Need power supply recommendation

[tungtung]

I was just trying those online power supply calculators, and well to be honest I was quite shocked to see what each of them recommended for the system I'm putting together.

The current specs:
-. Dual Opteron 240
-. MSI KT800 Master2 mainboard
-. 4 sticks of 512 MB DDR PC3200
-. 5 HD's (4 Western Digital EIDE, 1 Maxtor Atlas SCSI)
-. DVD-ROM
-. Adaptec 29160 SCSI card
-. Current video card is PCI Radeon 32 MB
-. 4 80mm cooling fans

I will probably add/upgrade part of the system soon
-. video card: 6600GT or X800XL AGP
-. sound card: Audigy 2 ZS
-. capture card: Hauppauge PVR150
-. DVD-RW drive

From the two power supply calculators I tried both recommend around 500Watt of PSU. The problem is, here in Toronto, Canada, it's quite a challenge to get such a high power PSU.

So my question is first of all do you thing I really need a 500Watt PSU?
Also do those "dual plane" whatever feature make any difference (some website says to get as high amperage as possible on the 12V channel, but those "dual plane" PSU's seem to split the amperage)?
My option if I do need more than 500Watt is the Enermax EG701 (which has that "dual plane" feature) or Antec TruePower 550, which one would you recommend?
Could I actually get away with the Enermax EG465?

 

[orchiduk]

I'd go for the Antec every time. Actually, I recently tried using an Enermax and it was faulty and kept powering off my machine - from now on I won't even consider anything other than Antec

 

[tungtung]

Actually ... just wondering is there any actual risk of using an underpowered PSU on the system other than instability under load?

 

[imported_Kensai]

Originally posted by: tungtung
Actually ... just wondering is there any actual risk of using an underpowered PSU on the system other than instability under load?

Nope

I suggest you get an Antec True Power 550W EPS12V or a Thermaltake Pure Power 680W.

 

[Vegito]

Look here.. purchasing FAQ..

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=37&threadid=1518323&enterthread=y

I just bought seasonic off ewiz.com due to their low low prices.. thread in hot deal..

 

[tungtung]

forcesho: nice stuff ... those are really great info ... was quite concern with the Enermax "dual rail" feature since the amperage seems to be very small ... anyway looks like I'll be going with the Enermax (have gotten 3 of their PSU and all are working perfectly) ... no offense to those who liked Antec, but my particular motherboard seem to just hate Antec PSU's (I've read in some website that people are having problem with the combination)

 

[Vegito]

actually i dont know much about psu.. i just found that when doing my last psu purchase.. its by someone here.. so can't take credit.. but it'll answer all the magical questions.. good luck and have fun..

 

[the wombat]

600 watt Enermax PSU...in T.O.

If you end up buying from them DO NOT got to their Pacific Mall location..unless you speak chinese and like cramped stores. The Pacific Mall location's whole store is smaller than my bedroom. The North York location is a lot better (More room, and MUCH friendlier/helpful staff) Good luck on your purchase, looks to be a nice system. What are you planning on doing with it?

Edit: The one I mentioned is definitely overkill, keep that in mind. Might want to look at their Antec's though.