Calculating PS Wattage

Divine Kaos · 15-November-05, 12:40 PM

This is what I am putting in a computer I am building...I need to know how to calculate the wattage of power supply required. Would a 250w cut it?

Maxtor 160GB EIDE HD 7200/2MB/ATA-133
Chaintech GeForce MX4000 128MB DDR AGP w/TV-OUT
Ultra Aluminum Cooling Fan
Mushkin 512MB DDR PC2100
MSI P4MAM2-V Socket 478 Motherboard
Intel Celeron 340 2.93Ghz 533FSB Socket 478
DVD+RW Drive
CD-RW Drive
CD-ROM
And a floppy drive.

Thanks!

Im_gumby · 15-November-05, 12:59 PM

Honestly don't have a good answer to tell you how to figure out what you need, but since you have 4 drives and a power hungry graphics card, I would say you need more than 250W.

As a bit of advice, think of the PSU like your CPU.

When I buy one, I try to by the biggest, most powerfull one I can within my budget.

Why? Ability for future expansion.

What happens if you decide to put in a RAID array? Heck, what about dual PCI graphics cards? If you go cheap on the PSU and you upgrade your machine, you will more than likely have to get a new PSU also.

If you get a heafty one now, chances are good that you will be able to use it for your next machine as well.

And larger PSUs will be able to provide a calmer current stream to your machine rather than one near max capacity.

Zer0s · 15-November-05, 01:08 PM

Have people ALREADY forgotten about fuel...

check out this link

http://www.pcapex.com/downloads/details.php?file=2

That should be a link to the Overclockulator. When you get into the proggy, theres a tab for power supply. it will tell you the bare minimum needed.

EDIT: i suck at t3h spelling?!?!

Divine Kaos · 15-November-05, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zer0s


	Have people ALRESAY forgotten about fuel... check out this link http://www.pcapex.com/downloads/details.php?file=2 That should be a link to the Overclockulator. When you get into the proggy, theres a tab for power supply. it will tell you the bare minimum needed.

Nice!

Thanks guys!

15-November-05, 12:40 PM		#1 (permalink)
Divine Kaos Apex Techie I	Calculating PS Wattage This is what I am putting in a computer I am building...I need to know how to calculate the wattage of power supply required. Would a 250w cut it? Maxtor 160GB EIDE HD 7200/2MB/ATA-133 Chaintech GeForce MX4000 128MB DDR AGP w/TV-OUT Ultra Aluminum Cooling Fan Mushkin 512MB DDR PC2100 MSI P4MAM2-V Socket 478 Motherboard Intel Celeron 340 2.93Ghz 533FSB Socket 478 DVD+RW Drive CD-RW Drive CD-ROM And a floppy drive. Thanks!

15-November-05, 01:08 PM		#3 (permalink)
Zer0s Apex Tech God	Have people ALREADY forgotten about fuel... check out this link http://www.pcapex.com/downloads/details.php?file=2 That should be a link to the Overclockulator. When you get into the proggy, theres a tab for power supply. it will tell you the bare minimum needed. EDIT: i suck at t3h spelling?!?! Last edited by Zer0s; 15-November-05 at 02:53 PM..

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15-November-05, 12:59 PM		#2 (permalink)
Im_gumby Slightly Silly Moderator	Honestly don't have a good answer to tell you how to figure out what you need, but since you have 4 drives and a power hungry graphics card, I would say you need more than 250W. As a bit of advice, think of the PSU like your CPU. When I buy one, I try to by the biggest, most powerfull one I can within my budget. Why? Ability for future expansion. What happens if you decide to put in a RAID array? Heck, what about dual PCI graphics cards? If you go cheap on the PSU and you upgrade your machine, you will more than likely have to get a new PSU also. If you get a heafty one now, chances are good that you will be able to use it for your next machine as well. And larger PSUs will be able to provide a calmer current stream to your machine rather than one near max capacity.