[What PSU?] -

Posted by:

Hey all,

How do you determine which PSU to use in a [i]build your own[/i] PC?.

Is there some kinda law that should be followed, eg. don't go above xxxW for such and such configuration?

I'm new to all this stuff so any help would be gratefully received.

Ta.

Posted by:

Ok, i just found this list.

Is it kinda correct?

1.7Gig Pentium IV chip - 65w
1.4 GHz Athlon chip - 70w

IDE Hard Drive - 15w
Floppy drive - 5w
ZIP drives - 10w
CD ROM - 10-25w
CD R/RW/DVD - 10-25w
Tape drive - 50w
SCSI Hard Drive - 10-25w
10K/15K rpm SCSI Drive - 10-45w

Motherboard - 15-30w
Average PCI card - 5w
Memory per 128MB - 10w
Graphics Card - 20-50w
Modem - 10w
Sound Card - 10w

Posted by: 臯栽倗x

Just get an Enermax 465p-ve.. it's 431W (more than enough for practically any setup), and generally fairly resonably priced. I'm using a 365p-ve (350w) in my AthlonXP 1600+ with plenty o' devices, and it works great, but you might wanna go with the bigger one just to be safe.

Posted by:

So, are you saying "it doesn't really matter"?

I don't wanna fry stuff in my new PC.

Posted by: Martin

A quality 350W PSU is better than a cheapo 430W, which would die out after prolonged usage.

Seeing as you have multiple drives, I generally don't look anything less than 400W for that matter - and I stick with quality brands such as Antec and Enermax.

Posted by: Ecniv

WOOT! Enermax ROCKS, but be sure to get one with an Intake and an Exaust fan.

Posted by: 臯栽倗x

IE. My first post stands.. get an Enermax 465p-VE :)

Posted by:

Enermax...'noted'.

Posted by: John81

In your list you haven't got any fans, they take up power and if you plan to overclock you need at least 2 good fans.

Posted by: ikellen

Well I'll post my setup for referrence and maybe it will give you an idea. I have a 300w PSU............yes this may seem small, but when you live in CA, and in a house with 3 other comps, the power bill can go through the roof if you have all 4 machines running 8-10 hours a day. Here's my setup, everything runs fine:

P4 1.5ghz @ 1.61 (107 x 15)
768mb PC-133 RAM
1 60gb Samsung HD
1 120gb Maxtor HD
LG CD-RW
ECS P4IBMS mobo
Nvidia TNT2 (120/125) @ 150/155
3 80mm case fans
1 40mm fan for the TNT2
Intel Stock CPU fan
12" Cold Cathode

All of this H/W runs fine........the CPU voltage is 1.68v, I have a fanbus, but it is only on/off. Yes 350w+ PSU's are nice, but you dont always need em.

Posted by:

Cheers all, much appreciated, in the end i don't have to be [i]too[/i] specific then.

Thanks.