350w psu enough?

O

oROEchimaru

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jun 1, 2004
Messages
4,662
I haven't had to many freezes (maybe once a month) , but just am wondering if I'm underpowring my system.

amd642800 at 3000 model speed
agp 6200 geforce card
2x512mb 3200 ddr
1 sata 7200 drive (160gig)
1 ide 7200 drive (160gig)
cd burner
dvd burner
optical mouse
ps2 keyboard
7.1 mystique ddl sound card

I have a 350W enermax psu, which seems to have good ratings. Do you think swicthing to a 430w cpu will affect my performance? i bought this 2 years ago.

enermax: ENERMAX 350W Silent Power Supply EG365P
Output: +3.3V@32A;+5V@32A;-5V@1A;+12V@26A;-12V@1A;+5VSB@2.2A
 
With that in mind, the 17A rating on that 350W PSU is barely adequate for a low- to mid- range rig.
 
needmorecarnitine said:
negative
Click to expand...

That's probably because you have an AGP-based system, not a PCI-Express system. You might be able to get away with a moderate video card upgrade with that AGP system of yours. But once you get a PCI-Express system with an upper-range graphics card, especially in SLI, you will have to get a beefier supply: A single GeForce 7800GT card requires a PSU which delivers at least 26A combined on the +12V rail (34A with dual cards in SLI) - but your 350W Enermax PSU is only rated at 17A for the +12V rail. (The 26A claim for that PSU is incorrect for that model.)
 
E4g1e said:
That's probably because you have an AGP-based system, not a PCI-Express system. You might be able to get away with a moderate video card upgrade with that AGP system of yours. But once you get a PCI-Express system with an upper-range graphics card, especially in SLI, you will have to get a beefier supply: A single GeForce 7800GT card requires a PSU which delivers at least 26A combined on the +12V rail (34A with dual cards in SLI) - but your 350W Enermax PSU is only rated at 17A for the +12V rail. (The 26A claim for that PSU is incorrect for that model.)
Click to expand...

I've seen "upper range" agp cards that draw about as much power as "upper range" PCI-E cards

Just because you have a PCI-E connector does not mean that you computer becomes a lot more inefficient

and I don't have a 350W Enermax PSU
 
E4g1e said:
A single GeForce 7800GT card requires a PSU which delivers at least 26A combined on the +12V rail (34A with dual cards in SLI) -
Click to expand...

and this is incorrect also. Requires suggests that it won't work without it. That is different from a manufacturer's recommendation
 
needmorecarnitine said:
and this is incorrect also. Requires suggests that it won't work without it. That is different from a manufacturer's recommendation
Click to expand...
nVidia has changed their recommendations at least 3 times! :rolleyes:

+12V@26A for non-SLI & +12V@34A for SLI was their highest recommendation &
the one they first used for SLI Certification.

Given that [H]ard members often demand top performance & OC, these are IMO the proper recommendations.

Dave ;)
 
I don't see anything inherently wrong with using a larger powersupply than necessary (not talking about efficiency, just saying I don't think it will harm anything) but that is different than saying that something requires a certain size powersupply when there is no basis for that claim in reality
 
Way more than enough with that card and processor you have.

I only wish someone had told me about that earlier... I've got a 600w power supply and I don't think my system has ever demanded more than half that amount =S


At least it was cheap... $50CDN.
 
noobman said:
Way more than enough with that card and processor you have.

I only wish someone had told me about that earlier... I've got a 600w power supply and I don't think my system has ever demanded more than half that amount =S


At least it was cheap... $50CDN.
Click to expand...
Wattage isn't the issue, the +12V amperage is. ;)
 
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