How much power for this build?

[smilingfrog]

Hi,
It's been a few years since I built a computer. I have an ultra-quiet 400W power supply in my current machine, but I'm guessing it won't be beefy enough. This is what I'm liking so far

mobo: Asus P7P55D Pro
cpu: Intel i5-750
HDD: 1TB + 2x160GB SATA drives
RAM: 8GB 1333MHZ
Video Card: BFG BFGE981024GTGE GeForce 9800 GT Video Card

The TB HDD and the RAM is yet to be determined. I will primarily be booting Linux.

How much power should I have on hand? Any other suggestions?

G

[Khalil]

Did you mean i5-750? Is this a gaming Rig? If not, what do you plan on using it for? Ultra Brand Power supplies are poor quality, it is not geared to work well with such expensive hardware as you are proposing.

[smilingfrog]

Hi,
The processor is an i5-750. Sorry about the transposition.
The power supply is a Nexus (not Ultra), but has really, really quiet fans. Only 400W.
Primary use for the computer will be compiling and concurent virtual machines, but I would like to keep the option open to game.

I figure that 400W is not enough. I would like to get an idea of what would be: 600W, 650W, 750W... At what point does it become overkill?

[glc]

If your 400 watt power supply is a quality brand ATX 2.x spec with sufficient amps on the +12 volt rail/rails, it will handle it. Nvidia's minimum recommendation for a 9800 GT is 400 watts. I'm assuming "ultra quiet" is a description, not the brand "Ultra". Could you post the exact brand and model, please?

EDIT: You and I were posting at the same time. Please look at the label on that Nexus and give me the following info:

1. How many +12v rails do you see?
2. What are the amp ratings on each +12v rail?
3. Look for the UL code - it's a 6 digit number preceded by the letter "E". It's very small and is usually near the backwards LR symbol.

EDIT2: I doubt it's going to work well - the new motherboards require both a 24 pin main ATX connector and an 8 pin auxiliary connector. The video card may require one or more 6 pin PCI-E connectors. Take a look, if you can give me the exact model I can look it up.

[smilingfrog]

1. How many +12v rails do you see?
2. What are the amp ratings on each +12v rail?
3. Look for the UL code - it's a 6 digit number preceded by the letter "E". It's very small and is usually near the backwards LR symbol.


I think there is only one rail. It is rated 6.0A/15.0A for normal/maximum loads.
The UL code is E190414. The model is a Nexus NX-4000

Thanks

[David M]

Corsair has a line of power supplies at 650W, 750W and 850W that have 140mm fans with a very low noise level of 21dB at lower power outputs. Above 850 watts and they start getting noisier.

http://www.corsair.com/products/tx/default.aspx Click on the Resources tab to bring up the noise level charts.

Don't buy a garbage PSU....they are a critical piece of hardware. When they go bad, they can do more damage than a mad dog tearing off a police car bumper.

[glc]

That's a good PSU, it's made by FSP. However, a single 15 amp rail isn't going to cut it. It also doesn't have a 24 pin. This is an excellent deal right now, and it's very quiet:

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371015