Opinion Required - Much Appreciated!

[tvl]

I have been posting on the Graphics Card forum and need a little information from the experts here also!

Just purchased a new Sony 2.8 GHz Pentium D with 1 GB RAM (Sony VGC-RB52). The unit was shipped with a 305 watt power supply. The PC has two DVD drives, 1 GB RAM, modem, etc. Just last week, I added a second SATA hard drive to the system. Now, I am looking to add a video graphics card (Asus AX300SE/TD/128 Radeon X300SE 128MB PCI-E). This card will NOT be used for gaming and is added only to help free up system resources and help with video images while editing digital photos. This will most probably be the extent of my adding additional hardware. Now for my questions:

1- The unit shipped with a 305 watt PS. I have spoken with Sony technical support twice and they have assured me the 305 watt power supply will handle both the additional hard drive and proposed graphics card. They are probably correct, but I am looking for others thoughts. Can you agree? The real reason for asking, is the graphics card I ordered recommends a 350 watt minimum PS ........ some have indicated not to worry, as did Sony tech support. Your expert opinion will be greatly appreciated.

2- If you recommend a new PS, would you please indicate the best size without overkill???? Any particular brand name?

Thanks so much for your time!

Tony

Hey, I am new to all this, but I am trying to do the "right" thing!

 

[DeathwingX]

i would upgrade because it might be enough but its gunna kill that psu in about a week with all the stree its adding, i would recomend something by antec due to the fact that i use they all the time and only fail rarly, like once in a 100, and when they do its time to replace everything anyway, so i would recomend a 400 watt antec powersupply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103935

 

[mpjesse]

Are there any other possible places you can post this same thread?

Please don't double post. It's annoying.

-mpjesse

 

[tvl]

The first sentence of my post stated:

"I have been posting on the Graphics Card forum and need a little information from the experts here also" Here also meaning, this Power Supply forum.

The duplicate post was mistakenly sent by myself to the forum in which I had been posting - Graphic Cards. Sorry for the annoyance, please excuse my mistake and ignorance!

Tony

 

[ShortyNumber45]

since you have a dual core power hungry chip, at least a 400 watt would be enough. take a look at these thermaltake

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...lc.asp?MfrId=1182&Nav=|c:1078|&Sort=3&Recs=10

darn!... the url button doesn't work, just copy the url to your address bar.

 

[krazyIvan]

A6213452 PS SOLYTECH 460W 20+4PIN SLI READY V2.0 $59.99 @ PCClub.com (also $20 mail-in rebate offered) or $53? @ NewEgg.com
Very nice and you can upgrade your system in the future on it with no worries.

 

[INeedCache]

This one will do you just fine - stable and reliable. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954. Don't let anyone fool you into believing you need more than this, or need to pay more.

 

[duality]

So let's see your computer, shall we?
(And don't say anything if my estimate is wrong--I'm too tired to research and I'm guessing all the way.

2.8 GHz Pentium D= 130W
X300 chipset= 50W
Memory (Guessing DDR2x2)= 20W
Mobo, sound card, whatever= 50W
HDDx2= 50W
DVD drives= 50W
Total estimate (a very, very liberal estimate): 350W

But these are if you are using all components simultaneously, so let's cut it in half and you get: 175W.

I highly doubt that X300 chipset will eat up this much power, nor onboard chipsets of mobo will take away 50W. Hence, this would be the worst case scenario and/or preventive measure.

Seasonic S12-380 might be a good choice for you; they're reliable, and they have high efficiency which is always good. If they are unavailable, Antec works well as well, although not as good as Seasonic. Go for 350W-400W PSU, 450W only if you must. For your computer, I think any PSU over 400W would be overkill. Heck, I think your current PSU can handle most tasks, but change it if you are so bent on swapping it.

And, please, don't cheap out on PSUs; if the cheap-o no-name PSU ends up burning up your computer or frying it, you have only yourself to blame.

 

[Newf]

I have spoken with Sony technical support twice and they have assured me the 305 watt power supply will handle both the additional hard drive and proposed graphics card....... some have indicated not to worry, as did Sony tech support. Your expert opinion will be greatly appreciated!

I think the Sony PSU will be OK. But for $50 you can have peace of mind about this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954 8)

 

[Vascular]

Just plug it in and see if it works.
You should have no problems.
My dell has a 375watt power supply
2.8 D
2 Gig ram
7800gtx
1 hard drive
2 dvd drives
No problems with power so far.

or try this site to calculate your needs.
http://extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp

 

[fishmahn]

I don't know Sony PSU's in particular, but many quality companies (Dell, HP, Gateway for examples) use good to best quality PSUs (some better than others but all at least good), and if you lump Sony in that group (I would feel safe doing it - others may not) then you can assume that the 305w PSU is at least a good one, and give it a try.

After you test it in basic operation run the toughest (graphically - the one that stresses the graphics card the hardest) game you can for an hour to test stability and check your system temps. If its stable then you're good.

Mike.