PSU cable and another watt/amp check

[Zhenne]

I have the Antec Earthwatts 380W power supply and have three questions that I hope you can help me with.

1) The power supply didn't come with a power cord. I figured finding one would be easy, but there are a lot of different kinds of power cords and I don't know which one is needed. I think the "universal power cord" would be the one but I'm unsure.

2) I have power cords from other computers but they are all very old (9-10 years) and I don't know if there are different power cords or if they can degrade over time and harm the power supply. Would they be safe to use?

3) Last time I asked if my power supply could power a Pentium G850 and a Radeon HD 5670 and the result was yes. This time I'm wondering if I could power a Radeon HD 6770 instead.

Thank you all for your help.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Im shocked the PSU didn't come with a power cord to begin with!? Id contact the place you bought it from, or contact Antec and ask them to send you one. If that turns out to be too much hassle, all you need is a standard "Kettle Lead". It looks like this: http://cdlmicro.co.uk/images/user/fullsize/RB-249.jpg

The power cords from your old machine should be fine, cables don't tend to degrade, the components within the PSU do.

450w+ PSU is recommended by AMD for the 6770. 380w would PROBABLY be enough but you may find you run into some issues when your system is really put under load. Id get a couple of second opinions on that one.

 

[Silvune]

All PSUs from the Antec Earthwatts line do not come with power cords. Reasons include saving money on Antec's part, them trying to be 'greener', them recognizing that a lot of users will have spare power cables which they can use.

Considering that the Pentium G850 has a TDP of 65W and the 6770 has a TDP of ~110W means that both parts are relatively low power.
Even a high power system with a 5770 (6770 is only a 5770 rebadge as I'm sure most people know) only uses 207W under Furmark at the wall.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446-15.html

 

[jsc]

Antec Earthwatt PSU's do not come with a power cord. They figure if you are buying one, you already have a cord.

A 6770 only needs about 8 amps. I estimate that your system will draw no more than 250 watts under load. the 380 PSU will be more than adequate.

 

[AdrianPerry]

All PSUs from the Antec Earthwatts line do not come with power cords.

Antec Earthwatt PSU's do not come with a power cord. They figure if you are buying one, you already have a cord.

Fair enough then! I'm still quite shocked though since the power cable is a "mandatory" part for the item to work. I guess its similar to buying electronic items that don't come with batteries! God that's annoying!

 

[hunter315]

Newegg lists it quite clearly under the features of the unit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
No power cord included. By reusing your existing cord, you can reduce waste and help protect the environment.

Keep you from having a massive collection of power cords, keeps them from having to buy one, get it shipped to them, pack it up and ship the added weight with all the PSUs. In the large scale I have no doubt that it adds up.


To the OP, you can just use a standard 3 pronged power cord, if it fits into the PSU it will work just fine, its a lower power unit so you don't even need one of the heftier power cords, any one you find will work just fine if its a C13 end.

 

[Zhenne]

Thanks for the help, and the power supply not coming with a power cord didn't bother me. It's kind of like buying an OEM model of an optical drive if you already have the SATA cable or a CPU if you already have a cooler for it. Why spend money on getting something you already have? Turns out I have a bunch of power cords lying around so I'm good to go on that front.

Thanks also for information about the 6770. I think that's the most powerful GPU I want to get so am glad it will work.

 

[Zhenne]

Best answer selected by Zhenne.