Adding 6800 GT

[royalx21]

Hi guys,

Anybody know/think if I'll have a problem with not enough juice to supply all of these devices?

Antec SL350 True Power 350w

AMD 64 3200+
Chaintech Nforce 3 250
Termaltake HS/F
DVD ROM Drive
CDRW Drive
Floppy
74 gb Raptor (10k rpm)
2 x 80 gb WD (7200 rpm)
2 x 512 mb PC3200 DDR
Sound Blaster Live
120mm exhaust fan
80mm intake fan

Now here's the thing... I currently have a ti4600 in the system and it runs fine, but I'm looking to upgrade to the 6800 GT. I know this thing sucks up more juice than that card and I'm concerned my PSU will not be sufficient to push all this stuff.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[RussianSensation]

Antec makes great PSUs. 350 should be enough. Even if it's not enough the PSU probably has a shutdown feature. There is no need to buy a new power supply before you actually see a problem with your current one. You can always buy the card and if the power is not sufficient, upgrade the power supply later. For the price of a PSU you can get Audigy 2ZS. So imagine if you buy one and your old one turns out to be sufficient?

 

[crsgardner]

Quite frankly, if you're spending the money for a 6800, you should spend the money for a decent 450W+ power supply. I did.

 

[kki000]

Its running great on my antec tru 420, ocd to 412/556.

I would give it a whirl before ripping out the psu.
BTW the manual for my pny gt said min pwr was 350, so u might be fine, esp if u limit the number of hw plugged into the ps, like drives, cd burners n crap.

K

 

[Evdawg]

my antec lanboy (with a 350 antec psu) runs fine with my overclocked 6800gt.... with everything in my sig. From my experience, what u have... your system will run fine

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: royalx21
Hi guys,

Anybody know/think if I'll have a problem with not enough juice to supply all of these devices?

Antec SL350 True Power 350w

AMD 64 3200+
Chaintech Nforce 3 250
Termaltake HS/F
DVD ROM Drive
CDRW Drive
Floppy
74 gb Raptor (10k rpm)
2 x 80 gb WD (7200 rpm)
2 x 512 mb PC3200 DDR
Sound Blaster Live
120mm exhaust fan
80mm intake fan

Now here's the thing... I currently have a ti4600 in the system and it runs fine, but I'm looking to upgrade to the 6800 GT. I know this thing sucks up more juice than that card and I'm concerned my PSU will not be sufficient to push all this stuff.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

As a starting point, you can look at spec sheets for the components that you have listed and add the power from all of those. If you don't have a manual for one of them, you can always get them online.
Keep in mind that the total power that you get this way is very pessimistic because you will never have all of them running at max power at the same time.
You will not be playing a game and at the same time be burning a CD, will you?
The problem with this approach is that each power supply rail has a separte max power capability. So, when you add up all these powers, the result is not really a good indication of if your 350W power supply can handle it. But, it is a good starting point.

Anotehr problem is that the PSU power rating is given at room temperature (25 degrees C). Your case temperature rises specially when the supply is under load. As temperature rises, the max power capability of the PSU drops.
As I said, this is just a starting point.

Then, as a second step, you can always monitor the voltages on your supply voltage. You can use a software tool like Motherboard monitor and log the voltages while you play a game. After the game, you can open the log and see how low the 12-V rail has dipped.
Even better, you can use a volt-meter and measure the voltage.
A weak power supply will result in a drop in the voltage when under load.
You don't want the voltage to ever drop more than 5%. And some margin would even help. So, say 3%.

If the voltage never drops too much, you should be OK.

There is a lot of marketing hype out there forcing people to spend money on power supplies.

 

[user1234]

I just upgraded from generic 420 to thermaltake purepower 480 and aquamark score increased by 500

 

[Broadkipa]

If your power supply is to weak how would the problem show up, could you damage anything?

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Broadkipa
If your power supply is to weak how would the problem show up, could you damage anything?

You most certainly can. I would not want to power up a PC with only 10V on the 12-V rail.

That is why I suggested the calculation of the required power as a first step. If that shows that you are OK, then, I suggested more accurate measurements.

If the calculation shows that you are going to be OK, you should not be too far off in the real world and you should not damage anything. You will have crashes when you are playing games under a worst case scenario.

If the calculation shows that you are going to be short of 50 Watts, I would not give it a go and power up the PC!

 

[Broadkipa]

Dam, just checked mine and its only 300W and its not that good a make. So off to the shops tomorrow to get a new 450W PS

 

[user1234]

make sure you do the research first as to which make and model you want to get. I have Thermaltake which gets good reviews, and I know antec is a reputable brand as well.

 

[Broadkipa]

My local PC World(UK) sells a make called Jeantech, not the best in the world but should do the job.
Here are the specs of the one I am going to buy.

The Jeantech smart automatic fan speed control design with built in temperature sensor effectively reduces the noise level to half of that of conventional power supplies. And maximize the balance result between noise reduction and necessary cooling. Other features include Fan Speed Monitor Connector (3-pin) providing real time rotational speed of the power supply fan to the system. Extra long cables to support installation in a full tower case. Extra connectors for connecting with more devices, Support Intel P4 and AMD XP Safety approvals: CE, TUV, CB, UL, SEMKO, NEMKO, FINKO, DEMKO, Full Protections, Under Voltage Protection, Over current Protection, Over Power Protection,Thermal protection at 100¢J - 105¢J andShort Circuit Protection on all outputs, Universal power input with Active, Power Factory Correction; PF>0.95 Built in two ball bearing fans Harness on the 20pin cable for neatness and SATA cable available

Device Type ATX Power Supply
Form Factor Micro ATX and ATX form factors
Dimensions (WxDxH) 150 X 140 X 86mm
Manufacturer Warranty 2 years warranty
Compatibility INTEL & AMD
ATX 12V Yes
Short Circuit Production Yes
Half Bridge Converter Circuit Yes
SATA Connector NO
Over Voltage Protection Yes
Chassis Fan 2 x 80mm (ball bearing)
Auto Fan speed control Yes
Colour Grey
Power Factor Correction Yes(Active)

 

[PliotronX]

It's hard to predict what will happen, but if you get restarts or freezes, it's time for a new PSU. I would recommend a Forton 530 or 550 watter (Sparkle is made by the same folks too), Tagan TG480-U01 or A+GPB 500/550 watter (made by the same folks as Tagan and OCZ Powerstream series), or a Super Flower TT-550SS. Should run about $70-90 for one of these but they are the best for the buck in my research. The Tagan/A+GPB should be the most quiet on average due to the packed heatsinkage and fan configurations and they are gaining a lot of respect lately. Fortron 530/550 has the internal pots for rail tweaking should you ever feel adventurous. Super Flowers have one pot for the 5/12V rails but you'd have to do the vsense mod from the Xtremesystems site to tweak the 3.3v rail. All in all, pot tweaking shouldn't be an issue as these will all power anything you can throw at them.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

It ran fine in my A64 boxen with a true330, that is until the true330 died within 2 weeks of adding it. The PSU was 2yrs+ old and on 24/7 so it may have just been it's time, but I'm inclined to think the GT, especially@BFG Ultra OC speed contributed to it's demise through added strain. I picked up the true430 for $68 shipped from da egg and it's all gravy now