Power supplies

[JeffB]

Can somebody recommend a good wattage for a Pentium 3 gig system?
In my personal opinion, a 450 watt supply (with P4 connector of course) will do.

[junky354]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-19-03 AT 12:23PM (EDT)[p]A 300 watts power supply would do the job if you have 1 HD, 1 cd-rom, and 1 of just about everything else. The reason people get bigger power supplies is if they have more HD or something. Also just to feel good that there power supply can put out 450 watts.

Here is a chart that shows how many whats everything uses up. I found it to be very useful, so take a peek!

http://www.avault.com/articles/getarticle.asp?name=pcevolution2&page=6

By using this chart, which seems fairly accurate, my computer uses 316 watts. Here are the specs.

XP=1700
Gigabyte GA-7VRSP mobo (KT333)
512 megs of PC2100
Albatron GF4-TI4600 4x agp
Maxtor 40g 7200 RPM HD
WD 40g 7200 RPM HD
Audigy gamer sound card
Sony DVD
Phillups CD-RW
3 case fans
Volcano 8 fan for CPU
375 watt ATX PSU

P.S. Woohoo my 600th post!

no more pretty sig....

[JeffB]

I meant to say 4 gig

[Luke]

>Here is a chart that shows how many whats everything uses
>up. I found it to be very useful, so take a peek!

I wouldn't read too much into that chart. I recently built a server that is a dual 866 P3, with a dual-channel SCSI controller and no fewer than 6 hard drives (4 10k rpm) and 5 case fans. According to the chart I should be drawing 360+ watts of power, but I have only an Antec 350 power supply, that can crank out no more than 330.

There's parts of that chart that don't make sense - an IDE CD-ROM takes 20W, but a SCSI CD-ROM only 12? Considering that the most power-hungry components are the same (the laser and motor), the choice of interface won't make a difference.

A half-gig stick of RAM takes 30% more power than a 10K RPM hard drive with a motor that's constantly spinning and generating tons of heat? No way.

It's an interesting guide, but I'm not sure I buy it at all.

Cheers!

Luke

[KenG01]

I'm not aware of any 4 GHz processors on the market. Are we talking overclocking?

Most folks don't need much more than 350W even with multiple hard drives. I've got a 480W Antec PSU because...I like more power. Where bigger PSUs are nice is when you've got several CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescence lights), 12 neon-lighted 120mm fans, a 4 HD 10k RPM SATA RAID array, and multiple optical drives.

Regards,
[link:www.dreamfleet2000.com|http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/Forum_Banners/DF_BANNER_FORUM_GRATTENDICK.jpg]

[keaja]

have a look at this guide:
http://forums.viaarena.com/messageview.cfm?catid=25&threadid=39025

Seems to be much more accurate IMO and the VIA Arena's Opinion.

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e76ef1172040a02.jpg

Captain Jason Winn
UPS905

Atlanta ZTL ATC
DEL/GND/TWR

Amd Xp 2700+ 333
1 Gig Cosair PC2700 XMS 333
Epox 8RDA+
Antec 400 Watt PSU W/ Dual Fans
Radeon 9700
Windows 2000
Sound Blaster Live Audigy 2
80 Gig Maxtor 7200 Rpm 8MB Buffer

[wkzzo]

450 watts would work ,but it has to be a good quality power supply.If you want the best there is, try these guys. http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/home.htm

[gosta2]

>I meant to say 4 gig<

Once a 4 GHz processor hits the market, read the manufacturer's requirements and choose your PS accordingly.

Cheers,

Gosta.