I heard the power of the psu is not as important as...

Keep in mind that while it is 600W, if your computer only needs 400W of power then that 200W is going to waste and you are paying for something you don't need. I don't know much more about power supplies but you could read the 101 on this forum and it should tell you a bit. I know that it is good to have at least 12V @ 30A which that one has 12V @38A so that should be good. Someone will tell you how much power you should have for your PC I just don't know.:)
 
Watts is important, but amps are also very important. That is a very nice power supply, and has 38A on the +12V Rails.
 
MCanavan6 said:
Keep in mind that while it is 600W, if your computer only needs 400W of power then that 200W is going to waste and you are paying for something you don't need.
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This is not true, read this from PSU101, section 5:

Too Much Power? Too Little?
If you have say a Pentium 166 system and are hooking it up to a [good] 500W powersupply ... while that may be overkill, it's not going to damage the computer or anything. This is because the power supply's rating (that is, the 500W) just means that it can deliver at most a sustained load of 500W (or so) however it will only deliver what is required (i.e., so if the sum total the parts you have only require 200W and you have a 500W powersupply, the PSU will deliver 200W).

On the flip side, not having enough power is a bad thing as you will start to suffer restarts, instability and generally "stuff not working right". For systems featuring videocards requiring power adapters, having a weak power supply may mean the system will not boot up.


spears said:
oh noes my psu is only 28 A and 12v
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Don't worry, 28A is plenty for most purposes


To Charles_Lee, that power supply seems good, 38A on the 12V is more than enough.
 
ceewi1 said:
This is not true, read this from PSU101, section 5:

Too Much Power? Too Little?
If you have say a Pentium 166 system and are hooking it up to a [good] 500W powersupply ... while that may be overkill, it's not going to damage the computer or anything. This is because the power supply's rating (that is, the 500W) just means that it can deliver at most a sustained load of 500W (or so) however it will only deliver what is required (i.e., so if the sum total the parts you have only require 200W and you have a 500W powersupply, the PSU will deliver 200W).

On the flip side, not having enough power is a bad thing as you will start to suffer restarts, instability and generally "stuff not working right". For systems featuring videocards requiring power adapters, having a weak power supply may mean the system will not boot up.



Don't worry, 28A is plenty for most purposes


To Charles_Lee, that power supply seems good, 38A on the 12V is more than enough.
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How am I wrong? I stated that you need as much power as your system needs (you don't want any less). However, having 200W of extra power is just going to waste if your computer only uses 400W, then you are paying for more than you need. I read that FAQ as well pal.
 
MCanavan6 said:
How am I wrong? I stated that you need as much power as your system needs (you don't want any less). However, having 200W of extra power is just going to waste if your computer only uses 400W, then you are paying for more than you need. I read that FAQ as well pal.
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You shouldnt get the bare minumem of what your system needs, because then if you upgrade your video card or add more PCI cards and optical drives, then you would need to upgrade. And the difference between a 400W and a 500W may only be minimal.
 
MCanavan6 said:
How am I wrong? I stated that you need as much power as your system needs (you don't want any less). However, having 200W of extra power is just going to waste if your computer only uses 400W, then you are paying for more than you need. I read that FAQ as well pal.
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Sorry, I misread your post. I thought you meant waste power as in paying a higher power bill (as if a 600W power supply will draw more power than a 400W powering the same system, which is something i've seen more than one person worried about). Obviously you are correct, that paying $100 or so for a 600W power supply is a waste if you only need 300W. Of course, it can be worth buying a better power supply, if you intend to keep it when you upgrade.


helmie said:
If thats more than enough, then ive got wayyy too much. 55A on quad 12v lines!
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I don't think you can ever have too much, but i've seen SLI certified power supplies (which can power 2 * 7800GTX cards in SLI) which have only 34A on the 12V line!
 
helmie said:
If thats more than enough, then ive got wayyy too much. 55A on quad 12v lines!
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think on the bright side, you're dual sli ready =) buy say...4 7800gtx and put your psu to work! :D
 
Hmmm

Guys if you wanna talk overkill, have a look here: http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=TC1KW

Now back on topic, a good 400W PSU will beat a 550W cheapo PSU hands down. Note that the wattage rating is cumulative. Hence a 550W PSU could have some crazy high 5V rail Amp ratings and a low 12V rail Amp rating, giving it that high Wattage rating. However, you can equally have a good 400W with dual 12V rails with some 34A on them, and normal 5V Amp ratings. That's what you should look for the most. I have come across those quite a few times.

P.S.: That's from my personal experience having switched from 550W to 400W ;)

JAN :D
 
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yea, im amazed at my 400w powersupply, it runs my computer with 4 fans, 3 hard drives, sound card, videocard, 2 dvdrw drives, and so on. and i still get 6500 in 3dmark05
 
so,,, the psu has 600 watt, so I assumed its the best.
however i hear people saying the watts is not as important as whatever...
can anyone tell me if this psu is good buy?
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You know there's a sticky thread for this :P
PSU 101

Keep in mind that while it is 600W, if your computer only needs 400W of power then that 200W is going to waste and you are paying for something you don't need.
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Its not gonna draw power it doesnt need so it wont be wasting

oh noes my psu is only 28 A and 12v
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Thats fine (also have a look at PSU101), as long as you got at least 24A on the 12V line you're gonna be ok (for nonsli setups)

If thats more than enough, then ive got wayyy too much. 55A on quad 12v lines!
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After a certain amount of amperage, it becomes important to focus on votage regulation ... 1% on very high end PSUs, 3% on other high end models, 5% for everybody else :)

However, having 200W of extra power is just going to waste if your computer only uses 400W, then you are paying for more than you need. I read that FAQ as well pal.
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Read your sentence again. *I* know what you INTEND to say (which is something along the lines of "Buying a PSU with a 600W rating when you only need 400W means you have a POTENTIAL of 200W going down the tubes") -- what you said means that power is actually being drawn from the outlet meaning it's costing money as measured per kilowatt-hour :)

Guys if you wanna talk overkill, have a look here:
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I get a sneaking feeling most people in this thread wont be powering SSIs anytime soon.
 
jancz3rt said:
P.S.: That's from my personal experience having switched from 550W to 400W ;)

JAN :D
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I here ya, i bought a 500watt and i hadda throw my 300watt back in because of restarts, lol:P
 
but surly there needs to be a bit more than needed for the slight suge at startup,ie when everything spins up etc, most stuff is only average rated.
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Yes but that slight surge isnt gonna be an extra 10A or anything :P
 
geeeeeeeez thanks guys, i didn't know anything about psu,
but since mejority of you said that my psu is good enough, i am happy.
 
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