• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

How much power do I need?

F

Fistandantilis

Gawd
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
822
I am about ready to do some buying for my new build, it is going to be a 64bit athlon of some sort, and a PCIE video card (not too sure yet about ATI or NVidia). I dont plan On doing the SLI thi9ng so I am wondering, do I need some sort of special PSU? I have a 550 ultra x connect, is that going to be sufficient?

thanks
 
I have an Ultra X Connect in my HTPC and my 6800NU (not-modded .. yet, I'm lazy/procrastinating) with my drives kills the thing. I'm not even overclocking. My fans run at 1/4th speed :)

The Ultra's are on the "bad PSU company" list in one of the sticky's.

I'd definitely suggest getting a better one, but I'm sure someone else will pop in and give you an actual recommendation.

For reference. That system has:

P4C800 Mobo
2.8Ghz P4 Processor (non-OCed)
1gb PC3500 ram @ DDR400 (non-OCed)
128meg AGP Nvidia 6800
1x 120gb Maxtor 7200rpm Drive
1x 120gb Western Digital 7200rpm Drive

Not much of a powerhouse, right? Since it's an HTPC, I've tried adding a SATA 300gb Seagate drive to it, and it causes an immediate power shutdown. That little extra juice enabling the sata-controller kills the thing. I've even had to unplug my 80mm PC fan just to keep it stable!

So stay away from Ultra. My opinion though :)

I'm going to eventually replace it with (probably) an Antec SP-500 ($64 at NewEgg right now). Which also has modular plugs like the Ultra-X (the main selling point at the time I bought it, plus all the reviews were raving about it .. dunno who they paid off). I run an Antec in my gaming rig, works like a charm. Never had an issue.

It's kinda funny, Fry's was practically giving away these PSU's on Black Friday.
 
Well thanks, but the Ultra X power supplies looks so nice and pretty. Does anybody have any recomendations for a new PSU, I really would like to stay around the 100.00 mark. Thanks
 
Spidey329 said:
The Ultra's are on the "bad PSU company" list in one of the sticky's.
Click to expand...

they got there for two reasons, first when they started out they where blowing smoke up everyones arse claiming they where the greatest thing since sliced bread and charging a heavy premium since they had the modular market nearly cornered, while offering a supply of only basic compilance

at which point overwhelmed by demand thier manufacturer's quality control dropped (Youngyear electronics)

these days they have backed off thier Hyperbol and switched manufacturers
and all Ultra's wouldnt be on that list, even some of the older Ultra;s might not qualify

the "lists" are unofficial lighting rods, to actually determine a comparative index of supplies would require extensive testing thus those lists are somewhat subjective, based on empirical evidence as related by people that inturn have subjective opinions

a nice long rant here :p
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1000957

if you could list everything your powering I'll give you my opinion as if the Ultra you have is up to it, but as far as a new PSU goes, if your going to make the investment there are several routes to go, finding the cheapest supply that will do the job being one of the more problematic ones, because of the lack of definative information supplied by PSU manufacturers
 
Thanks for the info. I have not yet made any commitments on the hardware but this machine will be as follows:

AMD 64 3500+
ASUS A8N5X mobo
1 gig corsair XMS DDR 400 (3200) ram
and a currant gen video card.

Lets put it this way, I got about $900.00, I will be needing everything for this machine exept the HDDs and optical drives, I like to play games but I dont play that often right now (stooped skoolwerk) but I ussually go lanning with a group of freinds every other weekend. What do you (The [H]Team) think I should do.

thanks fellas.
 
drives and fans directly impact the +12V rail the number and size of them being important (size of fans more than drive capacity) pretty much want a list of everything that will be drawing power and anything you might consider putting on this supply (lights pumps ect all +12V )

strangely RAM is generally completely ignored :p
as are most PCI cards, generally speaking they draw off the +3.3V\+5V rail
with a few exceptions that also tap the +12V a bit

most any recent PSU will have power to spare on the +3.3V\+5V
the backward capacity there accounting for the lion's share of monster watts
watts that are for the most part unemployed

infact here is an example of a 350Watt supply which is leaned up for modern configs
lacking that backward capacity
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article188-page1.html
while the per rail amps are still high its total capacity and by extention its crossload capacity isnt
(meaning you have to steal from Peter to pay Paul if your going to load up one rail or the other)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top