Power? Wattage? Help?

strat

Ok, i have a 300watt psu and running from it i have...

system stuff
==========
t-birt 1400
512 ddr

gf3 ti 500
generic nic
sb live 5.1
usb2.0 card
1*60 gig 7200rpm quantum hd
1*120gig 5400rpm maxtor hd
Hitachi DVD-ron
Lite-on 40 burner

cooling
=========
80 mm 3pin fan for the cpu
80 mm 3pin exhuast
2*80mm 4 pin intake fans
1 of these
and 2*3.5inch hard drive coolers - these

NOW... the question is, am i low on power? how the hell can i work out the wattage/power requirements for all this kit? could this -if it is a low power issue- have caused a hard drive failure (thats another story)

TacT

Just get a 350 watt psu, 300watts is insufficient for all of that junk

Stephen

I've a 300W psu powering the following stuff, and everything seems ok - voltages are all within spec according to monitoring software.

AMD XP1800+
512mb ddr
GF4 Ti4200
Linksys nic
hauppauge TV card
some crappy winmodem
1x 40gb 7200rpm IBM HD
1x 120gb 5400rpm Maxtor HD
NEC DVD-Rom
elderly iomega 4x CD writer
cpu heatsink fan
and 1 case fan

oh and a floppy disk drive

leeroybrown

Depends on the quality of the PSU.

If you have a decent quality PSU you shouldn't have many problems otherwise since you don't seem to mind spending the extra few quid on fans etc, splash out a few extra quid on a decent high wattage Antec or Enermax PSU (warning these items can cost a fair bit).

Quigs Snr

TCO is the important value, meaning the total combined output. It's good to have at least 220Amps TCO.

This is a combo of the power to the various lines, It's good to have about 30A on the 5V line and about 24-28 on the 3.3V line.

The TBird 1.4 is one of the most power hungry chips out there, so thats not good to start with. It's also not enough to check the voltages in the BIOS, I once had a machine with a 165TCO (300W PSU) which was crashing a lot, I upgraded to a 220TCO(Also 300W) and the problems went away.

Bottom line, if you're not sure go for a bigger PSU, a 350-400w from Antec (my personal fave) or Enermax, Enlight etc... Even Kompletts 340W Chieftec is OK, but only at a push.

Gerry

No, the psu would not have caused a hard drive failure unless it allowed a massive surge to get through, in which case more than just the hard drive would have been taken out. You are clutching at straws, the drive just died so get over it.

Quigs is correct about the psu's, its a point I have been stressing for some time. 300w psu's are not created equal, far from it. There are plenty of second rate 300w psu's which I would rate worse than a high quality 250w psu.
So before running out and splashing cash on a psu which you may not need, check the specs of your current psu, fire the model number into google, and check the TCO. Also check the voltages under full load, see how much of a dip there is.

I really don't recommend that chieftec 340w psu against an antec or enermax, at least for p4 use.

Balfa

I've ordered a GF4 Ti4200, and i've heard they're fairly power hungry, so i'm worried i might have power issues once it's installed.

I think we all know by now that Enermax and Antec are two of the best brands... The problem is, i'm on a tight budget, so i don't want to have to splash out on one of them.

I'm wondering what the next-besties are. A mid-range PSU... quigs recommended a chieftec, but gerry doesn't... i'm at a loss!

Also, what are the MUST AVOID bottom-of-the-barrel brands when it comes to PSUs? Q-Tecs are very cheap at komplett... does this mean they're pants?

Finally, just wondering, what are the symptoms of low power, and what are the best utilties for checking power issues?