Am I pushing my 520HX too much?

pandora's box

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Sep 7, 2004
Messages
4,844
Currently running:

Core 2 Duo E6750 @ 3.2GHz 1.4volts
4x1GB DDR2-800
Abit IX38 Motherboard
1 320GB Western Digital SATA Hard Drive
2 Samsung DVDRW SATA drives
2 HD4850's in Crossfire
5 120MM fans, 1 250MM Fan

I plan to eventually move to a quad core processor and adding 1 more hard drive to the system in the near future. Should I sell the 520HX and buy something with a little more punch?
 
No, it may not be pushing it, but... personally if you swapped your CPU for a quad, that would probably be pushing it a little bit too much. Especially with two 4850s, I'd still suggest upgrading to a 750 watt version by Corsair. If you can afford it, go for it.
 
The HX520 has a lot of headroom...I think you'll be ok. You'll definitely be at the limit of the HX520's capacity with the upgrades, though.
 
Currently running:

Core 2 Duo E6750 @ 3.2GHz 1.4volts
4x1GB DDR2-800
Abit IX38 Motherboard
1 320GB Western Digital SATA Hard Drive
2 Samsung DVDRW SATA drives
2 HD4850's in Crossfire
5 120MM fans, 1 250MM Fan

I plan to eventually move to a quad core processor and adding 1 more hard drive to the system in the near future. Should I sell the 520HX and buy something with a little more punch?

You are alright at the moment, and you will be fine moving to a quad and getting the extra drive. But, I wouldn't be looking at getting new graphics cards, for example.
 
He's going to be alright? I have the same PSU but I don't know a lot about things like that. Nevermind what I said.
 
ok ty for the advice. wont be going quad core until some time next year anyway. Its just that if I do upgrade I would like to stay with corsair and I refuse to go back to non-modular power supplies so the next step up for me would be the 1000HX.
 
ok ty for the advice. wont be going quad core until some time next year anyway. Its just that if I do upgrade I would like to stay with corsair and I refuse to go back to non-modular power supplies so the next step up for me would be the 1000HX.

There is still the HX620.

I think you are totally fine, especially since most of the time those DVD-Drives won't be in use (I assume?). The only thing that draws more power than "average" systems is the crossfire GPU.

Maybe get a cheap thingie to find out how much your machine actually draws out of the wall?
 
There is still the HX620.

I think you are totally fine, especially since most of the time those DVD-Drives won't be in use (I assume?). The only thing that draws more power than "average" systems is the crossfire GPU.

Maybe get a cheap thingie to find out how much your machine actually draws out of the wall?

where would one find one of those "thingies" and are they accurate?
 
I think he's talking about a kill-a-watt or something similar. Newegg carries them, as do many other retailers. link
 
Does it matter how much power you're getting from the wall sockets? I thought part of the idea behind the PSU is that it could, for example, distribute 520 watts throught the PC if it needed to but did not always deliver a 520 supply if it was not needed.
Does the PSU draw a varient amount of power from the sockets? I thought it would be a constant rate, just the PSU delivers the desired and varied amount upon request, no?
 
Does it matter how much power you're getting from the wall sockets? I thought part of the idea behind the PSU is that it could, for example, distribute 520 watts throught the PC if it needed to but did not always deliver a 520 supply if it was not needed.
Does the PSU draw a varient amount of power from the sockets? I thought it would be a constant rate, just the PSU delivers the desired and varied amount upon request, no?

if that was the case where does the psu store the extra power?
 
it doesnt, it is capable of supplying that amount, but it only uses what it needs from the wall.

For example. Im using an athlon xp 1700+, 1.5gb ram and an fx5700 ultra right now (main rig is being worked on, replacing fans and such) Its only draws about 200watts from my 430watt thermaltake. The thermal take is only using 200 watts from the wall, but its capable of taking 230 more if need be.
 
Ok, so both PSU draw from the power socket at the wall and PSU output to components are variable, right?
 
Ok, so both PSU draw from the power socket at the wall and PSU output to components are variable, right?

Yes, both are variable.

You will be shocked at how low your power usage actually is. I've heard that Kill-A-Watts are innaccurate, and never used one myself. I've used a cheap stand-by type UPS that was terrible, its now replaced with a good Line-Interactive model that I've been told should be accurate. It tells me that my machine with monitor is drawing 90W idle and 180W load. With a C2D your machine should only be pulling 350 Watts maximum or so. Corsair is a good PSU brand, you're fine.
 
You should be fine, I think right now you are pushing around 400 to 430w's.
 
Hmm...the Corsair PSU finder recommends a Corsair 620HX for your current build with a quad-core CPU OC'd 30% and 2nd drive. Though drop the quad-core and the 520HX is recommended.

Just use your best judgment.
 
Screw all the online calculators, unless somebody can show me proof that they actually correspond to reality.

Buy a Kill-a-watt. You'll use it 10 times over and it'll pay for itself. I'm sure your 520 is enough.
 
Be very careful with Kill-a-watt type devices and power supplies with Active PFC. Sometimes they can get power readings that are significantly off. In one or two cases I've seen them declare my power supply to be over 100% efficient.
 
it doesnt, it is capable of supplying that amount, but it only uses what it needs from the wall.

For example. Im using an athlon xp 1700+, 1.5gb ram and an fx5700 ultra right now (main rig is being worked on, replacing fans and such) Its only draws about 200watts from my 430watt thermaltake. The thermal take is only using 200 watts from the wall, but its capable of taking 230 more if need be.
seems like alot my quad system with 4gb ram, 3 harddrives, 4gb ram, and 8800gts g92 only uses 225 watts when i load seti up :D

that psu engine is nice too :).
 
Be very careful with Kill-a-watt type devices and power supplies with Active PFC. Sometimes they can get power readings that are significantly off. In one or two cases I've seen them declare my power supply to be over 100% efficient.

100%+ efficiency? Perpetual machine here I come.

I dont do much calculating, but you should definately be fine. I'm also using a 520HX on my machine

E6550 OC'ed to 3.15Ghz
3 Harddrives
8800GT in Sli
DVD-RW
4gb 2x2gb

and its not even breaking a sweat, or if it is, its leaking somewhere I cant see. :)
 
seems like alot my quad system with 4gb ram, 3 harddrives, 4gb ram, and 8800gts g92 only uses 225 watts when i load seti up :D

that psu engine is nice too :).

Lol, don't make fun of the older systems that use more power. My new rig pulls 180W peak including monitor, my old 4200+/X800/bunch of IDE HDDs pulled 220W.
 
I'm running the setup in my sig. on a 520HX and haven't run into any issues thus far (browsing, stress testing, gaming, etc.). Granted, I haven't taken the time to measure my draw.
 
I think you are fine for now, though your next major upgrade I would invest then in a bigger power supply.
 
or stack an old one, just wire up a relay (should be able to find a guide on dual psu's)
iam using one atm to power my fans and cd drives, so that should give you a bit of headroom
 
Be very careful with Kill-a-watt type devices and power supplies with Active PFC. Sometimes they can get power readings that are significantly off. In one or two cases I've seen them declare my power supply to be over 100% efficient.

So should we add additional wattage to whatever the Kill-A-Watt tells when in use with PSUs with APFC?
 
So should we add additional wattage to whatever the Kill-A-Watt tells when in use with PSUs with APFC?

No, I'm saying that Kill-A-Watt devices (and similar devices like a Watts Up!) sometimes give inaccurate readings with Active PFC power supplies.

JonnyGuru had some videos up a while back, but I can't seem to find them. Suffice to say it's difficult to get real power draw from the wall with them. I've only personally seen the problem a couple times, most of the time it seems to be working fine. But if you get any results that seem way out of whack, don't get too panicked.
 
I use the meter on my apc battery backup to tell much juice I am using.
 
I finally got around to testing out my Killawatt with my HX520 PSU and it seem accurate enough - it's in lines with what I was expecting. Looks like I'll still need/should pick up a new PSU for a 4870x2 though. :rolleyes:

Running a Q6600 at 3.6 and watching the Killawatt prior and post Prime95 is fun. :D
 
how about my ups backup that shows my load in windows? is that fairly accurate?
 
I finally got around to testing out my Killawatt with my HX520 PSU and it seem accurate enough - it's in lines with what I was expecting. Looks like I'll still need/should pick up a new PSU for a 4870x2 though. :rolleyes:

Running a Q6600 at 3.6 and watching the Killawatt prior and post Prime95 is fun. :D

Do tell!
 
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