Power supply QUESTION

[logical_psycho]

Ok, I posted in another topic about my system I ordered.... but the builders ran into certain problems. Now I asked around a bit and apparently people tell me that 300W isn't good enough for a system like this. It is a 3700+ Athlon, with 2 Gig of RAM memory and a 7800GT. When ordering the system I explicitly asked the guy whether 300W would be enough, and he told me that is a great power supply which will be good enough for the system. It is a supply that comes with an AOpen case. I read in reviews that AOpen indeed does deliver stable power supplies, but if it isn't enough, this will be a problem.


Should I call those guys and tell them to replace the power supply for something with 400 or 450 Watts, or do you guys have good experience with this power supply on a similar system?


Case: AOpen H500C USB/Audio 300
Power Supply: 300W ATX P4

 

[Zelig]

You definately want a high quality power supply around 450 watts minimum, with at least 26A or so on the +12V rails.

I haven't checked prices in a few months, but as a rule of thumb, I usually tacked on $100 canadian for a high quality power supply to go with a gaming rig.

I've got a 300 watt AOpen power supply running in one of my systems... it's been solid so far, but it would have no chance of even booting if I put it in my Athlon 64 rig.

 

[Zakharov]

When ordering the system I explicitly asked the guy whether 300W would be enough, and he told me that is a great power supply which will be good enough for the system.

You were sold this power supply by misinformation. The 7800GT needs an absolute minimum of 350W (as per nvidia's website), or 500W+ if you ever plan to add a second card in SLI. If they don't allow you to upgrade for free then you may have grounds for legal action.

 

[logical_psycho]

You were sold this power supply by misinformation. The 7800GT needs an absolute minimum of 350W (as per nvidia's website), or 500W+ if you ever plan to add a second card in SLI. If they don't allow you to upgrade for free then you may have grounds for legal action.

I just read that as well, the store doesn't offer any other AOpen power supplies, so I might have to spend $100 extra on a Tagan 480W power supply. The system isn't paid for (except for $100 advance) so I doubt I have the right to upgrade on their costs. It's screwed up, because I selected this one single case because it came with a power supply.

 

[vbraun]

You should get something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817711002

Thats the PSU I have.

 

[logical_psycho]

They don't sell it at the store I ordered at, my only options are a 380W Coolermaster or a 480W Tagan PSU. Anyway, this is pissing me off really bad.

 

[FriendlyFire]

I have a coolmaster 430W (Its really designed constant output is 400W)
20A on 12Volt rail (looking to put in an OC 6800LE)

I would strongly recommend at the price you are paying to buy a 550w Antec PSU ($115 au so about $80us) for your system. Have them "order" it in for you if nesccary.

EDIT your case dose come with a pair of 120mm case fan right ?
Cause the extra heat from the PSU and GPU will raise the case temp up fairly quickly.

 

[Zelig]

They don't sell it at the store I ordered at, my only options are a 380W Coolermaster or a 480W Tagan PSU. Anyway, this is pissing me off really bad.

Tagan makes quality power supplies, I'd go for that one if those are your options.

EDIT your case dose come with a pair of 120mm case fan right ?
Cause the extra heat from the PSU and GPU will raise the case temp up fairly quickly.

2 120mm fans are by no means necessary in a well designed case. I've got 2 80 mm exhaust fans in my case, and my overvolted Athlon 64 never cracks 40 degrees on full load.
In any case, a higher wattage PSU will not affect fans needed... the wattage that PSUs are rated at is their maximum wattage, and does not affect heat output. The vast majority of PSUs have their own fans and suck air from the case, through the PSU, and out of the back, so any heat they produce does not get blown back into the case anyway.

 

[logical_psycho]

I will call them tomorrow and see if they can replace the PSU. If they won't do it I will point out that even Nvidia's own website recommends 350W and that they misinformed me, then I don't want the system anymore. I wouldn't want to have a PSU which is constantly pushed to the limit, because it would mean I'd have to replace it again soon (if it doesn't fry my mobo first).


Hopefully they will take a 400W PSU from one of the more expensive AOpen cases for a price. Otherwise I'll tell them that I want another case, because the inclusion of a PSU was the reason why I wanted this case to begin with. If I don't want the PSU anymore, why would I still want this case? If they're not willing to cooperate I won't take the system at all and they can keep their monitor too.

 

[FriendlyFire]

2 120mm fans are by no means necessary in a well designed case. I've got 2 80 mm exhaust fans in my case, and my overvolted Athlon 64 never cracks 40 degrees on full load.
In any case, a higher wattage PSU will not affect fans needed... the wattage that PSUs are rated at is their maximum wattage, and does not affect heat output. The vast majority of PSUs have their own fans and suck air from the case, through the PSU, and out of the back, so any heat they produce does not get blown back into the case anyway.

My PSU is sitting slap bang against the top of my case. (bad case design) so the heat is transfeered to the metal frame of the case.
the heat itself is only mildley warm with most of it being blown out the back of the PSU. A big improvement over my old 300W PSU.

Iam pretty sure its not wise to run the PSU always to the very limit of its compacity. this is true for the "generic" PSUs but a quality PSu shouldnt have such a problem

My case currently has a single 80mm fan why I suggest a 120mm is that the larger fan requires less revolutions meaning quieter noise generation. I hopr to replace my 80mm with a 120mm soon.

 

[logical_psycho]

Okay, I just talked to the store and they will replace my AOpen H500C with a Coolermaster Centurion CAC-T05 and a Tagan 480W PSU. This makes the system another $100 more expensive + I had to pay for assembly costs ($40)again since according to them the system survived all softwarematic tests... but I'd rather be safe than sorry and decided to just change it anyway.


I shouldn't buy a Porsche to have a horse pull it forward, instead of feeding it gasoline.

 

[Speedo]

Iam pretty sure its not wise to run the PSU always to the very limit of its compacity. this is true for the "generic" PSUs but a quality PSu shouldnt have such a problem

If you read some of the PSU stress tests that hardware sites do, you'll find that even many "quality" PSUs fold up and die before they ever hit their claimed output wattage. It's just not something that you want to do.

A PSU is definetly one area where you don't want to go cheap-o.