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Help with wattage, will this PSU work for this setup?

post #1 of 13
Thread Starter 
Howdy All,

Could anyone help with the power requirements here? I'm ignorant.

This is what I believe I'll be getting for my HTPC (comments welcome):

APEX DM-387 Black Steel Micro ATX Media Center / Slim HTPC Computer Case w/ ATX12V Flex 275W Power Supply

BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100293L Radeon HD 5570 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Low Profile Ready Video

AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor ADX250OCGQBOX

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT

AVS Gear GP-IR01BK Windows Vista Infrared MCE Black Remote Control

My question is - Will the 275 Watt PSU in the case handle the total power requirments, I don't know how to tell.

If you notice any ommision on parts or thing I may need, please let me know.

I have a HDD, so that's why I don't have one listed.

Thanks for your time and attention,
Wulfman
post #2 of 13
Yes your MAX will be at like 175
post #3 of 13
You should be okay. Check out this calculator to get a conservative estimate, but remember that this would be for everything pulling it's max power at the same time.
post #4 of 13
The most power is normally consumed at boot time when everyting is starting up esspecially HDDs, CD and DVD drives in addition to the graphics card the CPU and memory.
I did't understand your comment about your HDD.
post #5 of 13
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies.

Quote:
You should be okay. Check out this calculator to get a conservative estimate, but remember that this would be for everything pulling it's max power at the same time.

Cool calculator Spivonious, I'll have to file that one away for reference.

Quote:
I did't understand your comment about your HDD.

What I meant was that I already have a HDD I will be using for the build, so that is why there isn't a HDD in my equipment list.
Sorry for the confusion.


Wulfman
post #6 of 13
Realistically speaking, full load for that system will probably be around 100~120W. I wouldn't really stress it beyond that. The power supply is Allied and they're not really known for quality. I seriously doubt it's able to supply its advertised rating of 275W.
post #7 of 13
Get a passive HD5570, no need for an active cooled one. Replace the CPU with a AMD x2 240e/245e , a 45W CPU basically. The PSU should do fine, although as ilovejedd said, going with a quality PSU would be best.

You could go for a smaller mini-ITX build if you don`t plan on stuffing alot of HDDs in it, basically AMD x2 + mini-ITX mobo + 2GB or ram + Antec ISK 300 or a Core i3 sistem.
post #8 of 13
Unless you are hard for space avoid the slim cases. It limits your choices on some video/tuner cards.
post #9 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by WulfmanX View Post


What I meant was that I already have a HDD I will be using for the build, so that is why there isn't a HDD in my equipment list.
Sorry for the confusion.

Wulfman

Without knowing the make/model of your HDD we have no idea how much power he draws normally. HDDs use a lot of power to spinup at boot time.
Many power supplies are rated by their max input power and not by the amount of ouput power they can provide. Some are much more efficient then others meaning that the amount of output power available is a higher percentage of the max input power then for other supplys.
post #10 of 13
Here are actual measurements of DC input to the system from the PSU (that's what you need to know when you choose a PSU).

- Athlon II X2 250
- 785G mb
- DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB
- HD 5570
- 1 x HDD (WD Blue 640GB)

  DC Input
Idle 50W
BD Playback (with PDVD+ISO) 61W
SD Playback (with ffdshow+Avisynth) 103W
x264 HD Benchmark 2nd Pass 104W
Prim95 114W
FurMark Stress Test 114W
Prim95+FurMark 140W

So 140W is the max power draw of the system (but max CPU load + max GPU load is a highly unpractical senario). Add 6-8W for each additional HDD (most current HDDs draw < 8W at seek). If you add an internal (single) TV tuner, then

  DC Input
Idle 53W
Watch 65W
Record 55W
post #11 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by walford View Post

Many power supplies are rated by their max input power and not by the amount of ouput power they can provide.

Computer power supplies are *rated* based on their maximum output power. Everybody (should) knows this, for example, from measurements like below. Inflating ratings may not be uncommon, however (in particular in cheaper PSUs).


LL
post #12 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Inflating ratings may not be uncommon, however.

It's Allied. I think they pull their ratings from a magic hat. Alas, the PSU is SFX and there aren't that many replacements available for those not to mention a replacement would probably cost more than the case itself.
post #13 of 13
Here are typical techniques to inflate ratings:

- Advertising the peak power, rather than the continuous power;
- Determining the continuous output power capability at unrealistically low temperatures (at room temperature as opposed to 40°C, a more likely temperature inside a PC case);
- Advertising total power as a measure of capacity, when modern systems are almost totally reliant on the current available from the 12 volt line(s). [Advertising total power is normal, of course.]
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