PSU question

hertz

I gonna buy a new case with a PSU, but Im not sure what PSU to get,
Im gonna get a 350w PSU, its gonna be used on a P4 system. But what are the more powerful PSU used for? such as 400w, 480w etc... do i need a more powerful PSU?

:cool:

BloodBath

It depends on your components. New graphics cards and processors can eat a lot of juice and if you had 4-6 hd's you would need something over 400w.

Ideally you don't want to be running your psu over 70% of it's capacity to keep it cool and prolong it's life. If you do get a 350w make sure it's from a good brand like antec, thermaltake, fortron, tagan ect.

Avoid no name psus and q-tec.


BloodBath

chorus techy

You don't really need a big PSU unless you are going to be looking at installing very powerful VGA cards, two or more hard disks, three or more optical drives, other storage devices or extra fans. Big power supplies generally seem to be used only on powerful servers which would have many HDDs in them. A 300w should more than satisfy the average user.

Hope this helps...

Mutant_Fruit

chorus techy wrote:

A 300w should more than satisfy the average user.

Make that a 350watt from a good brand, and i'd agree 100%. No point in skimping on a power supply, cos it will last you through a lot of upgrades if you get a good one. My old 200watt gateway PSU is still going strong powering a geforce3, 2 hd's, 2 optical drives, a few PCI cards and an AMD 1800+. But stick in a 9600pro instaed of the geforce3, and it begins to feel the stress.

po0k

One with Active PFC (Power Factor Correction) might help with the oul ESB bill too.

I highly recommend Fortran PSUs.
They are good value, quality and aren't over-rated like Q-tec etc.