Help with finding a new psu to buy

L

liquidsoap89

New Member
hey guys I'm looking at buying a new psu for my computer. right now I've got the one that came with my case (350 watts I believe, its a nzxt case I bought a couple years ago). I would like to buy a new hdd but I'm thinking I'll need a new psu as well because a long time ago I got a message from my nvidia driver telling me it toned down its graphics power because it wasn't getting enough power (its a geforce 6800gs, yea, it's a beast). Now I haven't gotten that message in ages, even after a couple reformats, but just to be on the safe side I would like to upgrade, that way I could also throw my tv tuner back in and not be worried. Now my biggest question is... would a regular $70-$80 500 watt psu (like corsair or ocz) on sale be good enough to use?

My machines like 4 years old now and the only thing I've upgraded is my ram (1 gig to 3 gigs) so I don't think I'll need anything over 500w, probably not even that.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: These were the 2 psu's I was looking at

http://www.ncix.com/products/index....00SXS&manufacture=OCZ Technology&promoid=1187

http://www.ncix.com/products/index....manufacture=Seasonic Electronics&promoid=1187
 
You are correct that 500watts would be a little much but when it comes to PSUs, the safest thing to do is to get something that you know will power everything with room to spare. Buying a PSU that just meets your power requirements makes it work hard and more prone to dying soon.
Both of those would do great so save $10 and go with the OCZ.
 
12v rail question, in PS101 chapter 1 says that each rail is independent of each other so 1 rail won't drag down the other, so if current on say 2 12v rails is 18a each, I am seeing where PS101 is adding rails together to get say 36amps. If they are independent, the only way you can get 12v @36amps is to have the load using both 12v rails, otherwise the max current is 18a. So what am I missing?
 
ericvonzipper said:
12v rail question, in PS101 chapter 1 says that each rail is independent of each other so 1 rail won't drag down the other, so if current on say 2 12v rails is 18a each, I am seeing where PS101 is adding rails together to get say 36amps. If they are independent, the only way you can get 12v @36amps is to have the load using both 12v rails, otherwise the max current is 18a. So what am I missing?
Click to expand...

Because both rails are going to your computer. Some components are powered by 1 rail and some with the other. In reality they aren't actually combined but it is easier just to add them up to figure out how much power your computer can get.

If you want to read up on it see this page.
http://www.motherboards.org/articles/guides/1487_3.html
 
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