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how much juice does a comp need?

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  #1  
Old 01-24-2004
SornyPanafonic's Avatar
TechSpot Member
 
Location: Bronx, NY
Member since: Jan 2004, 159 posts
how much juice does a comp need?

i got me 6 (2 led) case fans and on tornado fan on my cpu (sounds like power saw). also got two hard drives and three dvd/cdr drives, grapgics card, sound card. planning on gettin a 9800 so thats another power sucker. my comp has 400 watt power supply. is that enough or should i take out a few things.
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  #2  
Old 01-25-2004
JimShady23's Avatar
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Location: Merrill, WI
Member since: Dec 2003, 650 posts
System specs
Well

That depends on what KIND of PSU it is.... If it is some cheap thing that came with your case than it could be an issue. Basically you get what you pay for when it comes to a PSU. For example go into your local pc store and pic up a $30 psu and then pic up a $100 psu, your going to notice that the $100 PSU is twice as heavy. Along with that look at the power ratings, particularly the 12v output. Your going to notice that the more expensive PSU is going to put out a more efficient current.

If you think your PSU is decent and you cant afford a newer better one. Try it. Worse comes to worse it will burn out and you will have to get a new one anyway.

But I think 400 watts might be cutting it a little thin with the amount of devices you are running/going to be running. But I could be wrong so anyone feel free to correct me. Put it this way I have 7 case fans, 1 HS FAN that runs directly to the psu, 2-rom drives, 3 hard drives, video card that requires power and 2 cool cathode neon lights. And I have a decent 500 watt PSU wich does fine. Would I run a 400 ? Probably not. With numberous devices on your system that require power, the bigger the better in a PSU.

And as I said before you get what you pay for in a PSU but dont pay too much. If you see a 500 watt PSU selling for $125 look at one for 500 watt $65-100 and compair the power ratings. Most of the time you are paying a extreme amount due to a name. Antec, Enermax, Thermaltake. Anything within 475-500watt over $65 will do you fine.
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  #3  
Old 01-25-2004
StormBringer's Avatar
TechSpot Guru
 
Location: USA
Member since: Apr 2002, 2,871 posts
400W should be fine for that as long as it is a reputable brand and has sufficient current in the proper places. The one thing you definately need to be sure of is that you have 17A+ on the +12v rail, preferably more, especially if you have a lot of devices that will be fed by it.
For further info see this thread http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthrea...=&threadid=377
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  #4  
Old 01-26-2004
Arris's Avatar
TechSpot Evangelist
 
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Member since: Feb 2002, 3,033 posts
Power usage information for devices and formula for working out what PSU wattage you need.

http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/maxpc/index_cases.htm
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  #5  
Old 02-18-2004
lowman's Avatar
TechSpot Enthusiast
 
Location: New York
Member since: Feb 2004, 446 posts
ANTEC TruePower 550W

In my book, the Antec TruePower 550W power supply will give you anything you need as far as power and more...if not, any one of Antec's units are great...but I use 500W as my baseline for a performance system...
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