What Power supply do I need?

[scuba1954]

Hello,
I just bought a new HP tower, H8-1414pc. I want to add a second dvd burner to my tower. I need to upgrade the power supply to at least 460 watts. I know that it is an ATX type and the size is 150MMx140MMx86MM other than that I am clueless. What brand and specific model number would you recommend. I want the best that I can buy. Especially something quiet and if possible also be energy star rated. I have looked at many of the supplies but get confused when it talks about 20-4 or 24 pin mother board cables, P4 cables and sata cables. I do not know what I need. Please give me model numbers and manufactures names....thanks

 

[C12Friedman]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums,
Although I usually do not recommend specific units, I'll make an exception here and recommend the SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM as being a very good unit for your needs
My $0.02

 

[scuba1954]

Thanks for the suggestion. I followed your link and checked out the pwr supply. I do have one question. The one you suggested is larger physical size to the one that shows in mine in the spec sheet. Will this be a problem?

 

[geofelt]

Why do you need to upgrade your PSU?
A dvd burner takes a trivial amount of added power.
The normal reason for upgrading a psu is to support a much stronger discrete graphics card.

A ATX psu will have standard width and height dimensions, 150mm x 86mm. The length may vary from your 140mm to 180mm or so.
Only if you are depth constrained by your case should you worry about that.

Some older motherboards had 20 pin main power slots. Newer ones have 24 pin slots.
Most top psu's will have a main connector in the form of 20 +4 to accomodate either.

A psu will operate more efficiently and quieter in the middle third of it's range, so overprovisioning a bit is not a bad idea.

I might suggest this SeaSonic SSR-450RM 450W gold rated psu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151124

The length is 160mm so you need to see if the added 20mm is of concern to you.

Whatever you do, buy only a quality brand.
Here is one list of psu's arranged by quality tiers:
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

 

[C12Friedman]

The PSU is about 1/2" deeper but that shouldn't be an issue. An advantage is that it's modular so you won't have to worry about having extra cables to wrap up behind the PSU.

 

[scuba1954]

The reason for getting a bigger power supply was suggested by HP themselves. I called them to ask if the dvd burner that was in it was blu ray. They told me no and if I wanted to install an internal blu ray dvd burner that I should upgrade the 300watt supply that is in it now to at least a 460 watt unit. If it makes any difference the video card that came in the unit is a Radeon 7450.

Why do you need to upgrade your PSU?
A dvd burner takes a trivial amount of added power.
The normal reason for upgrading a psu is to support a much stronger discrete graphics card.

A ATX psu will have standard width and height dimensions, 150mm x 86mm. The length may vary from your 140mm to 180mm or so.
Only if you are depth constrained by your case should you worry about that.

Some older motherboards had 20 pin main power slots. Newer ones have 24 pin slots.
Most top psu's will have a main connector in the form of 20 +4 to accomodate either.

A psu will operate more efficiently and quieter in the middle third of it's range, so overprovisioning a bit is not a bad idea.

I might suggest this SeaSonic SSR-450RM 450W gold rated psu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151124

The length is 160mm so you need to see if the added 20mm is of concern to you.

Whatever you do, buy only a quality brand.
Here is one list of psu's arranged by quality tiers:
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

 

[geofelt]

The reason for getting a bigger power supply was suggested by HP themselves. I called them to ask if the dvd burner that was in it was blu ray. They told me no and if I wanted to install an internal blu ray dvd burner that I should upgrade the 300watt supply that is in it now to at least a 460 watt unit. If it makes any difference the video card that came in the unit is a Radeon 7450.

I can't imagine that adding a dvd burner would make any difference.
If HP thinks it would, then they must have reservations about their 300w psu. Or, more likely, the support people have been instructed to suggest a psu upgrade for any hardware change. Will you be using this bluray device for just reading, or for burning also. If burning, then it might take a bit more power.

Personally, I would just go ahead and install the bluray drive, and then change out the psu if you have any issues.

 

[scuba1954]

I would be using that burner to burn blu ray dvds. The original burner is only a dvd burner/reader and that one would be used for everything else.

 

[geofelt]

I would be using that burner to burn blu ray dvds. The original burner is only a dvd burner/reader and that one would be used for everything else.

Considering that you would likely only be using one or the other for burning at the same time, I don't see how having an alternate unit would cause you any problem.