What power supply??

M

MoFo

Quakecon Guy
Joined
Feb 16, 2003
Messages
670
I need a Power supply and have no idea about these things...

this is what I have:

Asus K8V SE Deluxe motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 processor 3200+
CORSAIR XMS Extreme 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200
BFG GeForce 6800 Ultra AGP 256MB DDR3
2 WD 120gig drives
LiteOn CDR/ DVD -+
LiteOn DVD
going to put 5 fans in the case

I dont over clock

Im looking at a Antec True Power 550W Power Supply

what do you think???


thanx

MoFo
 
The Antec True Power 550w is a good PSU but i would go for something like the modular Antec NeoPower 480w or an OCZ PowerStream 520w. I got my PowerStream 520w for $125 w/ free shipping from Directron using a coupon i found.
 
I have basically the same system and went with the 600W Enermax Noisetaker. It's the quietest componenet in my system. Seriously...very quiet and stable. Just my 2 cents. :)
 
EricDawg said:
I have basically the same system and went with the 600W Enermax Noisetaker. It's the quietest componenet in my system. Seriously...very quiet and stable. Just my 2 cents. :)
Click to expand...

Whats the dBA rating for the 600w Enermax? I know my 520w PowerStream is only 23dBA and its very quiet as well.
 
looks good

with 19Amps on the +12V rail, the true 550 would likely suffice even after its derated for the operating temperature
but, its a 20 pin ATX12V v1.3 supply
and you have a mobo with a 24 pin connector

so Id recommend an ATX12V v2.0 supply, most of which have even more amps on the +12V

like the Neopower in the Antec Line
in the Enermax line there are most of the Noisetakers, and all the Coolergiants
 
yup

between those the Neopower has the edge (as much as we can tell since derating curves arent published) in +12V amps
and it has tighter load regulation at 3%
 
now for Brownie points figure up the load on each of the +12V rails
then youll know approximately what kind of expansion room \ safety margin youll have

+12V1 is the mobo, CPU, fans attached to the mobo, any PCI card using +12V power and the power the graphics card will get from the AGP slot, basically power via the main power connector and the +12V auxillary mobo power connector (the 4 pin)

+12V2 is all the other connectors, including drives, and fans not connected to the power supply and auxillary power to the graphics card

when I figure supplies I roughly deduct 1\3rd for the rated amps to account for the unknown derating curve
likely they are rated at 25C or so, while your operating temperature will be closer to 40C

of course the cooler the supply is able to be maintained, by ducting or simply nnot exhausting the mobo compartment and the CPU heatsinks exhaust, the higher its real capacity will be, of course you still need to exhaust the mobo compartment somehow :p

most just leave it as the stock config, but if your into modding
functional ducting mods are a great place to start
like cool fresh outside air for the Heatsink Fan and the PSU
 
Ice look me up if you make it to Quakecon this year :)

thanx
 
Takaman's calculator gives me an output of 214.6w. How much higher than that should I go?
 
MoFo said:
Ice look me up if you make it to Quakecon this year :)
Click to expand...

LOL sorry wont see me there, unless there is a flash Asteroids division :p
Im not really a gamer, just a geek artist ;)


DigitalMP said:
Takaman's calculator gives me an output of 214.6w. How much higher than that should I go?
Click to expand...


that greatly depends on who makes the supply
for starters watts alone are deceptive, you really want to look at the amps per rail
and compare them to the rating the PSU your considering has
you also want to adjust the amps and hense wattage for temperature
thats known as a derating curve, a POWmax for instance is rated at 21C whereas a Sesonic or OCZ would be at 40C, for the POWmax youd deduct one third of the amps per rail.

wattages do come into play when looking at a crossload chart, but not total combined wattages, take the combined +3.3V & +5V rail and the convert the +12V amps to watts
say 13A +12V (23x12=120 watts) then look up that in a crossload chart if one is available

for instance a modstream
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/atx-psu_11.html
modstream520.gif


or a
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/atx-psu_6.html
CoolerMaster 450
coolermaster 450.gif


the combined wattage of the +3.3V & +5V is up the left side
the wattage of the +12V rail along the bottom, your worse case senerio
(which is less than the theoretical maximum you get in Takamans see > http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=844691) the top part of your range dropping down to a more typical draw, with just a fraction of the amps listed for your assorrted components, again takamans comes in handy to make an educated guess

so once youve estimated a range of the draws your board will need both minimum and maximum you can compare that to the crossload chart, Ideally you want to be in the green, but basic compliance would include all the way up into the red

here is an example of backward compatibility and the drift that has occured in the spec to meet the changing needs of powering the CPU once powered off the +5V rail and now powered off the +12V rail

547GG.gif

bakward compatible to ATX12V V1.2
red crossload profile below
(actual ATX12V 1.3 hybrid)

ocz2.gif

bakward compatible to ATX12V V1.3
green crossload profile below
(actual ATX12V 1.3 hybrid)

ATX.gif

Charts & Graphs by Xbit \ Oleg Artamonov

(assumed similar crossload profile for the higher wattage class)
 
Ice, are you suggesting I pick out a PSU, determine its rating, and look at how it measures up on the chart, if there's one available? If so, is it not possible to look at the components I have, and determine a viable PSU based on them?

All in all, I wouldn't know where to start when picking and choosing a PSU unit, then looking at its specs, and finally deciding whether or not I should go with it, and if not, where to look for the next test specimen.

It's not a gaming PC, just a typical power user with a little video editing - and I do mean a little.

Here's my parts I just ordered:

Asus K8V SE/AMD64 3400+
(2) GeIL Ultra 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 40)
ATI ALL-IN-WONDER 9700Pro
NEC Black IDE DVD Burner ND-3520A BK
WD Caviar SE SATA150 80GB HD
WD Caviar SE SATA150 250GB HD

Thanks for the detailed reply. I grasped a good % of it...a lot more than I had under my belt a couple hours ago.
 
Im just overly excited about Oleg Crossload database :p
sorry
that coupled with takaman's calculator can allow you to come up with a much better guess as to the actual voltage fluctuations youd be able to expect per rail and often allows you to pick not only a supply that will do the job but one that will do it damn near perfect for alot less than a "superior" supply
and a few supplies have turned out some suprising results
unfortunately its not a large database yet

I assume there is an optical w\ that and some fans?
since they are all on the +12V rail it makes a difference
strangely with the RAM on the +3.3V rail it hardly ever does :p
stuff as much as you like it rarely impacts the PSU choice on a modern mobo powering the CPU off the +12V rail(s)

let me know about the fans and i'll workup your amp requirements and their crossload ;)
and we will discuss various PSUs

offhand there are a great number that will handle that config, Id ask about your upgrade path, is this just for this config or is it an infrastructure investment?
 
Well, I'm only going to have two fans, and I haven't bought them yet. The fans that I choose also matter for this?

I have to place an order soon so it gets here with my other parts on Wednesday.

Sorry to be so needy..
 
not all that much, I'll use 2 80mm 4500rpm fans 0.37A per
just a minute
 
theoretical (never happens)
http://takaman.jp/D/?M=PbQAQbeHdSgTKT4UcZAZavHCMZ&english

realworld worsecase
+3.3V @ 2.7A
+5V @ 17.7A
+12V @ 13.7A

+3.3V & +5V @ 97.5 Watts
+12V @ 164 Watts


Most ATX12V v1.3 hybrids and I think all ATX12V v2.0 supplies would meet that load
with such a large number of drives lets look for secondary criteria
upgrade path? quiet? budget? power quality? bling bling?
 
it's for my good friend and there won't be much as far as upgrades unless i decide to dupe the HDs for RAID 0 and 1, and possobly another stick of RAM.

There's no bling here, it's mostly budget.
 
OK lets bump that to

+3.3V @ 2.7A
+5V @ 17.7A
+12V @ 14.7A

+3.3V & +5V @ 97.5 Watts
+12V @ 176 Watts

and go for budget
strangely thats a 20 pin mobo (which is a little unusual for an AMD64 but helps in the budget department well get an older ATX12V v1.3)

Id say
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104986 $30
up from there
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104966 $43
up from that
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104968 $80

FSPs are widely regarded workhorses of basic compliance
great budget choices

now those first two 350s a very deadends, adding in an AGP that requires more +12V amps could well exceed them, whereas the 530W @ 28A +12V has some upward capacity

its not a very power hungry rig, even with 2 more drives tossed in ;)
 
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