My system Wattage

[enielshade]

Hello, I may have a slight problem here.

I am going to buy new guts for my old case. This is new mobo, cpu, gpu, ram... the whole shebang. I am also going to keep my old PSU (shipping to alaska sucks), and it is only 500W, 12A, and 230V. Will it be able to support a:
XFX Radeon HD 4850
2x Kingston HyperX T1 2GB 1066 DDR2
AMD Phenom II x4 Black Edition Deneb 3.0GHZ 125W
and an ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 pro?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

What is the brand and model of your power supply? Check your power supply for a data label that provides additional information about your psu. The infor you posted does not seem right.

The general rule of thumb is a high quality 500 to 550 watt power supply with sufficient current (amps) on the +12 volt rail(s) can easily power a system with any single video card made. A high quality 700 to 750 watt power supply with sufficient current (amps) on the +12 volt rail(s) can power a system with two video cards operating in dual mode. There are a few exceptions like the new ATI Radeon HD 5XXX series cards which use less power due to their energy efficiency.

A high quality 500 to 550 watt psu will have a +12 volt rail rated at 40 amps. A high quality 700 to 750 watt psu will have a +12 volt rail rated at 60 amps.

In addition the power supply should be at least 80+ Bronze certified for energy efficiency. There are some models available which have achieved 80+ Silver and 80+ Gold Certifications.

Before purchasing a new psu you will need to decide whether you will eventually have a pc with one or two video cards.

Corsair and Seasonic are two of the brands that have a reputation for high quality power supplies that consistently earn high marks in technical reviews. They are reliable, stable, and come with a 5 year warranty. Some of the newer models come with a 7 year warranty. Lately we've been seeing a few other brands offering some high quality units. One example would be the Antec Earthwatts series which is a major improvement over Antec’s older psu’s like the Basiq models.

 

[enielshade]

My PSU is a very very Chinese produced Turbolink... and has a 12V rail rated at 18A...

 

[JohnnyLucky]

I checked an manufacturers database. I could not find any references to Turbolink. It could be a plain OEM version but I can't match it to a manufacturer.

What I can tell you is that a +12 volt rail rated at 18 amps is very very low for a 500 watt power supply. I would expect to see somewhere around 40 amps. Is there any chance the psu data label shows and additional +12 volt rail also rated at 18 amps? That would be more like it.

 

[delluser1]

I checked an manufacturers database. I could not find any references to Turbolink. It could be a plain OEM version but I can't match it to a manufacturer.

Look under Apevia.

 

[enielshade]

I checked an manufacturers database. I could not find any references to Turbolink. It could be a plain OEM version but I can't match it to a manufacturer.

What I can tell you is that a +12 volt rail rated at 18 amps is very very low for a 500 watt power supply. I would expect to see somewhere around 40 amps. Is there any chance the psu data label shows and additional +12 volt rail also rated at 18 amps? That would be more like it.

... Yes it does.

 

[enielshade]

Problem solved. I read a few more results in the google machine, and I found an article that reviewed the HD 4850, and even overclocked, their system (With core i7 and all) only managed to use at max 330 some odd watts. I have a 500 watt PSU. Thanks for all of your help though!

 

[enielshade]

Best answer selected by enielshade.