Ample power?

[elmopuddy]

I'm running my system on a nice TruePower 330w, though I am concerned it may not be enough power:

Asus P4P800DX
P4 3.0
2 gig DDR
1 WD Raptor 36g SATA
1 Maxtor 120g SATA
LG CDRW/DVD Combo Drive
Hercules 9700 Pro
Hercules Fortissimo 3

6 USB ports and Firewire all occupied as well

Should I upgrade to bigger PSU?

 

[punisher]

As long as it is stable, don't worry. I am running a hell of a lot more on an Enermax 365 (350watt). Max draw on my system is about 225 watts at startup and about 170 watts when the 9800pro is loaded along with the CPU. As long as your rails are in spec and it's stable, don't worry.

 

[drdoug99]

http://www.firingsquad.com/guides/power_supply/

here's a nice guide I think is helpful. explains alot of stuff that I didn't know about, so hopefully it will be useful to others.

basically if you are not having any problems, (like lockups or random blue screens) I wouldn't worry about it. Use the guide to add up all the amp draw from your components, and go from there.

 

[tdg]

Just check your voltages to get an idea. If the actual voltages are >5% below what they're supposed to be you would want to consider getting a PSU with more power.

 

[Fark_Maniac]

I know I posted this before...but with PSU's....mileage varies way too much.

that's funny...cause that site says I need a 341w psu....and I'm running on a 200w psu. Either I've got a super badass psu...or their formula is off..

 

[elmopuddy]

I was running fine for almost a month... then started getting BSOD's, problems booting.. my Maxtor drive died, so I blamed the previous problems on it.

When I went to order my Raptor, the dude at the store said he's heard that its bad to use the molex connector on SATA drives (which I was using) that you should always use the SATA power connector. I now have some power adaptors to use with my new drives..

I'll monitor my voltages and see.. thanks for all the help.. I love this forum

 

[Vertigo Acid]

Originally posted by punisher
As long as it is stable, don't worry. I am running a hell of a lot more on an Enermax 365 (350watt). Max draw on my system is about 225 watts at startup and about 170 watts when the 9800pro is loaded along with the CPU. As long as your rails are in spec and it's stable, don't worry.

Curious, how do you know? Measurement techniques?

 

[punisher]

A bit like this:

http://www.survivalunlimited.com/powercontrols-ac.htm

It's a different brand, but does the same thing, amps/watts/kilowatt-hours etc. I also use my UPS monitoring software, it gives a pretty close readout on wattage use (tends to read high).

 

[Vertigo Acid]

Ahh, I see. Even most interesting are you readings, because they don't take into account the efficiency of the power supply, so the amount of energy that actually used by the components is even less! I'd love to have one of those in-line on a PSU for each rail.