New PSU or New Case? 230w enough for AMD?

[TheFlamingCow]

I've read a bunch of the posts, and I've seen a range of answers between whether or not 250 watts is enough for AMD + GeForce2, etc., and yet I still need some advice.

First off, is my 235watt PSU going to work when I upgrade to a Duron 750 OC'd to ~1000, a OCZ Gladiator Fan, & a OCZ Titan Geforce 2 MX? I mean, yeah, I know it's not ideal, but is it just not going to work? Here's the other stuff I have in my system:

2 Maxtor 20gb HD's
1 3com Nic Card
1 SB Live Value
1 ISA Scsi card (cheapass)
1 Creative Labs 50x CDRom
1 Smart & Friendly 2X6 CD Burner (Scsi)
1 HD Cooling Fan kit thingy (with 3 little fans)
1 PCI Card Fan
1 Case Fan
Floppy, Optical Mouse, MS Keyboard, Flash Card writer thingy

So am I going to fry if I try to install the new MB + Graphics Card?

Assuming the 230 watt PSU won't work, will a generic 300watt work?

Assuming that won't work, would a Enermax (or other AMD Approved PSU) 300 watt work? I can get a new case with a 300 watt PSU for the same price as just a 350watt or 450watt PSU alone. I'd rather just get the new case, since my current one sucks.

Keep in mind I'm on a budget, and really don't want to buy anything new just yet if I can help it.

Thanks in advance,
Chris



Moo.

 

[Guest]

With a Duron it might work (cutting it close), but you do have 2 hard drives, 2 cdroms, and GeForce 2. I like to play things safe and I would go for at least a 300W. you can find 300W PSU on www.pricewatch.com for under $20.00.

----------------------------------
I bought a pentium once!
Everybody makes mistakes..

 

[TheFlamingCow]

So any old 300W psu will work? I don't need one of the expensive Sparkles or Enermax or other "AMD Approved" PSU'S? I like the idea of the 2 fans (on by the processor) the Enermax, but my cpu should be plenty cool with the Gladiator, so it's not necessary.


Moo.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

For the love of God, do not buy generic power supplies....

This is a cold, hard kernel of bitterness speaking.

As far as your 235 watt PSU.... I believe 235 watts is the absolute MINIMUM for some of the lower speed Athlon systems(nothing higher than 700mhz), whereas 250 and 300 are strongly recommended. I personally would twig out if I tried to run that box on a 235 watt psu... pretty much kiss your Ge2 and mobo goodbye, imho.

BTW... I've not found OCZ to be incredibly honest about their speed ranges on processors, though they do a helluva job on the L1 bridges.

 

[niconx]

SerArthurDayne speaks the truth, DONT get cheap power supplies. DO refer to AMD specs on their page. They are there for a reason.

 

[Arrow]

Yup, you better consult AMD's list and make sure it's on there.

Rob
Please visit <b><A HREF="http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048" target="_new">http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048</A></b>

 

[HandOfDragon]

Just my experiences. I have my set up with 145W PSU (yes, 145W micro-ATX) and it works fine. Nothing wrong and core voltages look fine too. Here are my core voltage readings from MBM5 based on my old 145W PSU

Core 0: 1.76V
Core 1: 0.18V
+3.3V: 3.28V
+5.0V: 4.97V
+12.0V: 11.84V

Here is my voltage readings with my new 250W PSU (micro-ATX)

Core 0: 1.75V
Core 1: 0.24V
+3.3V: 3.31V
+5.0V: 4.88V (a bit fluctuated from 4.71-4.93V)
+12.0V: 11.83V

So, I guess it work fine. However, your set up have a bit more components than mine so to play save try the 235W PSU first. If it doesn't work (I highly doubt that since my 145W work), buy a good 300W PSU.

AMD Athlon T-1.2Ghz
MK33 AOpen, Via KT133
320 100MHz SDRAM
ATI Radeon 64 VIVO
1 CD-ROM
1 CD-RW
Seagate 8GB Hard drive
1 floppy drive
10/100 Mbps Network Adapter

 

[upec]

You will need an new scsi card since most of new motherboard does not have ISA slot.

 

[TheFlamingCow]

Thanks all.

Actually, I already bought a new Enermax 351 PSU, with the dual fan setup.

And the mobo (as most mobo's I looked at) I got, an Abit KT7a, had the 1 ISA slot I needed for my SCSI. Of course I wouldn't buy one without that ISA slot!

Now I'm just trying to get the noisy little bastard (the whole machine) quieter! I'm ordering some sample sound-deadening material from www.b-quiet.com. I'm hoping the samples they send will be enough for the computer, since they sell in quantities designed for cars. Heck of a lot cheaper than DynaMat, too.

Moo.