Power supply vs. motherboard

[zibizibi]

Hi,

I have a ASROCK Wolfdale 1333-D667 mobo with a Dual Core E5300 oc 3Ghz. I need a new power supply as mine started to make a sort of tyrannosaurus noise during boot.

My question is : does the power (400W, 450W, 500W...) is of importance in relation with the CPU or mobo ? Like for example, 400W won't work for this mobo, or 450 is too much for that CPU..

Also, for £30 what particular model would be a good choice for a power supply?

Zibizibi.

 

[mi1ez]

The amount of power a PC pulls has more to do with graphics card than CPU.

Can you post your full specs.

 

[skora]

Just the mobo and CPU are going to use less than 100w. So as mi1ez said, the rest of the power draw is what dictates how much you need. You can't have too much power, but buying a PSU that has a lot more capacity than you need can be bad as PSUs are most efficient around 50% of total capacity. So if you find you need 250w total, a 500w PSU is a good match. If you plan to upgrade parts, I'd use those numbers to plan your PSU purchase.

This is a good tool to get a general feel for how much you need at full load.
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

 

[zibizibi]

Hm! My graphic card is a very basic one : Ati FireGL v7700.

And I have 4 GB of RAM (well, 3.37GB actually since my mobo doesn't seem to support my 4GB properly :/ )

So what range of power should I look into based on that ?

 

[skora]

The ram is an OS issue, not the mobo. You must be running 32-bit version of Windows. Its hard programed for 4gb to be shared between the PCIe connections and the ram. So what system resources are needed to run the other connections are taken first and the rest is used by the ram.

7700 uses max of 115w, 80ish for the CPU, and 70w for the rest of the stuff. So a 500-550w PSU would do you well. OCZ, Corsair, Antec (except the early basiq) are a few quick picks. Im logging off for the day, but if you throw up a link to your prefered etailer, I'll take a look if someone else doesn't offer you up a good choice first.

 

[mi1ez]

Completely agree with skora. a decent 500W from a respected company will do you fine.

 

[zibizibi]

Antec then. But their 500W models are too expensive for my wallet. I spotted this 430W power supply : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Antec-Basiq-BP430-internal-100-240/dp/B001UN4KDO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264432390&sr=1-3

Will it do the job despite being only a 430W ?

(btw at the same time I plan to buy this WD harddrive : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Caviar-SATAII-Internal/dp/B000Q82PIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264406671&sr=8-1, good choice?)

 

[JohnnyLucky]

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, PC Power & Cooling, and Seasonic are some 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.

 

[zibizibi]

Uh.. I don't think I need a 900W factory, I have just one basic video card actually. So would this Antec model be fine for my machine or not ? :/

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The Antec Basiq models are not high quality power supplies. They Basiq series is low budget. A better choice would be the Antec Earthwatt series. Still better would be the Corsair VX450.

 

[zibizibi]

But I only have £30-35 for the supply ..

 

[Nick_C]

Yes, you only have £35 for the PSU - but if you buy poorly and the new one fails in a major fashion, it could take down the motherboard, RAM, CPU, etc.... In that scenario, £35 seems a bit on the light side for the most important single component in the system.

 

[mi1ez]

^ absolutely!

 

[JDFan]

^+1 - the PSU is the part that supplies the power to the rest of the system and if you use a low quality one it will be giving power spikes etc. to the rest of your expensive parts shortening their life and if it does decide to blow up it can very easily take all of your other components with it so a PSU is not a part to save a few $ on - get a PSU from a quality maker that can provide the power your system needs - or you may wind up having to buy an entire new system in a month or so !!

 

[rsmith13]

If you ps is making a noise at boot, it might just be full of dust and need a good blowing out. The fan bearings might be going. (If it was my ps and the fan was dying, I would just replace the fan but that is not an option for someone without electronic repair experience.)

 

[delluser1]

Hi,

I have a ASROCK Wolfdale 1333-D667 mobo with a Dual Core E5300 oc 3Ghz. I need a new power supply as mine started to make a sort of tyrannosaurus noise during boot.

My question is : does the power (400W, 450W, 500W...) is of importance in relation with the CPU or mobo ? Like for example, 400W won't work for this mobo, or 450 is too much for that CPU..

Also, for £30 what particular model would be a good choice for a power supply?

Zibizibi.

Your video card calls for a 350 watt minimum power supply assuming a fully loaded system, according to AMD/ATI;
http://www.amd.com/us/products/workstation/graphics/ati-firegl-3d/v7700/Pages/v7700-specs.aspx

This is the equivalent of the Antec EA380
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Antec-0761345-01809-8-Su380Ht-B-Replacement-Psu/dp/B000GG4Q4O/ref=sr_1_87?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264461759&sr=1-87

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article592-page1.html

Plenty of power for your sytem and in budget.

I'm currently running an E4300 1.8ghz oc'd to 2.7 and a 8800 GTS 512 OC on the EA380, hits about 70% psu load when running the OCCT psu test, which stresses the system much harder than gaming or normal everyday computing.

 

[Onus]

The 430W Basiq is the only Antec PSU I can think of that has not done well in reviews; even the 500W Basiq did very well over at hardwaresecrets.

 

[skora]

This would run a little higher capacity than I generally like to see, but still a great unit. JohnnyLucky will like the Bronze rating it has.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Antec-EarthWatts-EA380D-Green-internal/dp/B002UOR17Y/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264470064&sr=1-15

Still holds good efficiency in the 75% load, looks like 84% or so:
http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/ANTEC_EA-380%20BRONZE_ECOS%201521_3800W_Report.pdf

 

[zibizibi]

Got it, I bought the PS you indicated skora. Thank you and thanks all.

 

[zibizibi]

Hello,

My amazon order has been cancelled (noinventory). Then thinking again about what has been said in this thread I changed my mind. Now I wish to spend up to £45. Please could you advise me (again..) for an ATX PS ?

 

[zibizibi]

I realize there'are different ATX: 12V, 2.0, 2.2.. Should I pay attention to these things?

I spotted this : http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-500W-StealthXStream-Power-Supply/dp/B001564SRE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264528242&sr=1-2 , remembering that OCZ has been mentionned here as a good brand. Should I buy that model?

 

[skora]

OCZ is good enough. I think the Antec is better even if its not as much power. That OCZ isn't 80+ certified.

Why amazon does this, I don't know, but theres multiple listings for that 380D green:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=antec+green&x=0&y=0

Corsair 400CX 80+ standard:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CX400W-Power-Supply/dp/B00261ENEK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264547641&sr=1-4

I'd expect this to do very well also, Enermax Pro82+ 385 Bronze:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Enermax-EPR385AWT-supply-internal-100-240/dp/B001CLC4UU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264547780&sr=1-3

 

[zibizibi]

Hey, I bought the Corsair 400CX 80+ standard. Just installed it. Nice looking, but it is DAMNED noisy !!! I will have a few hard days getting used to it

 

[zibizibi]

Ah no sorry, there was some powder perhaps, I hit my box and now it's actually more quiet than my previous cheap power supply. Thx skora and the others.

 

[zibizibi]

Hi,

I do hear a disturbing noise on occasion, though not very loud, and if I hit my box it sometimes disappear. Sounds like something is touching the fan or something, I dunno.

Yet, I don't like it because the noise disturbance is the first reason which led me to buy this power supply in the first place ! What would u do if u were me ?