power supply question/advice

[dar1again]

i have a 250w power supply, i would like to change to a higher power. like maybe a 300 or 350, would that benifit my comp? if so, how? or would that destroy my comp? or does it depend on my mobo?


thank you

[SPEEDO]

That all depends on your system, If you have an athlon system then upgrading would be a good idea. But for an older system your 250 should be fine!
If you would, Could you give some details on what you are running?

SPEEDO

[dar1again]

win98se
800 amd
stealth III s540 (graphics card)
soundblaster live MP3 (sound card)
k7vma ecs elitegroup (mobo)
56k modem (fax)
nic card (dsl)
40 gig hard drive
20 gig hard drive

[Psycho Logical]

Assuming you buy the correct form factor -- AT, ATX, etc. -- you can't get one that has "too much" power for your system.

The system components will only draw as much current as required. Same as a house. If you have 200-amp service, but all the things you turn on only draw 145 amps, it all still works fine.

You should consider how old your present PS is, how many devices you have connected now, and how many you might add later, including RAM upgrades and expansion cards.

As they age, power supplies do "wear out", in the sense that the internal parts fatigue and become less efficient due to cycling on and off.

Another benefit of an over-capacity PS is that it will run cooler and regulate voltages better.

It exhausts its own self-generated heat with its internal fan, but the internal case air it's pulling through the interior vents is already warmer than room ambient temperature.

PS's run best at around 75% of maximum load. In the case of your 250w unit, that's around 190w -- when it was new. But... if it has deteriorated with age, the original 250w may be down 20% to 200w, and 75% of that is now 150w. If your system requires 135w to function, the PS is now running at 90%.

When you factor in the higher current required to spin-up the hard drives at power up, you may be getting close to the available limit.

If you do decide to get a new PS, get a decent name-brand unit. It's funny that people will spend $150 on CPU coolers and other enhancements to get an extra 10% boost in performance, but then try to get away with a 300w no-name PS that costs $30. At that price range, you can almost be assured you are getting an inferior unit, or one that has been fraudently mis-labelled. Stay with the known quality vendors like Enermax, PC Power & Cooling, Antec and a few others.

[thompson16]

If I was buying a power supply, and I am a big AMD fan, get a 400w. However, if I was buying a new case. Make sure it has at least 300w. Rule from the wise, you can never go to wrong with to much power. ** unless your budget can not afford it :-) **

[Potlicker]

dar1again, You might want to go over to AMD's site and look at their recommended power supplies. I am using a deer 300 but the other people are right you can't have to much POOWWERRR. Aye Captn I'm giviner all she's got, she won't take much more.

[dar1again]

I would like to thank you guys for the info...

thank you
dar

[dlckwood]

Cant go wrong with a 300w power supply.

[VERT]

If you need an excuse to spend money, then do so, but a 300w ps isn't really needed unless you have a high end Athlon system.

I have a T-bird 800
256mb pc133
30gb 7200rpm
GF2 mx
GTXP soundcard
dvd
cdrw
etc etc

with only a 200w power supply, my system runs fine

[Scorpio69]

Save your money, unless you are having problems. I am running a PIII 850 overclocked, up to 4 IDE devices, 2-3 extra fans on a 235W power supply.

[G]

You cannot go wrong buying a high-quality power supply unit (PSU). I have written a couple of posts pertaining to PSU problems due to cheap or marginalised PSUs. You will find one of my posts at http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/015896.html

This should help you make up your mind easily. Remember the PSU supplies energy to everything to do with your computer system. Eliminate future grief and make the correct decision.

Consider what others have stated above.

All the best,
G