How much power do I need?

[chemoboy]

Do I really need 420W power supply in my HTPC?

I'll admit, this is the first time I've put a PC together myself in over 10 years. I've kept up with it, but I just have never had the time or patience to spend that much time on getting my box just the way I liked it. But now I have a need for a gaming/HTPC machine and there's no way I can get anything worthwhile made for me. So, I started scraping stuff together.

The case is a Kanam HT-400. Cramped inside, runs a bit hot, but I don't plan on frequently modding it or overclocking. Nice looking, and came with a VFD, IR and remote. Pretty pleased with it.

Inside is a Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro mobo with an Athlon 64 3000+. 1 GB generic RAM (I'm a firm believer that more RAM is better than fast RAM). 200Gb SATA Seagate Barricuda. Samsung TS-H542 DVD burner. Cheapo Netgear 802.11g wireless card. And yes, I'm using the onboard digital sound, in an HTPC, and I'm not crazy. An iPod will be powered almost constantly with a firewire port.

Right now it's running a Radeon 9600 Pro, but before the end of the year it will have an nVidia 6800 GT or an ATI X800. And of course another Gig of RAM. Maybe two if I can get a deal.

I'd love to get a fanless PSU in this thing. Unfortunately, the Coolmax Taurus fanless PSU I have is slightly larger than your "standard" ATX PSU so it doesn't fit into the somewhat cramped HT-400 case. A Silverstone SST-ST30NF 250W is really just about at the top of my price range. The ProSilence PCS-350 is another 100W, but also another $100.

I managed to run everything in it off an old 170W Dell PSU and it held up until I started doing crazy stuff with the graphics card. Seems to me a 250 should be fine for this rig then, 300W if I want to be safe. Why then is nVidia saying I need a 450 or 510 watter to just plug it in?

Advice?

 

[imported_goku]

Its a bit off topic though and I'm not trying to "attack" your beliefs but just a curious thought, what are your timings on your ram? Because remember its actually ok to use generic ram when your not overclocking but just keeping in mind you want good timings. My only AMD system is a Pentium Based so I don't know about new AMD systems but it seems to me that newer AMD systems permit higher values for ram like 4-5-5-9 compaired to Pentium based systems. I've seen people post with values as high as 4-5-5-9 but have not been able to confirm it. About your PSU, I just recently heard that Nvida lightened up their power requirements for their Video card to 350 Watts. So to answer your question about your power requirements, at the moment you could get by with a 250WATT but soon as you upgrade to either of the video cards, your most likely going to have to get that 420watt PSU in my opinion. You can decide for your self but I know people who actually have been in your exact situation and ended up getting a 400watt PSU.

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: goku2100
Its a bit off topic though and I'm not trying to "attack" your beliefs but just a curious thought, what are your timings on your ram? Because remember its actually ok to use generic ram when your not overclocking but just keeping in mind you want good timings. My only AMD system is a Pentium Based so I don't know about new AMD systems but it seems to me that newer AMD systems permit higher values for ram like 4-5-5-9 compaired to Pentium based systems.

A AMD based Pentium how does that work?

 

[imported_goku]

Its the "lengendary" according to some ASUS PII-P55T2P4 motherboard, has the ability to have FSB up to 83MHZ. Its difficult to say if it's an AMD or Intel system but is most likely a Intel system since it's an Intel chipset. Back when socket 7 was all the processor's standard, you couldn't really say this is an AMD board and this is an Intel because they usually worked with each other. I'm just saying this is the closest to an AMD system I have. I have a AMD K6-2 450MHZ in there with a 3DFX Voodoo2 and 128MB of ram, not quite sure what I'm going to use the system for but eventually I'll figure it out.

 

[0roo0roo]

go to silentpcreview.com if ur into silent psu's and stuff. from what i've seen they will not power top of the line systems.
480 should be enough. u'll find out soon enough if it isn't

and yes, timings are overrated. search tomshardware.com on it, they did a whole bit on it. wattage ratings are fuzzy, depends on quality too. shady manufacturers rate wattage at absurd low temps and such.

 

[chemoboy]

I'd like to point out that I am relatively new at this hardcore computer building.

The only thing I know about memory timing is from what I've figured out through BIOS and the nVidia System Utility.

t (Row Address): 8
CAS: 3
tRCD: 3
tRP: 3

I can't drop any of these and still get it to post. It's PC3200 but it's generic as all get out. It doesn't even report the manufacturer or anything when I use the nVidia system utilities.

I dremeled the case this weekend and put my Silentmaxx in there. The temperature gain was negligable. Although in looking closer at the PSU, it looks like it's got 370W combined. I'm not terribly worried, since my 170W combined case had no trouble with what I've got now.

 

[klah]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2...5/10/news_6096837.html

Ujesh Desai, General Manager of Desktop GPUs for Nvidia
05/10/04

"A good quality 350W power supply with a sufficient 12V rail pull can support the 6800 Ultra standard clocks of 400/550.

As long as the power supply design is robust, we?ve seen that standard 350W power supplies are sufficient for running the GeForce 6800 Ultra. 350W will be the new specification."

 

[MDE]

You don't need 420W.

 

[stevennoland]

Take a bag of Doritos
Pound it with your fist a few times
Stick a label on the outside saying "now 50% more chips inside!!"
Tada, you've got a Celeron!
-mechBgon

That is funny! Is that really a quote from mechBgon?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: stevennoland
Take a bag of Doritos
Pound it with your fist a few times
Stick a label on the outside saying "now 50% more chips inside!!"
Tada, you've got a Celeron!
-mechBgon

That is funny! Is that really a quote from mechBgon?

Yep.

 

[epsilon9090]

Im glad I forked over extra money to get a 430W, I am set for anthing this way.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

You definitely don't need a 420W supply, so here are the ones I would look at:
300W:
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-151-016&depa=1
350W:
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-151-017&depa=1
400W:
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-151-018&depa=1


Here is an update to a previous review:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article166-page1.html

I'm guessing you could run the 300 without problems, but maybe the 350 would give you a bit more peace of mind.

-D'oh!

 

[BlueberryJoe]

Youll kick yourself later if you dont get the 400W or greater power supply.

Your electrical components, REQUIRE electricity, why not ensure adequate power?

Thatssorta like buying a V-12 Jaguar and asking if you should really put premium in it.

Your parts will last longer if they are adequately cooled and POWERED

The power supply is the backbone of your hardware, dont skimp

 

[chemoboy]

Moot point.

The 6800 Ultra doesn't fit in the case. Bumps against the northbridge and the 5 1/4" bay.

The 6800 GT can and does fit, and runs flawlessly with the Coolmax 370W, even with a second hard drive. Burnt it in with 24 hours of City of Heroes and it didn't break a sweat (even at a sweltering 80C). It also has the advantage of not sounding like a 747 on takeoff like the Ultra does.

Glad I bought that corded dremel. Thanks for all the input, guys.

Edited to finish my thought.

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: chemoboy
Moot point.

The 6800 Ultra doesn't fit in the case. Bumps against the northbridge and the 5 1/4" bay.

The 6800 GT can and does fit, and runs flawlessly with the Coolmax 370W, even with a second hard drive. Burnt it in with 24 hours of City of Heroes and it didn't break a sweat (even at a sweltering 80C). It also has the advantage of not sounding like a 747 on takeoff like the Ultra does.

Glad I bought that corded dremel. Thanks for all the input, guys.

Edited to finish my thought.

A wise man usually makes wise decisions. (Quoted from somewhere; trust me) Dittos for the Dremel; one of the best tools I've invested in during the last 3 years. BTW, I was "all in" about not needing the 400 watt + PS for this situation; it would have been wasted power.
Have fun with the system!