Ram wattage?

bcomatts · 02-18-2008, 09:23 AM

Anyone have any idea how many watts it will take to run a 1gb stick of ddr2 6400?

I am doing a new build now, just noticed my PSU is a whopping 300 watts... wow. I am starting to think it wont be able to handle a 5600+ Anthlon 64, 4 gigs of ddr2 6400 (4x 1gb), 3 hard drives, a dvd burner, and an audigy sound card.

I am hoping to get away w/ just the cpu and a gig of ram and everything else.

Please advise. thanks.

**Cromewell** · 02-18-2008, 09:43 AM

Not much. The biggest draws are usually going to be the video card and CPU.

Being generous I would say 4 sticks of DDR2 would draw 30W, 5W per stick is probably all you need to account for. That said, don't get a supply that is just above what you calculate yourself as needing.

With your system, a 300W is probably enough if it's not a cheap generic unit. It wouldn't hurt to get a 450W or even higher though, the 'extra' power isn't wasted.

PC eye · 02-18-2008, 09:46 AM

You're right you are under the usual manufacturer's 350w for a 939 board while the new build will see 3 hard drives, an optical drive as expected on that, 4gb of memory hopefully 1.9v, and what video card? High end models like 450w minimum while adding two additional hard drives like a little more like 500-550w to cover all needs and some.

For 1gb of DDR memory using the long outdated power supply calculator seen at http://www.dewassoc.com/systems/comp...upply_calc.htm that comes upto about 30w. Wihen selecting the most current in each catory that exceeds 400w for a bare minimum.

For a look at a 2005 article on how to meet actual needs plus leaving a good 30% safety buffer since video cards can draw more then a 100w at times a 300w is well under what you will finally need. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,11...1/article.html

bcomatts · 02-18-2008, 12:39 PM

Luckily this is a no video card system. Strictly onboard vga. The ram is 1.9.

It turns out the 300 isn't going to work anyways, its +12v amperage is garbage. I was just hoping to use it with maybe 1gb of ram till i was able to get a proper psu, but that isn't going to work.

Thanks though!

PC eye · 02-19-2008, 02:25 AM

While onboard certainly won't pull amps like an 8800 would or other good sized card on average you are almost in a mandate these days to go with at least 350+ for the bare bones and more for anything else just to see a system run. Even that is about 15amps per rail. Now add additional hard drives on top.

For gaming Creative Sound Blasters and now X-Fi cards also likely are known for pulling on power when gaming and running multimedia alot. Weigh that in with the video card you may eventually go for if you plan on gaming for sure to that and the 2 extra drives as well as the 4gb of memory if four 1gb dimms not two 2gb dimms.

There are cheap priced 500-600w supplies or simply low powered models seen if you are rather tight on cash for temp until getting into something good later. But that would be kind of a waste as well since you could save it for when actually going for a good supply or something to replace the onboard graphics.

02-18-2008, 09:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
bcomatts Bronze Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 42	Ram wattage? Anyone have any idea how many watts it will take to run a 1gb stick of ddr2 6400? I am doing a new build now, just noticed my PSU is a whopping 300 watts... wow. I am starting to think it wont be able to handle a 5600+ Anthlon 64, 4 gigs of ddr2 6400 (4x 1gb), 3 hard drives, a dvd burner, and an audigy sound card. I am hoping to get away w/ just the cpu and a gig of ram and everything else. Please advise. thanks. __________________ AMD Athlon 64 3800+ X2 AM2 ASUS M2NPV-VM w/onboard nVideo GeForce 6150 & nForce 430 4x 1gb DDR2-800 Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS 8x LiteOn DVD+/-RW Seagate 160gb SATA (OS Drive) 2x Maxtor 300gb 7200 RPM IDE Antec 500W ATX 12V v2.0 PSU Logitech Z5500 5.1 THX Speakers Win XP x64 Pro

02-18-2008, 09:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
Cromewell Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Canada Age: 26 Posts: 11,804	Not much. The biggest draws are usually going to be the video card and CPU. Being generous I would say 4 sticks of DDR2 would draw 30W, 5W per stick is probably all you need to account for. That said, don't get a supply that is just above what you calculate yourself as needing. With your system, a 300W is probably enough if it's not a cheap generic unit. It wouldn't hurt to get a 450W or even higher though, the 'extra' power isn't wasted. __________________ You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in command here. www.userfriendly.org

02-18-2008, 12:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
bcomatts Bronze Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 42	Luckily this is a no video card system. Strictly onboard vga. The ram is 1.9. It turns out the 300 isn't going to work anyways, its +12v amperage is garbage. I was just hoping to use it with maybe 1gb of ram till i was able to get a proper psu, but that isn't going to work. Thanks though! __________________ AMD Athlon 64 3800+ X2 AM2 ASUS M2NPV-VM w/onboard nVideo GeForce 6150 & nForce 430 4x 1gb DDR2-800 Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS 8x LiteOn DVD+/-RW Seagate 160gb SATA (OS Drive) 2x Maxtor 300gb 7200 RPM IDE Antec 500W ATX 12V v2.0 PSU Logitech Z5500 5.1 THX Speakers Win XP x64 Pro

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02-18-2008, 09:46 AM	#3 (permalink)
PC eye banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 21,091	You're right you are under the usual manufacturer's 350w for a 939 board while the new build will see 3 hard drives, an optical drive as expected on that, 4gb of memory hopefully 1.9v, and what video card? High end models like 450w minimum while adding two additional hard drives like a little more like 500-550w to cover all needs and some. For 1gb of DDR memory using the long outdated power supply calculator seen at http://www.dewassoc.com/systems/comp...upply_calc.htm that comes upto about 30w. Wihen selecting the most current in each catory that exceeds 400w for a bare minimum. For a look at a 2005 article on how to meet actual needs plus leaving a good 30% safety buffer since video cards can draw more then a 100w at times a 300w is well under what you will finally need. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,11...1/article.html

02-19-2008, 02:25 AM	#5 (permalink)
PC eye banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 21,091	While onboard certainly won't pull amps like an 8800 would or other good sized card on average you are almost in a mandate these days to go with at least 350+ for the bare bones and more for anything else just to see a system run. Even that is about 15amps per rail. Now add additional hard drives on top. For gaming Creative Sound Blasters and now X-Fi cards also likely are known for pulling on power when gaming and running multimedia alot. Weigh that in with the video card you may eventually go for if you plan on gaming for sure to that and the 2 extra drives as well as the 4gb of memory if four 1gb dimms not two 2gb dimms. There are cheap priced 500-600w supplies or simply low powered models seen if you are rather tight on cash for temp until getting into something good later. But that would be kind of a waste as well since you could save it for when actually going for a good supply or something to replace the onboard graphics.