[realmatrix]

Hi Guys


I am building the following HTPC in my bedroom :


MOTHERBOARD ASUS P5K PL CM Intel G31 CHIPSET Micro ATX

RAM GSKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB)/G SKILL 240-Pin DDR2 800

DVD RW SONY-NEC OEM

PROCESSOR Intel Core 2 Duo Wolfdale 2.66GHz

TV TUNER CARD Hauppage PVR 150 MCE KIT

KEYB+MOUSE Logitech EX 100 Black USB RF Wireless Cordless

HDD SEAGATE 500 GB SATA

GFX CARD XFX GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 PV-T84J-YDF3

CABINET Antec NSK 2480

PSU 380 WATTS EARTH WATTS (Included with antec cabinet)


The asus manual mentions that the motherboard was tested on a 400 watts PSU. However the psu calculator available on antec's website suggest my total consumption of the above config is 318 watts (with 20% capacitor aging).


I believe the 380 watts PSU included should suffice.


Antec 500 watts EA is not available in my area..else I will have to purchase a 460 watts coolermaster and simply throw the stock psu.


Should I stick with 380 watts or go ahead with cooler master.


Thanks in advance.

 

[Rathbone]

You should be fine. I have the following components run by a Tagan 430 Watts PSU:


C2Q 9450

Asus P5Q Pro

4 GB DDR2-800

GF 8800GT

3 HDDs

2 Soundcards (Asus Xonar HDAV with active power supply from PSU & Auzen Prelude)

Pioneer Blu-ray Drive

Cable TV Tuner Card PCI

MS Laser Mouse 6000 (with cord)

and an Custom made case with IMon which is also supplied by the PSU


The system is rock stable even when playing games like Crysis and GTAIV.

 

[realmatrix]

Since this is my first build.


what will be the symptoms/consequences if the PSU is falling short ?

 

[Rathbone]



Quote:
Originally Posted by realmatrix /forum/post/15461586


Since this is my first build.


what will be the symptoms/consequences if the PSU is falling short ?

Mostly freezes and reboots when the pc is stressed. Bluescreens and crashes might occur too.

 

[blue_z]

Hi there


That stock PSU should be OK; i also have one.

If (but not likely) you overloaded the PSU, it will probably run hot; its fan will run fast.


Consider getting a Kill-a-Watt meter that will measure the wattage of the PSU drawn from the AC wall outlet. You'll probably discover that your PC consumes less than 200 watts at idle.


Regards

 

[sotti]

I've got an overclocked athlon 4800 @ 3.0ghz w/ 2 7200rpm HD's, an 8600GTS the IGP still active and BD deck


All on a 300watt PS and everything is fine.

 

[sotti]



Quote:
Originally Posted by realmatrix /forum/post/15461292


Hi Guys


I am building the following HTPC in my bedroom :


MOTHERBOARD ASUS P5K PL CM Intel G31 CHIPSET Micro ATX

RAM GSKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB)/G SKILL 240-Pin DDR2 800

DVD RW SONY-NEC OEM

PROCESSOR Intel Core 2 Duo Wolfdale 2.66GHz

TV TUNER CARD Hauppage PVR 150 MCE KIT

KEYB+MOUSE Logitech EX 100 Black USB RF Wireless Cordless

HDD SEAGATE 500 GB SATA

GFX CARD XFX GeForce 8600 GT 512MB GDDR3 PV-T84J-YDF3

CABINET Antec NSK 2480

PSU 380 WATTS EARTH WATTS (Included with antec cabinet)


The asus manual mentions that the motherboard was tested on a 400 watts PSU. However the psu calculator available on antec's website suggest my total consumption of the above config is 318 watts (with 20% capacitor aging).


I believe the 380 watts PSU included should suffice.


Antec 500 watts EA is not available in my area..else I will have to purchase a 460 watts coolermaster and simply throw the stock psu.


Should I stick with 380 watts or go ahead with cooler master.


Thanks in advance.

Also a Power Supply Calculator I might trust more than someone selling power supplies http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine


They say you need 240w

 

[newlinux]

Socket 939 X2 4200

2 x1GB DDR-400 sticks

2 PCI digital tuner cards

A couple of non-self powered usb peripherals

nvidia 6150 GPU

250GB SATA Hard drive


I use a 250W PSU and it has been stable and strong for 2.5 years...

DVD +-RW

 

[walford]

Be carefull when looking at PS specs most of them will specify the maximum available output wattage as well as the wattage used by the supply when having that wattage availabe.

So you may find a "300" watt supply that can only output a maximum of 270 watts due to the efficiency of the PS itself.

It never hurts and only helps to have a larger PS then you think you need today in order to account for future devices or changes you make to the components in your system in the future.

I would suggest a PS with 100 watts more output power then is reccomended for an initial configuration.

 

[newlinux]

very good point. I would definitely check the specs of the power supply and any ratings on it you can find.

 

[realmatrix]



Quote:
Originally Posted by walford /forum/post/15467516


Be carefull when looking at PS specs most of them will specify the maximum available output wattage as well as the wattage used by the supply when having that wattage availabe.

So you may find a "300" watt supply that can only output a maximum of 270 watts due to the efficiency of the PS itself.

It never hurts and only helps to have a larger PS then you think you need today in order to account for future devices or changes you make to the components in your system in the future.

I would suggest a PS with 100 watts more output power then is reccomended for an initial configuration.

I agree but I am unable to find a 430 watt antec power supply here..the coolermaster extreme power plus models have fan on the bottom of the PSU rather than the rear..since I am using a NSK2480 it will have no space to blow out the air.


I will stick with the stock 380 watts for now..see what happens..


Will post results after powering it up.

 

[blue_z]



Quote:
Originally Posted by walford /forum/post/15467516


Be carefull when looking at PS specs most of them will specify the maximum available output wattage as well as the wattage used by the supply when having that wattage availabe.

"Wattage used by the supply"???

I've never seen such numbers (other than the efficiency rating).

All PSUs will spec the max current available for each output voltage (and numerically convert that to power in watts).

Quote:
So you may find a "300" watt supply that can only output a maximum of 270 watts due to the efficiency of the PS itself.

Actually it's not an issue of "efficiency", but rather of "capacity". The max output of all the voltage rail are not tested simultaneously, but more typically in groups. Then the power ratings of the groups are added up, to produce a total power output number that was never actually achieved.

Quote:
It never hurts and only helps to have a larger PS then you think you need today in order to account for future devices or changes you make to the components in your system in the future.

Only if the PSU is certified for 80Plus, which means that it's still efficient at 20% of full-rated load. A low-quality, non-80Plus, high-power PSU is a waste of money, both for purchase and operating.

 

[blue_z]



Quote:
Originally Posted by realmatrix /forum/post/15470706


have fan on the bottom of the PSU rather than the rear..since I am using a NSK2480 it will have no space to blow out the air.

Actually the 120mm fan on the side is an intake, not the outlet. Fans on the rear are outlets.


There is a hidden problem with 120mm fans in PC power supplies. The fan is blowing the air in one direction, and the (main) vent on the back panel is in an orthogonal direction. So the air pressure builds up inside the PSU (along with the air temp), until most of the hot air is pushed out the back vent. But this is not perfect air circulation, and there are hot spots on the far side. So the 120mm fan design needs some vents on the front side of the PSU, which allows some of the heated air back into the PC case. And this heated air then gets to recirculate back into the PSU. The big 120mm fan looks cool, will be quiet if it's run slow, but overall it's a bad thermal design. The traditional rear-mounted fan like the EA-380 has a flow-through design that works better.

 

[JustABDFan]

I would suggest getting the 430 watt earthwatts model. Your pc will probably only need half that but at 50-60% load you should be in the highest efficiency zone of the power supply, around 83% according to silentpcreview.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article684-page4.html

 

[ilovejedd]

Just stick with the stock PSU. If you buy a Kill-A-Watt or similar to measure power consumption, you'll be pleasantly surprised by how little power your computer is actually consuming.


As an example, the following configuration uses just 100W idle (C1E & EIST enabled):

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 2.53GHz

Sapphire Radeon HD3450 256MB

Wintec AMPX 2x2GB DDR2 800 SDRAM

Western Digital Caviar SE16 750GB WD7500AAKS x3

Western Digital Caviar GP 750GB WD7500AACS x1

Samsung F1 1TB HD103UJ x1

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB ST31500341AS

Sony NEC Optiarc DVD+RW AD-7190A x2


None of the drives are being spun down. I remember reading somewhere that spinning a drive up and down increases the chances of drive failure more than keeping it always spun up. Prior to the addition of the Samsung 1TB and Seagate 1.5TB drives, the whole system was only pulling a little over 80W from the wall.

 

[sotti]



Quote:
Originally Posted by realmatrix /forum/post/15470706


I agree but I am unable to find a 430 watt antec power supply here..the coolermaster extreme power plus models have fan on the bottom of the PSU rather than the rear..since I am using a NSK2480 it will have no space to blow out the air.


I will stick with the stock 380 watts for now..see what happens..


Will post results after powering it up.

I'm 100% certain you're power supply will have plenty of juice.


Unless something is defective you will be absolutely fine.

 

[smartin22]

Here are a couple Power Supply Calculators; with more searching, you can find better ones. Using your info, I calculate you need
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/Power

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html


Good luck.

 

[ilovejedd]

Heck, if the Newegg calculator is telling you you need less than 300W to power your PC, you can pretty much rest assured you need much less than that. The Thermaltake/eXtreme Outervision calculator is much more accurate while still giving you a bit of leeway.


The key here is not wattage, but getting a good quality power supply. For the cheap power supplies, most of their advertised wattage is based on a 25C operating temperature. Actual operating temperature is normally hotter than that so they're unable to deliver their rated wattage. For the decent power supplies, you'll usually notice that most are tested at an operating temperature of 40C which is more similar to actual operating temps.


Antec is pretty okay so you're more than fine with the included 380W.

 

[realmatrix]

I called up my dealer if he is willing to buy back the 380 stock in exchange for a 430 EA ANTEC PSU I will go for it. Else I will stick with the stock PSU.


Its hard to get..I'll wait.

 

[K-Spaz]



Quote:
Originally Posted by smartin22 /forum/post/15479198


Here are a couple Power Supply Calculators; with more searching, you can find better ones. Using your info, I calculate you need
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/Power

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html


Good luck.

At least on the NewEgg link, you need to copy the address shown and paste that text only in to the browser to link in. Otherwise, NE's website redirects you to the homepage. Don't copy the link address either, only the text shown.