PSU question

[Altcon]

I'm building a system:
A8N SLI deluxe
AMD64 3200+
1 Gig Corsair DDR400 Value ram (2*512)
MSI 6800 GT PCIe
WD 120GB Caviar SE HD (SATA)
WD 80GB Caviar SE HD (IDE)
CDRW
2 case fans (120mm)
PSU-Eneremax 350w PSU (2 fan)

The question is-do you thnk the PSU is enough?
According to some power rating site the min PSU I need is 321w.
So will it make the cut or should I wasted even more bloody money on replacing my PSU?
The system is already mostly here apart from the Mobo so i can't really change anything.

 

[Blazkowicz]

I think it's ok if you don't overclock. (or don't o/c much)

 

[Rys]

You should be fine, as long as the Enermax has no issue being loaded for long periods. You won' t be pulling more than about 300W, so 350W is fine as long as that's a sustained load the PSU is capable of.

Used to take great joy in telling the 550W QTec crowd that I ran a 4GHz P4, high-end graphics and a bunch of SCSI disks off a high-quality 300W PSU.

 

[Altcon]

I think it's ok if you don't overclock. (or don't o/c much)

Only possible OC for me is GT to Ultra Speeds, and that's probably gonna be further down the road.

 

[Altcon]

You should be fine, as long as the Enermax has no issue being loaded for long periods. You won' t be pulling more than about 300W, so 350W is fine as long as that's a sustained load the PSU is capable of.

Used to take great joy in telling the 550W QTec crowd that I ran a 4GHz P4, high-end graphics and a bunch of SCSI disks off a high-quality 300W PSU.

It's fine under full load, I've run overnights and days of stress testing with it and the voltage output is steady.
Thanx, that's a load off my back.. I figured I might have to spend at least another 80$ and I'm not in the mood for it.

 

[Pete]

PSU calculator.

 

[Guden Oden]

If you people look at anandtech's recent videocard reviews etc, you'll see that systems that use prescotts and dual 6800Us don't draw more than around 250W sum total. The current hysteria over power supply wattage is nothing but just that. Oh, and I don't give even five cents for those "power supply calculators" that can be found here and there, they tend to vastly overstate actual power requirements. I've seen some of them list harddrives at 30W each, etc... Totally prepostrous.

Considering a PSU doesn't reach maximum efficiency until it is loaded to around 60% (or maybe more) of total capacity, it's really rather dumb to buy a huge unit and then barely use it. It'll just sit there and burn off electricity into heat, electricity that wouldn't have been wasted with a smaller power supply...

 

[Altcon]

PSU calculator.

Thanks I used that already to calculate about 320w.

 

[incurable]

The question is-do you thnk the PSU is enough?

More than enough, in fact, I'd be surprised if that system would draw more than 200~220W under full load.

 

[Altcon]

The question is-do you thnk the PSU is enough?

More than enough, in fact, I'd be surprised if that system would draw more than 200~220W under full load.

That sounds a bit surprising, most assumed around 300w would be full load and all the sites claim higher.

 

[karlotta]

You guys! its not the watts its the amps, and clean steady current. The whole 300/350 was to have a chance at a high amp 12v rail. But now even that can be a issue , so many poor OEM PSus at 350w. And for the antech system well i dont think a MB on a desk with the very min to boot and run a OS is a good test...

 

[Altcon]

You guys! its not the watts its the amps, and clean steady current. The whole 300/350 was to have a chance at a high amp 12v rail. But now even that can be a issue , so many poor OEM PSus at 350w. And for the antech system well i dont think a MB on a desk with the very min to boot and run a OS is a good test...

I didn't get what you said...
As for testing I ran Prime95 overnight (about 8-10 hours), 3mark03 in loops over night and 3dmark2001SE in loops overnight at the highest resolution possible. I think those put a big strain on the system in Terms of CPU and GPU which are the main electricity hogs.
If you have any test more indicative of stability then by all means share.

 

[karlotta]

If it works it works. My comment was about the requierments made by ATi NVDA ect for atleast 300/350w PSUs, do to the fact that they (PSUs) should have enough amp on the different current (3,5,12v) rails. But that is not how it is. Lots of cheep 350w PSUs are around that can be very low on the 12v. and just plain spotty with load. Heck there are even 430w or 550w that are just plain bad.All your tests show with your current setup that your PSU works.
Also old PSUs even real good ones are of a different standard, and where more for the 5v rails. Alot of PSUs are still made today like that, hence they have over kill in 5v, but under in 12v. Can be a issue with lots of fans, HDDs, Optical and ubercards. So when i look for a PSU i look to the specs, like if the company even has them posted on there website. No specs, well then they sux.

 

[Altcon]

Also old PSUs even real good ones are of a different standard, and where more for the 5v rails. Alot of PSUs are still made today like that, hence they have over kill in 5v, but under in 12v. Can be a issue with lots of fans, HDDs, Optical and ubercards. So when i look for a PSU i look to the specs, like if the company even has them posted on there website. No specs, well then they sux.

Well acording to the manual of my PSU (Enermax EG365P-VE) 12V -max 26A, 5V - max 32A, 3V-max 32A. Max combined 5+3 shall not exceed 185V.
The PSU is K8 ready (for my A64).
I know generic PSUs with high labels suck, they have a 400W+ label and printed ever so small is "actual MAX output 250W", it's why they cost dirt cheap.
I'd never build a system around one of those unless it was really budget and without a card that hooks directly to the PSU.

 

[Pete]

Oh, and I don't give even five cents for those "power supply calculators" that can be found here and there, they tend to vastly overstate actual power requirements.

I guess that should compensate for many PSUs vastly overstating their capacity?

I've seen some of them list harddrives at 30W each, etc... Totally prepostrous.

7200rpm HDs do indeed draw ~30W to spin up, according to their spec sheets. That is, unless HD makers are overstating things, too.

Just like it's not wise to run a PSU at 50% capacity, it's probably equally unwise to run one at 95% of capacity. You overshoot a little to figure in future upgrades.