Power supply question - once again!

[Jawa]

Hello again!

This will be my last power supply question.. I promise! :p

I am going to be upgrading. I need some advice on whether or not my power supply will be able to handle it.

Antec 300w Power Supply
Combined output = ~180w
Max output = ~278w

This is what I will have TOTAL after I upgrade: (bold = what will be newly installed)

Abit KR7A
384MB PC2100
AthlonXP 2000+
GF4 TI4200 64MB
One 40GB WD 7200RPM HDD
One CD-RW Drive
SB Live! OEM
NIC
TV tuner card
Some fans.. nothing outrageous (no deltas!)

All I need to know is that if you think it will handle it and what will happen if it cannot.

Thank you!

Jawa :D

[Bovon]

There are a lot of people who get along with 300 watt power supplies and there are some that do not. There may be any number of reasons for this...but most guys suggest you get the most you can afford. It seems like 300 watt is just about the minumum today...the stuff we have crammed into a case is power hungrey, and next year we will be adding more 'stuff' and connecting it to the computer power supply.

I would probably start with perhaps 400 watts, and then see what happens over time. If the power supply is loaded near max, it will overheat and even supply DC outputs voltages that have some AC ripple still in the output that was not filtered good because of the high demand for amperages needed.

What can happen if your machine is underpowered?..spontaneous reboots maybe, things don't work good, like internet connections, blue screens ect.

The main thing with an low powered machine might be, the way it will happen...2 or 3 days and everything is fine, then stuff starts flaking out one or two days...its diffucult to actually determine if the problem is the psu sometimes. The voltage monitoring devices on modern motherboards are not as accurate as good test equipment..so, you may look at what you think is a good voltage when it is not as good as the measuring software reports.

[Jawa]

Thank you Bovon for the useful information. I appreciate it.

Jawa :t

[BipolarBill]

Originally posted by Jawa
All I need to know is that if you think it will handle it and what will happen if it cannot.

Thank you!

Jawa :D OMG! Horrible things will happen! Fire and brimstone! Civil strife! Shriveled credit cards!

Stop worrying and try the PSU out. It should be fine. If funky things happen, get a 400 watter.

[sandeep]

Any good 300W power will meet your needs. You dont need 500W for a desktop Computer.
:rolleyes:

[Excavatorak]

I've got a 550W Enermax...maybe I don't need it like sandeep says, but I don't have to wonder if the next fan I plug in will put me over the limit.

[BipolarBill]

That's a big help. :rolleyes:

[Jawa]

Thank you.. I will stop doubting the 300w and give it a chance at least. :x

Jawa

[BipolarBill]

Here's an example:

1900+ Athlon
1GB PC2700 RAM
GeForce4 Ti4000
3 optical drives
4 hard drives
1 SCSI tape drive
floppy drive
every single PCI slot full
8 * 80mm fans
7 USB ports

The above system runs fine on an Antec 400W PSU with power to spare. What make you think that you need 400W? Spend your money elsewhere. ;)

[Jawa]

Definately looks like my system will run with the 300w!

Thanks Bill! :)

[sandeep]

All the systems I have from the ICE age 486 to the 2.4 run with 200-300W power suply.