How much PSU do I really need?

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:45 am

Hey gang, it's time for me to ask advice again from our sweet and very well informed community here. I'm planning on upgrading my PC soon and the Legit Boys have me wondering if it might not be time to upgrade my PSU, due in large part to thier well written article.

Here's what I'm currently running:

AMD Athlon64 3700+ San Diego Core
Asus A8V-E DELUXE K8T890
Sapphire X850XT Radeon
CORSAIR 2X1G Twinx2048 DDR400
80G WD Raptor SATA
160G 7200 WD SATA
8X DVD-RW
Creative Laps Audigy 2
1 set of Cold Cathode Tubes
and about 5 80mm case fans

All of that is currently running of my ThermalTake 430w PSU

I plan on adding the following:

ATI Radeon X1900XTX
Swiftech H20-120 Premium liquid cooling system

How much PSU do I really need? My systems running hotter than I'd like at a whopping 50c. I'm hoping switching to liquid cooling over my ThermalTake passive radiator will drop that considerably. Right now I'm leaning towards the OCZ GameXStream 600w version.

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:53 am

adding the XTX and watercooling I'd go with at least a 600W power supply... I think the 600W OCZ should be fine for your needs... If you look at our test systems used for the article it never got much over 550W, so no worries.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:14 am

Check out this program and see what it tells you what you should have for power.................

eXtreme PSU Calculator v1.3

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

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:27 am

According to that calculator, even with the water cooling gear and X1900XTX I only need 350w. If that's the case the OCZ 600W I just ordered ($115 shipped) should be more than sufficent.

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:38 am

See my sig for details on the rig......

600W would be fine for your needs........I've also got 4 Sata HDD's, a DVD Rom, Tv Card and sound card attached........and normally another usb powered HDD.

The PSU does run hot though

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:40 am

That was my concern to. My PSU right now is kickin some BTU's that for certian. I was wondering if my PSU overheating might be the cause of my insane 50c idle temp on my CPU.

markkleb · Post by **markkleb** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 1:35 pm

I have heard that its better to have too much because it has less draw and produces less heat. My favorite PS are Silverstone. I like the Scythe too.

Pengwin · Post by **Pengwin** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 1:59 pm

Ehh.. I would have gone with the Fortron Source 600w. Its made in the same factor as PC P&C PSU, and the rails can merge to give power where needed