How do I know what PSU I need?
 

All the peripherals that I'm buying don't appear to say how much power they pull down so it's hard to tell how powerful a PSU I need. This is obviously a fundamental thing to know when putting a system together so I was wondering... How can I tell what PSU I need?
Thanks!

Here's a handy dandy PSU wattage calculator:

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/


It doesn't have as many options as I would like, but it works for the most part.


I've found that purchasing a good PSU with a high wattage benefits you in many ways in the future. Each member has a preference for PSUs, my preference is Enermax.

I'm powering 5 Hard drives, CD-ROM, Barton 2500+ OCed to 2.37 GHz, 1 GB Corsair XMS PC3200, GeForce 6800GT, and a NF7-S mobo. With my 410 watt Enermax PSU. I'm sure other posters can put in a good word for other excellent brands as well.

Just buy a 350w Sparkle, Enermax, Antec, or Thermaltake PSU. Get higher than 350w if you have more than 3 hard drives. DO NOT buy POWMAX, RAIDMAX, or any other "500w PSU for $15."

I've blown/known people that have blown about 5 POWMAX and RAIDMAX PSUs with just ONE hard drive. They're pieces of shit designed to be replaced once a year. They may be 500w, but that's the top performance, not the average performance. When an Enermax or Sparkle PSU says 350w, they mean 350w on average, not 350w max. The aformentioned 500w PSU is probably around 150-250w. I've seen a 200w high-quality PSU perform better than a 450w low-quality PSU.

Another performance indicator is how physically heavy the PSU is. This sounds stupid, but it's a great performance indicator. The heavier the PSU, the more heatsinks it has, therefore it has a longer lifespan. Pick up a POWMAX 400w PSU..it's like 1 pound. A 350w Enermax PSU weighs around 3-5 times as much.

-Lasereth

I would recommend a 400W just incase you decide sometime you want to expand some things on your rig.

Enermax and Antec are what I recommend.

At work we have a pretty heavy game/demo pc (Athlon64, 1 gig of ram, two harddisks, geforce 6800GT, lots of coolers and lights), all running on an Aopen 300W PSU, without so much as a hickup. The cooler isn't overly hot, and the voltage levels are very close to what they should be.

400W may be a better choice for future developments, but it's not essential.

Yeah, ordinarily, I would just buy a conservatively large PSU and be done with it but the reason I ask is that there are cases that come with a PSU (which may or may not be built in) so, if I want one of these cases, it would be nice to know if the built in 350W PSU will be sufficient...

So, thanks for all your help, everyone! I really am surprised there isn't some easy standard, like having your power consumption being one of the first things you say about your product, seeing how important it is and all...

90% of the cases on the market that come with a PSU will come with a POWMAX or RAIDMAX PSU. You saw what I said about them, so I'd consider buying another PSU. The cases that come with nice PSUs are usually cases designed by the PSU manufacturer (Enermax Case, Antec Case, Thermaltake Case, etc.).

-Lasereth

Don't worry, it appears that I am talking about that other 10% because I'm looking at an Antec case (a rather nice one, from the looks of it) that comes with a 350W Antec PSU. In fact, it appears as if most of them do...

350-500w antec or similiar high quality power supply will do the trick for anybody. if you wish to have low noise, try the antec true series (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...103-914&depa=0) a bit pricy but worth it for the lack of noise.