Is my PSU enough for this rig please?

R

rootsrat

New Member
Hello
I've just upgraded my rig, and I'm not sure whether I'll need to get a new PSU. My knowledge is not good enough, so any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Rig:
CPU - Phenom II X2 560 BE
MoBo - ASUS SKT AM3 M4A79XTD EVO S/L 5200MT/s
RAM - OCZ Reaper X 1333 2x 2GB
GFX - Radeon 5770 1GB
SND - SBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
Internal HDD - 1x 1TB + 1x 320GB
External HDD - 1x 360GB
DVD Writer

PSU - ThermalTake 500W - is this enough to cope with the above config?

Many thanks
 
If I were you i'd get a new one, but it should work.
I personally would get one with a little more power just to be sure it won't get overloaded with time and die since PSU's with more power than needed don't have to push out a maximum amount of watts to supply the system, while one that's on the line of supporting the components gets more "outworn" quickly if you know what I'm saying.

Wrapped up: Getting a new one wouldn't hurt, if you've got the dough
 
As ice said, that one will WORK. If you have the money, I would go for a 650W psu so that you have something to work with if you get a new card or CPU or want to OC safely.
 
I would also change the brand. Unless it is a ThermalTake Tough Power, it will be a POS unit that would have a peak power of 500W, but not a sustained output of that much, it will be 350-400 at best.

Antec, Corsair, XFX, Be Quiet!, SeaSonic, Enermax or PC P&C would be much better choices
 
Yea, it should be fine. But if i were you i would also get a new one, because its 'Just Right' for those components. If you get a bigger one then you could add on more without a problem.
 
31!m!n80r said:
As ice said, that one will WORK. If you have the money, I would go for a 650W psu so that you have something to work with if you get a new card or CPU or want to OC safely.
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650 watts is massive overkill for a system like that. Especially if it's a quality PSU. Any quality 450 watt PSU will be more than sufficient. The 5770 sips power and he has no other hardware that requires much power. If it's a 500 watt Toughpower, while outdated, will be more than enough. Any other Thermaltake will be okay, but I wouldn't trust it.
 
Ethan3.14159 said:
650 watts is massive overkill for a system like that. Especially if it's a quality PSU. Any quality 450 watt PSU will be more than sufficient. The 5770 sips power and he has no other hardware that requires much power. If it's a 500 watt Toughpower, while outdated, will be more than enough. Any other Thermaltake will be okay, but I wouldn't trust it.
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450W would be pushing it. You don't want it just on the edge, for upgrade purposes, and for stability of the power supply. I'd always go a good 50-100W over at the very least for that bit of headroom, unless you are talking an average home user system, not gamer, then it will only be drawing a couple hundred Watts anyway, so a decent 350-400W unit would be enough
 
Aastii said:
450W would be pushing it. You don't want it just on the edge, for upgrade purposes, and for stability of the power supply. I'd always go a good 50-100W over at the very least for that bit of headroom, unless you are talking an average home user system, not gamer, then it will only be drawing a couple hundred Watts anyway, so a decent 350-400W unit would be enough
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He has 50-100w of headroom with a good 450w PSU, and even with his current Thermaltake.

If you go to Antec's or Cooler Master's PSU calculator for this rig both come up with ~300w max power consumption. I was even generous with 5 case fans and a mild CPU overclock. Many people here greatly overestimate PSU requirements and recommend something way over the top. The OP will be fine with his current PSU.

The AMD CPU uses little power and the 5770 is one of the most power efficient video cards on the market. It would be pointless to go to any higher for this setup. The only reason he should be looking at a new PSU would be to have the peace of mind of a higher quality unit. But a 450w Corsair, Silverstone, Seasonic, etc etc will be plenty.
 
Ethan3.14159 said:
He has 50-100w of headroom with a good 450w PSU, and even with his current Thermaltake.

If you go to Antec's or Cooler Master's PSU calculator for this rig both come up with ~300w max power consumption. I was even generous with 5 case fans and a mild CPU overclock. Many people here greatly overestimate PSU requirements and recommend something way over the top. The OP will be fine with his current PSU.

The AMD CPU uses little power and the 5770 is one of the most power efficient video cards on the market. It would be pointless to go to any higher for this setup. The only reason he should be looking at a new PSU would be to have the peace of mind of a higher quality unit. But a 450w Corsair, Silverstone, Seasonic, etc etc will be plenty.
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Wattage has nothing to do with it. It is the amperage on the 12V rail plus quality indicators such as active PFC, efficiency, MTFB and temp ratings, warranty etc. Wattage is a meaningless measure. As Asanit mentioned, if it is this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052) then it is completely insuffciient as it doesn't have EPS2.1 cert and therefore can only deliver 15 A on the 12V rail and therefore is not recommended for any PCIe card (26A required) regardless of its 500W max rating (40% of the power is directed at the 5V rail).
 
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