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Antec Earthwatts 500 enough?

T

techronin

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 13, 2006
Messages
77
This is the system I am building:

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...henom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cac

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394

I purchased an Antec Sonata III case and it came with:

Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

+3.3V@24A,+5V@24A,+12V1@17A,+12V2@17A,-12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2.5A


In trying to decide on a video card I was told this...

nVidia GTX260 core 216 or 1GB ATI HD4870

"both gpu's suggested are needing 36+ amps on the 12v rails and that psu he is looking at is only peaking @ 34amps? Do we not feel this is cutting it a bit close and working the psu harder than it needs too?"

Should I get a PSU like this? It's on sale this weekend.

Antec EA750 750W ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026

+3.3V/25A , +5V/25A , +12V1/25A , +12V2/25A , +12V3/25A , 12V4/25A , -12V/0.5A , +5Vsb/3A
 
The EA500 is plenty for your system. No need to worry. The PSU requirements according to GPU companies are purposely exaggerated, because many people purchase shitty under-rated PSUs that aren't actually capable of outputting their rated power levels. However, the EA500 is a quality PSU and will be able to handle those components no problem.
 
Thanks for the quick responses. Glad I don't have to spend another hundred now :) .
 
right about enough. if you wanna do any mod in the future like sli or water cooled, you might need to buy a new psu with higher watt as well
 
it'll be fine. I ran a AMD 7750, 2 HDs, 2 ATI 4830 Xfire, ect on the same PSU and it worked like a charm.
 
It will be fine. Someone on Hardforum is running an overclocked Core 2 cpu, 2 x HDD, 2 x optical drives and 2 x 8800GTX in SLI on a Corsair 520HX with 40A on the +12v.
 
My brothers PC runs 100% with that PSU, he has the following:

AMD 9950BE quad core
2 SATA 2 hard drives
1 IDE hard drive
HD 4870 1GB
Two case fans
A PCI card
2x 2GB DDR2 RAM sticks

Personally, I would go with something better. I saw a 700watt OCZ PSU for sale at newegg, $65 with free shipping and a free 4GB flash drive. Or maybe it was Corsair. But it had good reviews.

I would at least go with 550 watts though. You might want some extra room to future proof it.


And to save you some pain, please read below:


Do not get the Antec Sonata 3 case. It is no gaming case. Don't get fooled by the price. There is hardly any room. With a HD 4870, you will not be able to fit the 120mm fan in (my brother can't, though he managed to squeeze an 80mm in there).

There are a total of two 120mm fan slots, and that is it. With the video card blocking one, it comes down to one. The air flow is poor, and the case is small. the 4870 is a very tight fit.

I have the same case with a GTX 260, and it hardly fits in. I can not even fit a 80mm in there. It has about half an inch of clearance, and to put the card in or take it out, you must turn it sideways.

And with the poor airflow, you will likely need to get a better CPU heatsink/fan. This will make it even harder to work inside of the tiny case, and make it difficult to take your video card out.

With the stock Phenom 9950 fan, it would get so hot, it would go up to 6000 RPM, and it would vibrate the case' side cover, making a loud and annoying sound. Replacing the cooler with a Sunbeam 92 and 120mm fixed that for us though.

In the end, the case makes for a poor gaming case. It would work great for a non-gaming PC, but I would honestly encourage you to spend an extra $30 and get a better case.

Edit: I see you already bought the case. In that case, get the 4870 1GB. It will fit in the case better.
 
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Flogger23m said:
My brothers PC runs 100% with that PSU, he has the following:

AMD 9950BE quad core
2 SATA 2 hard drives
1 IDE hard drive
HD 4870 1GB
Two case fans
A PCI card
2x 2GB DDR2 RAM sticks

Personally, I would go with something better. I saw a 700watt OCZ PSU for sale at newegg, $65 with free shipping and a free 4GB flash drive. Or maybe it was Corsair. But it had good reviews.

I would at least go with 550 watts though. You might want some extra room to future proof it.


And to save you some pain, please read below:


Do not get the Antec Sonata 3 case. It is no gaming case. Don't get fooled by the price. There is hardly any room. With a HD 4870, you will not be able to fit the 120mm fan in (my brother can't, though he managed to squeeze an 80mm in there).

There are a total of two 120mm fan slots, and that is it. With the video card blocking one, it comes down to one. The air flow is poor, and the case is small. the 4870 is a very tight fit.

I have the same case with a GTX 260, and it hardly fits in. I can not even fit a 80mm in there. It has about half an inch of clearance, and to put the card in or take it out, you must turn it sideways.

And with the poor airflow, you will likely need to get a better CPU heatsink/fan. This will make it even harder to work inside of the tiny case, and make it difficult to take your video card out.

With the stock Phenom 9950 fan, it would get so hot, it would go up to 6000 RPM, and it would vibrate the case' side cover, making a loud and annoying sound. Replacing the cooler with a Sunbeam 92 and 120mm fixed that for us though.

In the end, the case makes for a poor gaming case. It would work great for a non-gaming PC, but I would honestly encourage you to spend an extra $30 and get a better case.

Edit: I see you already bought the case. In that case, get the 4870 1GB. It will fit in the case better.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on the case, however the EA500 is plenty. I'd trust it over a OCZ any day.
 
Kendrak said:
I agree with you on the case, however the EA500 is plenty. I'd trust it over a OCZ any day.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. The EA500 is better than any of OCZ's PSUs in that price and wattage range. OCZ uses mostly FSP and Sirtec designs for their PSUs, which are inferior to the Delta-built Earthwatts PSUs (although the EA380 is built by Seasonic, but still better-quality than OCZ PSUs).
 
If your Antec Earthwatts PSU that came with your Antec Sonata case has 17A on +12V2 and 17A on +12V2 rails, you have the Seasonic Built PSU. If your Antec Earthwatts 500 has the EA500D model than, that's built by Delta. The Delta brand has 22A on +12V1 and 22A on +12V2
 
HardwareGuru said:
If your Antec Earthwatts PSU that came with your Antec Sonata case has 17A on +12V2 and 17A on +12V2 rails, you have the Seasonic Built PSU. If your Antec Earthwatts 500 has the EA500D model than, that's built by Delta. The Delta brand has 22A on +12V1 and 22A on +12V2
Click to expand...

Good to know. We have the 22A version. I was wondering why when I looked online that I saw different specs on every website.
 
HardwareGuru said:
If your Antec Earthwatts PSU that came with your Antec Sonata case has 17A on +12V2 and 17A on +12V2 rails, you have the Seasonic Built PSU. If your Antec Earthwatts 500 has the EA500D model than, that's built by Delta. The Delta brand has 22A on +12V1 and 22A on +12V2
Click to expand...

I took a look and my case came with the "D" model (nice!)

+5 - 24A , +3.3 - 24A , +12V1 - 22A , +12V2 - 22A , -12V - 0.8A , +5VSP - 2.5A

As for the case I think it will work ok for me. Just one hard drive so I can move it to the bottom slot and mount the 120mm inside the hard drive cage if I have to. (Both front & rear running on high and a Sythe Mugen 2/120mm fan for the cpu. Think I am definitely getting the 4870 though. (9 1/2" long - video cards are huge now!)

Thanks everyone for all the great information and help.
 
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