draw from the 12v, not just the card

So are amps more important than wattage?
The total amps used by all your hardware should be less than the total amps provided by the psu?

I'm thinking between the Ultra X-finity 600W and the hec Zephyr 650W...

thanks for the help by the way

You might get some idea here.
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

This site is outdated.

Use this site instead, because it is updated every time the new hardwares goes out.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Thanks for a better link.I calculated at 355 watts.
Thats probably why Dell's with 250 are so much trouble.
I have 500.