Is 380 watts enough for my build?

[razerg]

I'm thinking of buying an Antec Earthwatts 380W which has 34amps (2x17) for this PC
Phenom II X4 940
HD4770 (planned upgrade to GTX750(ti) )
4GB of ddr2 ram
1-2 HDDs
a few fans (around 4)
no optical devices (blu ray, card reader etc)
I found this PSU very cheap which is why i'm considering it.
Also how good are those PSU calculators because coolermaster one calculated ~280 watts for me.


EDIT: Sorry it is HD4730 not HD4770

 

[delaro]

380W is enough The Phenom II X4 940 with a High overclock will draw a max of 190W that leaves plenty for the rest of the system especially if your upgrading to a 750Ti. The PSU calculators are normally pretty close at least from when I have used them.

 

[benhurt]

your going to want to get atleast a 500 watt power supply because the power consumption of your components can raise and also to support future upgrades i would recommend a corsair cx600 or an evga 650 watt power supply

 

[Onus]

^Not so. The Antec EA-380D is ideal for a build like that.

 

[jdcranke07]

The system will rn off of your 380W. I would recommend a 450 or 500 just for added head room in case you feel you want to add more to the system. By the way, stay away from the Corsair CX series. If you go with Corsair then the AX, HX, GS, and RM lines would be better. The last one being the lowest in quality (Corsair RM).

 

[qbsinfo]

yes. just keep in mind the EA380 has two 12v rail has OCP of 17amps each but combined is 12.5amps
(using the max output of 324 watts on the label)
don't be using a 6 pin adapter if you upgrade the graphics card (6+6) but using the one on the PSU is fine.

 

[Mr5oh]

380 watts is plenty, and for the price that Antec 380 PSU is really pretty good. I'm using one in my HTPC build. Those calculators usually seem really high compared to what the PC will draw in real world situations.

So my HTPC build is a G3258, GTX 750 TI, 2 HD, 4 fans (plus CPU cooler), and Optical drive, during 3DMark11, it draws a max of 114 watts from the wall, which still means the PC is using less than 114 watts.

Going larger than you need on the PSU is less energy efficient, which also means more heat being created (not really a noticeable degree though). So you are paying more for the PSU, and generally more on your electricity bill.

As for the upgrade path how likely is that to happen? Normally by the time I want to upgrade, I usually just upgrade everything as there is newer / faster / nicer technology I want.

Also just for reference, my current desktop (4690K, GTX 760, 3 HD, 6 case fans, optical drive) draws a max of 249 watts in 3D Mark11, 157 watts running Prime 95. My previous machine was a 3570k with a GTX 570 HD, which was a little less efficent and drew 317 watts with the both the CPU and GPU overclocked during 3D Mark 11. So even that rig was drawing less than 300 watts from the power supply.

 

[The Original Ralph]

I'm running an i7-4790 (locked) w/16 GB 1600 MHz, GTX 750 Ti 2 gb, 4 HDDs, 3 SSDs, blu-ray writer - all the online calculators showed a range of 230 watt to 310 watt consumption. I went with a seasonic 430 watt PSU

after building the system i was curious, so i put a kill-a-watt meter between the wall socket and the computer. At idle i'm drawing 88 watts and under full load rendering video files i'm seeing 177 watts. Those readings were confirmed with i added a cyberpower UPS with it's watt gadget that installs on the desktop - seeing the nearly identical readings.

point of above - 380 watt PSU should be fine. I've had electrically literate people (as in electrical engineers) tell me 3 -4 times in projects where we were fabricating prototypes for customers, on the power supply, you want the devices average power draw to be 50% of the PSU's maximum output, and the device should never, on peak draws, exceed 80% of the PSU's max output. Even the 380 watt PSU would have exceeded my computer's needs by 25%.

 

[razerg]

yes. just keep in mind the EA380 has two 12v rail has OCP of 17amps each but combined is 12.5amps
(using the max output of 324 watts on the label)
don't be using a 6 pin adapter if you upgrade the graphics card (6+6) but using the one on the PSU is fine.

Thank you everybody for your answers, I used to have an MS Industrial 550watts cheap power supply and it caused system to run slower and it was making a lot of noise.
I just don't understand what you mean by that "don't be using a 6 pin adapter if you upgrade...."
My HD4730 requires 2x6 pin connector CHECK HERE under system requirements.

 

[Onus]

Odd, that this card would need two 6-pin cables. In any case, the EA-380D has enough +12V amperage to run this card, so using an adapter would be safe. Adapters are generally not recommended, because people often try to use them with PSUs that don't have enough +12V amperage for any graphics card (e.g. PSU-shaped objects like Apevia, Logisys, Diablotek, Sunbeam, etc). In your case, one can be used (although it may make a rat's nest of wiring in your case).

 

[razerg]

Odd, that this card would need two 6-pin cables. In any case, the EA-380D has enough +12V amperage to run this card, so using an adapter would be safe. Adapters are generally not recommended, because people often try to use them with PSUs that don't have enough +12V amperage for any graphics card (e.g. PSU-shaped objects like Apevia, Logisys, Diablotek, Sunbeam, etc). In your case, one can be used (although it may make a rat's nest of wiring in your case).

Thanks mate, so it is okay to use in my case only one 6 pin connector even if it requires two?
I don't care that much for cable management as long as it works correctly And mine isn't EA380D it's EA380.

 

[Onus]

The EA-380 was built by Seasonic (the newer -D by Delta), and is also suitable; I'd use either one in a heartbeat.
You will need to use both cables if the card needs two. The only issue you may have is that the EA-380 may not have enough molex connectors if you have a lot of drives.
Edit: Another option you may wish to consider is a 450W Rosewill Capstone. This Super Flower-built PSU is also very good, is not too expensive, and has two PCIe power cables.

 

[razerg]

The EA-380 was built by Seasonic (the newer -D by Delta), and is also suitable; I'd use either one in a heartbeat.
You will need to use both cables if the card needs two. The only issue you may have is that the EA-380 may not have enough molex connectors if you have a lot of drives.
Edit: Another option you may wish to consider is a 450W Rosewill Capstone. This Super Flower-built PSU is also very good, is not too expensive, and has two PCIe power cables.

Nah mate, I will not use more than one eventually two molex connectors for hard drives. I don't have optical devices and i don't plan to install it.

 

[Onus]

Well then, you should be good to go!

 

[razerg]

Well then, you should be good to go!

Thanks!