Quick PSU Question

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WaitForTheRain

WaitForTheRain

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Feb 26, 2008
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I'm planning on upgrading my PC at some point and I'm wondering what PSU to get. I'm not too fussed about brands or whatever, I'm just curious about what Wattage I should get.

At the moment my PC has a P4 3.2 Gig processor and a (dead) GeForce 7600GT and I'm planning on replacing the PSU and graphics card now and the motherboard and processor at a later date.

The graphics card that I'm planning on getting is a GTX 260 which wants a minimum of 450W and the processor that I'm planning on getting in future is a Q9400.

What Wattage PSU would you recommend that I get for my PC that will happily support A GTX 260, a Q9400, two IDE harddrives and an optical drive?

I was planning on buying a 650W PSU but thought it better to ask first.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
SkaarjMaster

SkaarjMaster

enemy of time
Sep 1, 2000
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You want to look at the best brands first and then go for wattage. RAM and PSU are not the things to skimp on when getting a new system; I've heard this many places. Last time I was looking for a PSU my brands to choose from were Enermax, PCP&C, Silverstone, Corsair and a couple other ones but I can't remember. Antec got a bad name a few years back for coming out with a bad line or two but they might be OK now. The Abit forums had a thread that ranked all power supplies and I usually refer people to that but last time I tried I couldn't find it. You also might want to check my computer upgrade thread in this section somewhere.
 
WaitForTheRain

WaitForTheRain

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Feb 26, 2008
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Thanks for the link, I used to calculator and apparently I'm recommended a 700W PSU. Seems a bit much to me, but even if it is too much it would hopefully last for any future upgrades.

When it comes to brands I'm usually tempted to go for something cheap, but I usually look it up first and see if many people have problems with it.
 
B

Bi()ha2arD

Toxic!
Jun 29, 2009
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WaitForTheRain said:
I just googled for a PSU calculator and found this site: http://www.antec.outervision.com/PSUEngine

Which apparently thinks that I only need a about a 450W PSU which is a massive difference from the other site that I used and told me that I'd need a 700W PSU - now I'm not sure what to think!
Click to expand...

even if your components only use 450W i would suggest something bigger than a 450W psu. a 450W psu would constantly run at 100% load which reduces its efficiency, it heats up and the fans get louder. and you would run into problems when you upgrade.
 
WaitForTheRain

WaitForTheRain

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Feb 26, 2008
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that makes plenty of sense to me. So what wattage PSU would you recommend getting then? - I'm thinking maybe something around 600/700W which would hopefully last for a few future upgrades as well as ensure that I have enough power spare for any new internal hardware additions or upgrades.
 
B

Bi()ha2arD

Toxic!
Jun 29, 2009
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unless you run quad sli and 6 hdds a 700W psu should give you plenty of power and you wont run into problems in the near future either.
you should be perfectly fine with a 700W model.
 
WaitForTheRain

WaitForTheRain

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Feb 26, 2008
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Thanks for that, I think I'm probably going to go for the 700W so I'll have some spare power for expansion and something that'll last.
 
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