Is my PSU good enough to run this setup?

[CptStern]

Hi


I've tried to reasearch as much as possible but being a semi-newb I've been unable to find a definitive conclusion

I really cant afford another psu for the time being and dont want to get a cheap one for the now ..I'd rather wait a bit and get a good quality one that will serve me when I eventually get another graphics card to run in sli

Is my Enermax 350W good enough (for now) for this system?:

amd 3700
asus a8n-sli
evga 7800 gt
1 g ram
120 g sata drive
cd burner
dvd burner
5 case fans

under the 12v specs of my psu it says 26A ..I've read some conflicting articles here and in other forums that my older PSU, while just scraping the bottom of the minimum for my system, should work fine as the Enermax is a quality psu

here's the specs on my PSU:

Enermax EG365P-VE

http://www.3gplaza.com/estore/control/viewmicro/productdetails?id=27615



not sure if my psu has the 24 pin plug as I'm at work and cant check but if it doesnt should I get the 20 pin to 24 pin adaptor or just leave it as is and just plug the 20 pin into the 24 pin plug on the mobo?


thanks in advance for your help

 

[Rugger]

A 350W Enermax should handle that load and should have come with the adapter for 24-pins. You can run it without the adapter, but I would recommend getting the adapter at your earliest convenience.

 

[CptStern]

oh boy ...I'm confused ...I've heard just as many people saying NOT to use the adapter as to use it ...do I run the risk of shorting something if I dont use the adaptor?

 

[mpjesse]

You always run some sort of risk when using an adapter. However, the adapter we're talking about here is a 4 pin 12V (used on hard drives and CD rom drives) to a 4 pin ATX 12V. Since there's no change in voltage, the risk is very very low you'll damage something.

350W should be fine for that setup. But if you add more stuff, even USB devices, you'll want to upgrade.

Question: How is it that you can afford all that stuff but not a new simple 400W PSU?

-mpjesse

 

[CptStern]

because I blew my budget on the mobo/gpu/cpu ...I orginally was only going to get a new gpu but after seeing that my agp motherboard would limit me I decided to stretch my budget and just barely afforded what I purchased. I'll probably be able to pick one up in a few weeks but for now I'd like soemthing to get my rig up and running


btw the 4 pin 12V to a 4 pin ATX 12V adaptor ...this is the first I've heard of getting one ..is it necessary? (excuse my ignorance but I'm not quite understanding it's significance)

 

[Rugger]

If you don't have it and you're only running it for a few weeks before upgrading, then i'd probably let it slide unless you had stability issues.

 

[mpjesse]

because I blew my budget on the mobo/gpu/cpu ...

LOL. I was only going to spend $1000 on my new rig which included new HDDs, mobo, CPU, and video card. I ended up spending $1800 total. So much for budgets. :twisted:

As for the adapter- this is what I was refering to:
http://cgi.ebay.com/P4-Pentium-IV-MB-4-Pin-12V-Power-Adapter-Cable-ATX-PSU_W0QQitemZ6826075986QQcategoryZ1244QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
DO NOT plug that adapter into the extra 4 pins on the ATX connector, it's for a seperate connector found on P4 mobos and newer Asus AMD mobos (my A8N-SLI for example has one of these).

I just realized that's not what you were refering to. You're refering to something else. Like this I think:
http://cgi.ebay.com/20-Pin-to-24-Pin-Power-Connector-Cable-ATX-Power-Supply_W0QQitemZ5834854499QQcategoryZ45342QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I cannot vouch for the latter. I'm not entirely sure if the 24pin ATX connector is supposed to supply more power to the mobo than the 20pin. Though, it can't hurt to try. Logically, no one would make these adapters if they didn't work. Go for it.

-mpjesse

 

[CptStern]

LOL. I was only going to spend $1000 on my new rig which included new HDDs, mobo, CPU, and video card. I ended up spending $1800 total. So much for budgets. :twisted:

you dont know the half of it ..I was going to buy a vid card, then I saw a evga 7800gt bundle which offered the mobo for free so I decided to sell all my old stuff and buy the bundle ..figuring I'd just get a cheap amd 3000 for now. Ordered it, found out it was backordered got impatient canceled order and re-ordered a asus board + 7800 + amd 3700

As for the adapter- this is what I was refering to:
http://cgi.ebay.com/P4-Pentium-IV-MB-4-Pin-12V-Power-Adapter-Cable-ATX-PSU_W0QQitemZ6826075986QQcategoryZ1244QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
DO NOT plug that adapter into the extra 4 pins on the ATX connector, it's for a seperate connector found on P4 mobos and newer Asus AMD mobos (my A8N-SLI for example has one of these).

so it plugs directly into the mobo? I too have the asus sli mobo

I just realized that's not what you were refering to. You're refering to something else. Like this I think:
http://cgi.ebay.com/20-Pin-to-24-Pin-Power-Connector-Cable-ATX-Power-Supply_W0QQitemZ5834854499QQcategoryZ45342QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I cannot vouch for the latter. I'm not entirely sure if the 24pin ATX connector is supposed to supply more power to the mobo than the 20pin. Though, it can't hurt to try. Logically, no one would make these adapters if they didn't work. Go for it.

-mpjesse

ya I've still have yet to find a difinitive answer. Some reviewers insist on using them while others say avoid them at all cost

 

[mpjesse]

My suggestion would be to go ahead and get both adapters. I don't see how this adapter can destroy your board. Both still use the same voltage.

http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20051123/powersupply.html

Read that real quick. My advice- get the adapters and try 'em. If you fry the board (unlikely), just RMA it! Asus has a great RMA process.

-mpjesse

 

[dhlucke]

I have a 24 pin board with a 20 pin PSU (24 pin on the way).

It works. You can't screw it up since it won't fit any other way. It basically doesn't use 4 pins that I think go to the PCI-E slots.

I've heard that some will fit both ways though so you have to be carefull or you'll fry your board. I should also note that my PC is being a complete bitch so I'm hoping my new PSU will help.

 

[shata]

I dunno dude 350 is cutting it close realy close... I ran my amd64 3000 and my 6800gt with no opticals or fans/lights besides cpu fan for a while cause i had no choice but i ran into Low power error with the video card.

Id recomend atleast a 400w pc power and cooling psu or maybe just a 450w antec

 

[RichPLS]

I ran my rig for past 2 years on an Antec TruePower 430watt PSU with no power problems and at a 5% overclock maintaining 2-2-2-5 timings on RAM.

Rig:
Prescott 3200
Heatsink Fan
ATI X800XT-PE AGP Graphics Card
ATI TV Wonder Pro PCI Tuner card
2 - 7200rpm 16mb hard drives
1 - 10,000rpm Raptor
4 x 512mb Corsair TwinX Pro 2-2-2-5 DDR RAM
Plextor 712 DVD Burner
Dual PCMCIA PCI-bus Card Reader
4 x 80mm case fans