How big a power supply?

Gallstaff

Established Member
I just ordered a case for my comp that comes with seven fans, it's a beast. It doesn't come with a power supply. I was wondering since this thing has so many fans and i'm gonna be running a radeon 9500pro, how big a power supply do you think I need?
 
300watts should be more than enough for just about every situation you are likely to come across. You'll never be playing Doom3 while watching a DVD, recording another DVD listening to music and surfing the internet on a cable modem.

Bear in mind that a cheap power supply rated at 300+ watts may not be exactly what it claims. i've heard good things about the Fortron 300 watt available at newegg.

Also, get rid of some of those fans - there is no way you need that many. If noise isn't a problem, then one high speed fan at the back of the case and a decent heatsink with another high speed fan on the CPU would be more than enough. Even if you are overclocking. If you have plenty of drives in the system, maybe one more blowing across them.
 
I only got a 300W for my new machine. Just make sure if you do, it's a good brand.

Keep in mind, Dell only uses 250W PSUs for everything except for their top of the line stuff.
 
only 300 watts? I dont think so... cause the videocad plugs into the power supply and it says reccomended at least 350 watts. But if I want to be on the safe side and say I did want to run all 6 (I found out the 7th is optional) fans how big a power supply would I need then? The thing is noise isn't a problem at all because I keep my computer in a little cupboard thing attatched to my computer desk which sheilds the noise nicely.
 
go ahead and get a 350 if you want

they just say that to be safe

plus some people get cheapo models which we told you not to do
 
At newegg, you can get a 400 watt Allied dual-fan PSU (AMD approved) for $36 including shipping. Allied is not high-end, but they aren't low-end noname PSUs either. It won't put out as much power as a more expensive 400 watt, but you're aiming for around 350 watt anyway. I see there's a 350 watt Fortron model for $37 shipped. That'd probably work out pretty nicely. There's a 400 watt Codegen unit for that price too. Any of those would probably work out fine. If you feel the need to burn some more cash, you can indeed get a higher end unit, but they start getting pricey.

Supergrom: If you have unstable power, I HIGHLY recommend getting a cheap UPS. Look here for some inexpensive models. They don't provide significant backup battery time, maybe just enough to save what you're doing and shutdown! HOWEVER, the computer won't be getting power directly anymore, which is what was stressing your PSU (and will probably cause even a good PSU to have a shortened life, to say the least). They typically are a good investment in areas with unstable power. The "Powercom King Office Wow 300" is pretty cheap, and it has 3 plugs that connect to the UPS battery, and 3 that are like a regular surge protector. So your PC/monitor/speakers for example could all be plugged into the UPS, and 3 other devices still get surge protection from the same unit.
 
So Alex you think that 350 would be enough for all that shit?

Here's what I'll have exactly:

Amd Athlonxp 2500+

Tt Volcano 9 veriable HSF

512 ddr 400 mhz ram

Asus 7v600 mobo

Radeon 9500pro

Sound blaster live 5.1

6 case fasns (probably 4 running)

One pioneer DVD rom and one Lite On cd-rw

60 gig ata 133 hdd

And 350 would cover all that?
 
yeah I'd imagine that'd be fine, dunno why you'd wanna go with a volcano 9 hsf though lol. I had one, and I switched to this other one (I'll have to post what it is later, can't remember right now) and I dropped my cpu temp by several degrees. The volcano series of hsf's are pieces of trash lol.
 
Hm well ice reccomended the 7+ but this one seems like it's better. Well dude i'm not gonna get another chance to order my parts after this so hurry finding the hsf you got cause i gotta get my shit before saturday

:driving:

............I just wanted to use that at least once
 
It depends entirely on the PSU, a GOOD 350 would work great. The MAXIMUM (non-sustainable) output of that Fortron unit is 440 watts, well above the 350 rating. A cheap noname PSU of the same capacity might be labeled a 440 watt unit - their idea of rating a unit is a lot different! Anyway, the Fortron unit or those two 400 watt units would work great. I've used Allied, and as I've said they dont leave as much room as Fortron, Antec, etc, but its a higher rated unit so they'd probably be pretty close. So I'd recommend the Fortron, but the other two would work fine, if you feel you want two fans in your PSU (sometimes it is necessary, other times its more for looks) you can grab the Allied unit.

As for HSFs, I can't stand noise so I typically avoid "high-end" models. My computer is too close to my bed, so I can't leave a noisemaker on at night. Actually, my current HSF was originally an all-copper vantec noisemaker model, but I removed the 60mm fan and installed an 80mm fan with an aluminum adapter (plastic being the alternative). It has a comparable CFM rating to the old fan, but is quiet. Anyway, some of the volcano series, like the 11+, look pretty decent. But very pricey. Most of the others suck (or don't suck? like cheap vacuums). If you're going to get something that expensive, might as well get an Aero 7+. The volcano 7 is OK for the price, so either get something inexpensive, or if you really plan on overclocking, get a volcano 11+ or Aero 7+. There are a few others that are good that are either quiet enough or can be tuned (as those two can) to be as noisy or quiet as needed.
 
that's why you need to get a really good heatsink (like the one I have) and then use a panaflo low noise fan on it. my cpu typically runs at the same temp as the rest of my case if not slightly lower (thanks to my video card), and isn't all that noisy.
 
all I know is that some of the best heatsinks on the market don't come with a fan. If you get a good heatsink, you can use a quieter fan. If noise isn't an issue then you might be fine with a volcano 9. But my pc runs quieter and cooler now that I've switched to this one I'm using. (I still need to go look up what it was called lol).
 
Originally posted by Gallstaff@Aug 16, 2003 @ 03:57 PM

So you dont reccomend buying a hsf combo you think i should buy the hs and the fan seperately?

I wouldn't say that. I only did it because at the time the adjustable speed combos sucked, and they didn't come with a 3.5" box (i'd have to open the case, use some ghetto solution, or build a box myself). I also liked the HS that came with the model I bought, and I bought it knowing I'd have to replace the fan, which I did. If given a choice now, I'd go with either the Aero 7+ or perhaps the volcano 11+, or something similar.
 
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