[silentbob17]

I'm going to be getting a new mobo (gigabyte PCI-E, s939, ultra model) and a new Sapphire X850 Pro video card. I have a 380 watt PSU, is that going to be enough? I don't want to have to buy a new one unless I have to.

[MIG-31]

I think sapphire recommend a 350w minimum... (i used to have a identical card) But it will also depend on what else you will have in you're system.

But to b honest (my opinion) i'd opt for a decent brand psu 400w minimum to be a little more on the safe side..more so when case fans are added..

stressed psu can also produce heat....which is not good...I have recently bought a new pc that came with a 350w antec truepower psu and got quite a few overheating problems....these went away when i switched to my previous 480w thermaltake psu..

But in the mean time i have switched to a jeantech 600w Artic psu....with cable management options..(only need to install the cables needed to help out in airflow).

But youre psu you have in youre sig should be fine me thinks..but it could be pushing it a little..

[Asmoday]

It "should" be enough unless you're planning on do some overclocking, it also depends on your Amperage on your rails. What brand is your 380watter?

Edit: I just noticed in your sig that it's a Antec PSU, well...it may very well be enough depending on the amount of devices like hdds dvd burners etc, etc....
But i agree with MIG, get yourself a better PSU if you can afford it...

[MIG-31]

Originally Posted by Asmoday

It "should" be enough unless you're planning on do some overclocking, it also depends on your Amperage on your rails. What brand is your 380watter?

Antec 380W (it's in his sig )

EDIT: (this were posted just before you're edit Asmoday)

[Lowfat]

what model antec PSU is it? Amperage on certain rails is a lot more important than how many watts the power supply is. Althon 64 systems are much dependant on 12V rails, and if its an older Antec 380W chances are a lot of the power of the PSU is in the 3.3V and 5V rails. And if so, you will probably need a new power supply.

[silentbob17]

damn... well I'm going to overclock both CPU and video card, plus I have 3 case fans, 2 HDDs, one dvd burner... and I think that's it. I guess I'll just get a cheap one with better voltage. Will I burn myself with going budget on the PSU, or can I get a pretty cheap one?

[mike2h]

get another psu. if you can get something in the 430+ range. while yopu can never have to much you can have to little. getting a bigger psu will give you some future proof to. also stick with major quality brands.
what do you consider cheap? you can get an antec or enermax (for examle)for under $85 in the 430 to 465w range.
a truly cheap psu rated at 400 can give you less juice than your antec. & burn out &/or have stability problems.

[silentbob17]

Yarrr, well I didn't really think about it until recently so I wasn't expecting to have to buy anything. So I want to spend as little as possible really. Do you know of anywhere (ebay maybe) where I could get some money for my current PSU?

[Lowfat]

Don't know about selling th PSU. But Forton/Sparke make good cheap power supplies.

[silentbob17]

Does going from AGP to PCI-E change what type of PSU I need?

This one looks ok:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...re=THERMALTAKE

[MIG-31]

No it does not make too much difference if the psu has the power....all pci-e cards will be supplied with the adaptor for the power connection.

But as the psu in the link has a pci-e power point already there...even better as the card will be powered directly from the psu..

The exception may well be if you going to set up a sli pc...then more power would be needed..

[The_Neon_Cowboy]

You can get a good 450W rosewill from newegg.com for like $34
sell you old one one on ebay.

But depending on how you PSU's doing now you many not need to upgrade
untill you upgrade your CPU/MB/video card again.

[silentbob17]

How bout this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817192002

I think this is the one you are talking about:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182008

But is that in American dollars?

[Lowfat]

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...rtron%20Source

that is a good power supply for the money. and its in canadian.

[silentbob17]

Any thoughts on this one?

1. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...ufacture=Nikao

It's cheaper and is 450W rather than 400W. Do you think that getting 400W as an improvement over my 380W is worth it? Should I just get something like 450W for some head-room?

And is something like this just junk?

1. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...facture=Others

Or how bout this:

3. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...acture=Kingwin

[Lowfat]

Those power supplies are cheaper for a reason...They aren't as good. Forton Source makes some of the best power supplies out there, and are generally cheaper.

[silentbob17]

Well how about this one?

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...acture=Kingwin

Looks pretty reasonable, I'm just thinking that 20 more watts isn't worth the upgrade.

Also that looks like an intake fan on the top (or is it just the output fan and there isn't an output in the regular spot?)... my case doesn't have an opening for that. I could drill my case without too much trouble but just out of curiosity... what would happen if I put the PSU in there and blocked that top fan. Would it overheat like mad you think?

[Lowfat]

the forton power supply is much better than the kingwin. Never use the wattage to make your purchasing a PSU decision.

and the fan is on the bottom actually.

I don't know the model of your PSU, so i can't tell if its worth the upgrade or not.

[silentbob17]

Originally Posted by Tulcakelume

the forton power supply is much better than the kingwin. Never use the wattage to make your purchasing a PSU decision.

So I'd be better off getting an excellent quality 350W than an ok 450W?... that doesn't seem to make much sense to me. What is the practical difference when it comes to quality? I thought the problem was that my current PSU might not be able to supply enough power, that's why I started this thread. So if I don't take the watts into account, what the hell am I doing?

It says "True 380s" on my the side of my PSU (and it's Antec in case you haven't looked at my sig).

[Lowfat]

Your PSU has 24a on the 12V rail, which isn't bad and it might be enough. Try it out, if it works, then it works.

and yes a quality lower wattage supply is better than a mediocre higher wattage supply. Because the manufactures of the mediocre rate their supplies with max wattage and at a higher temperature. So when it powers up it might have the power it claims, however when in use for a while, and a lot hotter, its not going to supply the claimed power.

[silentbob17]

Ok well I'll just try it out without throwing any cash at a new PSU.

Just to review what I'm gonna be doing: Same specs as bellow only the mobo will be improved (same brand but PCI-E, nForce 4...) and I'll have a moderately overclocked X800 XL. (for my cpu overclocking, I've lowered the HTT multiplier and the RAM multiplier to keep them from being clocked higher than stock... don't know if this has any effect on power requirements)