PSU for AMD AM2 Socket???

wonkman

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Messages
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I'm buying a new PSU for my 939 board but I wanted to ask if anyone knew if the upcoming AM2 motherboards will be using the 24 pin ATX 2.2 connector. I would assume all other connections (PCI-e) will be the same.

I'm thinking about getting the OCZ Powerstream 520 but I don't want to spend that much unless I can use it on my next system too.

Thanks for any info.
 
wonkman said:
I'm buying a new PSU for my 939 board but I wanted to ask if anyone knew if the upcoming AM2 motherboards will be using the 24 pin ATX 2.2 connector. I would assume all other connections (PCI-e) will be the same.

I'm thinking about getting the OCZ Powerstream 520 but I don't want to spend that much unless I can use it on my next system too.

Thanks for any info.
The OCZ PowerStream will support future M2 mobos. ;)
 
Thanks david

Have you heard anything about the Fortron FX600-GLN? I can't find much mention of it other than on Nvidia SLI approved list. 4 12V rails @ 15A.

I know Fortron makes good stuff but I'm trying to figure if this is very 'futureproof'. It doesn't mention ATX 2.2

FX600-GLN
 
wonkman said:
Thanks david

Have you heard anything about the Fortron FX600-GLN? I can't find much mention of it other than on Nvidia SLI approved list. 4 12V rails @ 15A.

I know Fortron makes good stuff but I'm trying to figure if this is very 'futureproof'. It doesn't mention ATX 2.2

FX600-GLN
I haven't seen it yet, however limiting the rails to 15A is not good for overclockers.
 
OK thanks. I think I'll go with the Powerstream if its good on the M2 MB. :cool:

One thing, the PS has only one 12V rail while everyone seems to be moving to 2 rails. In fact it's hard to find a high-end PSU with only one 12V rail. It doesn't seem to affect stability or overclocking in the case of the PS. Is this important?
 
If you have a power supply that supports your AMD 64 939 processor, I'm certain that more than 99% it'll cover the next gen.

So really the only thing you need to watch for is does the ratings support any of your extra equipment? Are you going SLI or CrossFire? High end all the way?

That's what will consume more power than anything, your GPU. AMD is working very hard to keep the power requirements for the CPU as low as possible as this is part of the competitive edge against intel. Intel is investing big on trying to get their power requirements more in line with the AMD CPU's as this is important as more and more cores are added (since clock speed increases are not the current plan).
 
OK thanks.

I found this in the ATX12V spec guidelines where they recommend that if the 12V rail carries more than 18A, a second rail should be implimented.

1.2.1. Increased +12 VDC output capability
System components that use 12V are continuing to increase in power. In cases where expected current requirements is greater than 18A a second 12 V rail should be made available. ATX12V power supplies should be designed to accommodate these increased +12 VDC currents.


The Powerstream has only one 12V rail @ 33A which seems unusual and possibly out of spec.This doesn't seem to be a problem with 939/SLI currently, but will this be any problem in the future? I know it's hard to predict but I'm building a low end system to get me to M2. I want to be able to keep my PSU and 7800 GT (and add another 7800 GT on the new board). Anyway, I just don't want to buy another PSU for awhile so this one needs to be long-lived. ;)
 
wonkman said:
OK thanks.

I found this in the ATX12V spec guidelines where they recommend that if the 12V rail carries more than 18A, a second rail should be implimented.

1.2.1. Increased +12 VDC output capability
System components that use 12V are continuing to increase in power. In cases where expected current requirements is greater than 18A a second 12 V rail should be made available. ATX12V power supplies should be designed to accommodate these increased +12 VDC currents.


The Powerstream has only one 12V rail @ 33A which seems unusual and possibly out of spec.This doesn't seem to be a problem with 939/SLI currently, but will this be any problem in the future? I know it's hard to predict but I'm building a low end system to get me to M2. I want to be able to keep my PSU and 7800 GT (and add another 7800 GT on the new board). Anyway, I just don't want to buy another PSU for awhile so this one needs to be long-lived. ;)

Ironically, that portion of the specification has more to do with personal safety issues than CPU requirements. They are trying to limit the amount of current per rail and to do that, 18A per rail is recommended.

In fact, because it's not a clear specification, many dual-rail powersupplies have all the rails coming from a single tap on the transformer and implment limiting devices, so the benefit for clean rails is not any better than a single rail at a higher rating.

You'll notice that the new 1000W supplies can have up to four rails, talk about rail overkill.

The irony is that nVIDIA's needs for current draw actually are in violation of the current specification, this is why I recommend that purchasers check the slizone.com PSU certified chart as nVIDIA has loaded these down with their current demands.

The CPU is very little current draw and isn't the reason the specification was set.
 
The best PSU's are still single rail, the PC P&C 510 & the OCZ PowerStream.
Single rail PSU's often do far better when OC'ing than dual rail, the possible exception being the Enermax Liberty 620W.
 
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