600watt PSU overkill?

[kevmiester]

I have an allied 400watt(altho I've seen reviews that it only puts out about 300 something) that I'm not comfortable using for diagnosing shut down problem, so... Toms rated a 600 watt Enermax (EG701AX-VE(W))very hi a little while back. Wondering if my components need that much and if it's worth it to buy a $180 dollar PSU when I can't see myself SLIing in the near future. (per specs I don't have a SLI board and just bought a $300 dollar AGP card so am forced to live with AGP for another year) Ideally I would like to have a 500-550 watt Enermax Noisetaker with Passive PFC for around $80. But seriously, my other thought was a 480 watt Enermax. ok, all kinda other questions are coming to mind now... I've been recomended to buy a Passive PFC PSU from my instructor at college as opposed to Active. Altho this creates problem because most Enermax are neither, or get expensive and are Active. I could only find one Passive PFC on Newegg: Fortron Bluestorm A500 which I already have and might be causing the shut down problem I'm having. (posted bout this in Motherboard forum, in case anyones curious) I think Passive logically sounds better than Active, if my guess is right that Passive circuitry doesn't involve any "logic" involved. (no chips to decide anything, just something more basic that doesn't have to constantly monitor and make decisions) Um, so anyway here's my specs:

(I don't overclock, btw)
Winchester 3500+ on MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
2GB Kinston Hyper X (2x1GB)
Leadtek A400 GT TDH (6800GT)
2 Maxtor PATA 160GB 7200rpm, but I hardly use the second so I can live without the extra power wasted.
DVD-R and CDROM (seldomly used also)
floppy in the case, but isn't connected and haven't used for millenia.
WinXP Home
2 Zalman case fans, Zalman 7000 CPU cooler

Thx for any advice
Kevin

 

[Renegade87]

Seeing as my Rig is configured similar to yours:

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum BIOS 1.5
AMD Athlon64 3500+
Swiftech MCX6400-V Heatsink
Cooler Master Dual Storm Fan
WD Raptor 740GD SATA
WD Expert 273BA ATA66
BFG GeForce 6800GT OC 256MB
2x 512MB Crucial Ballistix PC3200 (2-2-5-2)
PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 510 Deluxe PSU
LiteOn SOHO 1673S 16x DVDRW
LiteOn LTR 52327S CDRW
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream Aluminum Case
SoundBlaster Live Value
Hauppauge WinTV PCI
2x 12” Logisys CCFL
Compaq P110 21” Monitor
CSW Four Point Surround 2000 Digital
Razor Diamondback Gaming Mouse

I thought I'd take a stab at your inquiry. At present, I'm running a PC P&C Turbo Cool 510 Deluxe. Which is admittedly overkill, but I like the security of knowing my PSU will not kill the rest of my $3000 Rig. Most guys here lose their minds at the thought of spending $200+ on a PSU (the most important component in a modern pc) like I did, so I won't recommend that to you unless you're serious about quality and stability.

Side stepping the whole PFC issue however, I will recommend a high quality PSU (with no PFC) in the <$110 range that would meet your needs quite well.

The <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104150" target="_new"> OCZ OCZ420ADJ ATX 420W Power Supply </A>. As wattage estimates are all but useless, this PSU will give you more than enough Amps (worst case and then some) on each of the 3 most important Rails without being overkill.

Here's the <A HREF="http://takaman.jp/D/?M=PbQBQbdXdSCgHNT4UGk@cXBYbZAZavHHMZ&english" target="_new"> math </A>.

"The world ends when you're dead. As long as your breathing you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man and give some back."