IS my POWER SUPPLY ENOUGH?

[noblejames]

Hi First time poster.
I am building my first computer, the stuff just arrived today.
Asus a8n-32sli socket 939
AMD x2 4400+ socket 939
1 plextor cd dvd
1 320 gb hd
no sound card
2 gigs corsair ram
1 evga e-geforce 7900gt co 246mb.. Won't go with 2 cards no budget
*** 380 watt Enermax power ***

My owner's guide for the video card says it should have >400 watts.
I live in rural Canada, so i have to mail order parts and it can take
4-6 weeks.

1. My question is therefore, can i damage/void warrenty any of the
parts by using a lower power supply.
2. Will I at least be able to assemble the system and install windows
XP to make sure it all works?
3. Am I an Idiot for not asking you this before i ordered?
Thanks very much in advance, and sorry if this has already been asked.

P.S what power supply should I go with?

 

[illuminatirex]

hm... im also planing to build a new system i got a 480W psu and i was worried that it will insuficient, to be honest with You i would say that You might need a bit more power than that, the gpu alone consumes a lot of power, there was a nice power sonsumption calculator floating around somewhere recently on the forum, ill look for it, but i think that the 380W might be a bit to little...but i might be wrong (do not know whats the powers onsumption of that gpu), ill look around and c if i can find that calculator for u, in the mean time google a bit of info on ur gpu, althou i c u wrote that the minimum is 400W and i think it would be beter if u got a beter psu, beter to be safe than soory.

In regards to voiding waranty, and in case u ll damage teh pc parts (burn them) You do not get any refunds, if you do not have the min specifications and You try using a lower powered psu u might overload it, i also was woried abou my psu and some people said that it might damage other components.

Beter get a stronger psu ( thats what i will have to do ...hope not)

 

[pengwin]

hm... im also planing to build a new system i got a 480W psu and i was worried that it will insuficient, to be honest with You i would say that You might need a bit more power than that, the gpu alone consumes a lot of power, there was a nice power sonsumption calculator floating around somewhere recently on the forum, ill look for it, but i think that the 380W might be a bit to little...but i might be wrong (do not know whats the powers onsumption of that gpu), ill look around and c if i can find that calculator for u, in the mean time google a bit of info on ur gpu, althou i c u wrote that the minimum is 400W and i think it would be beter if u got a beter psu, beter to be safe than soory.

In regards to voiding waranty, and in case u ll damage teh pc parts (burn them) You do not get any refunds, if you do not have the min specifications and You try using a lower powered psu u might overload it, i also was woried abou my psu and some people said that it might damage other components.

Beter get a stronger psu ( thats what i will have to do ...hope not)

goodness noblejames dont listen to illuminatirex, hes in incompetent baboon, he compares beta software to retail software.

Why illuminatirex is an incompetent baboon?

1.) as stated above he compares beta software to retail software
2.) you will burn no parts by insufficent power, your PC just wont start.
3.) you will void no warranties if u use insufficent power.
4.) overloading a PSU is called, PC will not boot.


Lastly at illuminatirex, leave this section of the forum. You are a tard.

 

[illuminatirex]

and u are a freekin retard LEARN TO READ what others write " u tard"

Fist off i wrote that "others said that one may blow his psu if there is greater consumption than the psu supplies energy"

second of which i did not compare the betas (this is not even related to this topic, i only posted a link to a site that gave info on the beta testing and games in vista

and third, how old are u child? I have not seen one post by u in which u would would not bash another person, is ur esteem so low that u need to do it on a constant basis? or have u forgoten to take ur pills ...again?

and lastly in relation to the original poster, i do not c that u "Penguin" have answered his question, have you now?

so my advice to u penguin is do not bash others just because u had a bad day (or a miserable life), and u feel the need to bash others to feel beter.
If u have a problem go solve it do not come to this forum or any other looking for people that u could annoy.
I think this enough on this topic, considering that ur post was not even close in answering the original post.

 

[noblejames]

Thanks for the response, so in other words my mobo and dependants would not go up in smoke with a 380 watt power, just not post?

 

[jaguarskx]

I think you should be alright assuming you do not overclock your X2 4400+.

The eVGA 7900GT CO consumes 58w.

The X2 4400+ consumes around 84w. (3800+ consumes 65w, 4800+ consumes 96w)

If you listed everything in your system then your PC is drawing around 212w from the 12v rail. RAM draws from the 3.3v rail.

As long as your Enermax can deliver a minimum of 20 amps you should be fine. 212 watts divided by 12 volts actually equals 17.67 amp, the extra is for a safety buffer. Look at the sticker on your PSU, it should tell you the amps for all your rails. If you have more than 1 rail then sum them up.

Also note that some PSU will list a wattage underneath the 12v rails on the sticker. If it has one then make sure it is more than 212w. Some manufacturers may list something like the following:

12v1 = 17amps
12v2 = 17amps

Total is 34amps

Total Wattage on the 12v rails = 384w

12v x 34amps = 408w

Why the difference and what does that mean? While each individual 12v rail can deliver 17amps or 204w of power, combined they will not deliver more than 384w.

 

[pengwin]

and u are a freekin retard LEARN TO READ what others write " u tard"

Fist off i wrote that "others said that one may blow his psu if there is greater consumption than the psu supplies energy"

second of which i did not compare the betas (this is not even related to this topic, i only posted a link to a site that gave info on the beta testing and games in vista

and third, how old are u child? I have not seen one post by u in which u would would not bash another person, is ur esteem so low that u need to do it on a constant basis? or have u forgoten to take ur pills ...again?

and lastly in relation to the original poster, i do not c that u "Penguin" have answered his question, have you now?

so my advice to u penguin is do not bash others just because u had a bad day (or a miserable life), and u feel the need to bash others to feel beter.
If u have a problem go solve it do not come to this forum or any other looking for people that u could annoy.
I think this enough on this topic, considering that ur post was not even close in answering the original post.

if u actually read my post i was point out you were WRONG. Every fact you stated was WRONG. That is why i bashed, because you were WRONG. So if you dont know anything keep ur mouth shut.

In addition i answered all his questions.

1. My question is therefore, can i damage/void warrenty any of the
parts by using a lower power supply.
2. Will I at least be able to assemble the system and install windows
XP to make sure it all works?
3. Am I an Idiot for not asking you this before i ordered?
Thanks very much in advance, and sorry if this has already been asked.

Number 1. and 2. were answered. Number 3 didnt need to be. So you are the stupid little kid who cannot comprehend english.

 

[noblejames]

Thanks Jaguar, great info.

P.S what is a fanboy? someone that does not like watercooling?

 

[michaelahess]

hehe, that's great

380 enermax should work fine, but it wouldn't hurt to get a 450 or 500 soon, if the 380 is a few years old it may not hold up for another couple with that load.

 

[illuminatirex]

lol tell me how can i be wrong in stating that some one else stated something?? lol u are just looking for a pretext to bash others (thats what i think) a simple "ur information is incorrect, or u are mistaken " would suffice dont u think?

 

[jaguarskx]

Thanks Jaguar, great info.

P.S what is a fanboy? someone that does not like watercooling?

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanboy

Fanboy or fanboi is a term used to describe an individual (usually male, though the feminine version fangirl may be used for females) who is utterly devoted to a single subject or hobby, often to the point where it is considered an obsession.

Basically I don't like AMD or Intel fanboys 'cause they are blindly devoted to one of those two brands. They will say that AMD or Intel CPUs are the best even when independant hardware review site proves them wrong.

 

[MarcusL]

You can probably use your 380W supply temporarily, but order a bigger one soon. Your graphics card will not draw much power until you do something with 3D graphics. Keep a close eye on your PSU. Stay alert for any smells indicating it is getting too warm.

If you have problems, reduce your power usage until your bigger power supply arrives.

1) Disable unused motherboard features in BIOS
parallel ports
extra USB ports
firewire
extra SATA ports
2) underclock your CPU by 100-200MHz
3) underclock your GPU by 10-20%
4) Possibly use only 1 GB of ram if you have 4 512MB sticks
5) don't overdo the fans, take off case cover for power-free cooling
6) turn off lights, leds, eye candy

These suggestions can help you get by until a better PSU arrives. An underclocked system is much better than no system and you look like you have plenty of horsepower. You probably won't notice the underclock much unless you are playing really intense [/list]graphic games.

 

[enforcerfx]

does the PSU peak at 380W, if so, do not overclock anything. if it doesnt, then overclock, only a tad tho ;D

 

[jaguarskx]

I think you should be alright assuming you do not overclock your X2 4400+.

The eVGA 7900GT CO consumes 58w.

The X2 4400+ consumes around 84w. (3800+ consumes 65w, 4800+ consumes 96w)

I just realized I did not provide the source for the above information:

CPU Power Consumption

Assuming a linear increase in power consumption, the X2 4400+ should consume around 84w.

GPU Power Consumption

The eVGA 7900GT CO is the first vidoe card listed on the chart.