How much power is enough

[Sanguimancer]

So I'm going to build my first PC for college soon. I was wondering if their was a simple way to find out how many Watts my power supply needs to be able to put out in order to run the system I want. I'll give a list of specs that I am planning on just in case it helps.

Processor-3.2 ghz Pentium 4
Video Card - ATI X800 XT Platinum
Harddrive - Maxtor 7200 RPM, dont know about the size yet
Sound Card - Middle of the line Creative Labs sound card
1-1.5 gb of Ram

I don't really know how many of these specs matter, so I just listed them all. Thanks in advance.

[lil Jimmie]

This may help you determine the requirements but I'd say a decent 400W Enlight, Sparkle, Antec, Fortron or Enermax would do.

[WHB]

Hello, Other's will give you many others reasons of the importance of a good PSU, But when I build my first system I purchased an Antec 550W "True550", as a matter of fact I purchased the highest quality parts I could get, I've always said way buy the next best, when I know that I'm going to turn around later and upgrade to a higher wattage, get it out of the way now. My machine is strictly a music machine.every since my rigs been finished(5/9/2004). I've never had any problems at all with anything. take a look at my sig to get an idea of what I mean.

[Brown Hornet]

i would say a quality PSU of around 350w to 400 should do just fine.never had a problem with my 350w PSU i also have 7 case fans a pci slot fan for my vid card and this

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...999-151&depa=1

and i o/c and no problems at all.quality counts so dont skimp

[Designer]

A good quality power supply will give better power output than a cheap power supply of a similar wattage. I would have said around 400 to 450W should be sufficient

Check out Bigandy's power supply referece guide for some good quality power supplies

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=98650

[Tin]

if you go to newegg you can get a 530W sparkle with adjustable potentiometers for $70. its a very good power supply and provides tons of juice.

[Hi Ho]

The Enlight 420w would work just fine and it won't break the bank.

[TwoRails]

Hi Sanguimancer,

Welcome to PC Mechanic !!

For your specs listed above, a quality 350W will be plenty. The real catch in desiding is, however, if you can fairly accurately predict future upgrades and add-ons. If you're not going to upgrade (or much, anyway), then 350 is fine. Medium upgrades will need about a 400 W unit. A lot of fancy stuff will take a 450W to be safe. For example, my 400W Antec easily pushes my 2700+, 9800 Pro, 4 HDs, and 3 optical drives, but then I just run stock case cooling and no extra fans, lights, bells, or whistles.

HTH

TwoRails

[Tin]

if you dont plan to OC, a 350W should be enough, but if you want to push it, youll need more juice. i was stuck at 2400MHz for awhile until i found out my PSU was crapping out at high speeds. this was on a 350W antec PSU.

[Sanguimancer]

Thanks for all the responses.

I've been looking at the Enlight PSU's and was wondering, is there a reason that they are so much cheaper? I mean, I've heard they are good quality power supply's from these boards, and I really would like to cut down on cost where I can, but it's not going to die on me will it?

[Hi Ho]

I don't really know why they cost less but I have one in each of my machines and they have been running fine. One for over four years. Enlight has an excellent reputation for quality. You can't go wrong with them.

[Tin]

the best tell tale way of telling if your PSU is up to task....generally the higher quality PSUs weigh more than the junk ones, as they have more heatsinks, capacitors, etc.

[Hi Ho]

That is sure true. The 350w Powmax I used to have was extremely light. The Enlight I replaced it with is like a block of lead.

[Designer]

Definately agree with Tin & Hi Ho.

If you ever open up a cheap power supply an have a look theres hardly any components in it! (not much in the way of power smoothing caps)