Can the PSU handle this?

[TheCommander]

The current PSU I am using is a Corsair 450watt:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

This is my current hardware:

AMD Phenom 9550
Gigabyte GAMA78
2 x 1GB PC6400 DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon 4850
2 SATA drives
1 DVD drive
1 CDRW drive
1 PCI IDE controller
1 PCI sound card
couple 120mm fans

How would I know if that PSU was not good enough to run all that. So far everything has been running fine but that may not actually be the case. Is that 450 watt PSU good enough to run all this?

 

[Dangman]

Yes the Corsair 450VX is more than enough, both in terms of power and quality, for your system. Symptoms of PSU inadequacy would be failure to start, heavy reboots under load, and general system instability.

 

[TheCommander]

Yes the Corsair 450VX is more than enough, both in terms of power and quality, for your system. Symptoms of PSU inadequacy would be failure to start, heavy reboots under load, and general system instability.

That's good to hear although what got me asking this is when I checked some PSU calculators the results ranged from 400W to over 600W.

 

[Sojuuk]

That's good to hear although what got me asking this is when I checked some PSU calculators the results ranged from 400W to over 600W.

im nearly positive PSU calculators assume people are buying the cheapest for the wattage regardless of quality.

 

[Phyltre]

im nearly positive PSU calculators assume people are buying the cheapest for the wattage regardless of quality.

To be honest, though, that's a pretty reasonable assumption when you're running a calculator like that. It's always good to have spare overheard in the PSU (within reason, of course) since you don't want to smell burning when you pop in a CD drive or fan. For something like a PSU that can resist obsolescence for longer than most parts, it's usually more effective to buy something solid up front; you might be able to keep it around for five or more years without making any real sacrifices in performance.

Unless, of course, you're stuffing an entire house worth of electrical load into a full ATX case...like most of us crazy people are.

 

[TheCommander]

So I take it quality is more important than wattage.

 

[Dangman]

So I take it quality is more important than wattage.

Yup.

 

[SolidBladez]

So I take it quality is more important than wattage.

Basically yes.

Most people assume that getting a higher wattage PSU means that they will have more power and "head room". That's not always correct.

I made a mistake a few years ago by purchasing an Aspire (Apevia) Iceberg 680W. Aesthetically it was pretty neat but I found out a few weeks later than it's basically an underrated 500W piece of junk.

Performance, reliability, and quality are some of the contributing factors in purchasing a new power supply.