UPDATED: Will an Antec Sonata with included 380W PSU really be enough to power this rig?

[imported_IronPlasma]

I'm building an audio/video editing machine for a friend. Budget is somewhat limited. And it won't be heavily overclocked either. Looking at stability and silence over extreme performance for the time being. It may be used for games once in a while but that is fairly low on the priority list at this point.

My main question is how much power does a dual-core Opteron or X2 processor really require if high-end graphics and SLI is taken out of the equation? I've noticed Fry's has had the Sonata on sale for pretty cheap lately which is why i've been looking to use it. Just don't know if that included Antec 380W power supply will be enough.

Another question, if anyone has picked up a Sonata lately... did they update their power supply recently? I looked at the pics of the case on Newegg and the pic of the power supply sticker/specs looks different than the one I saw in store at Fry's. I think Antec may have updated the power supply to a dual-rail 380W supply from the old single rail 380W Truepower. Will this affect how much juice the CPU can get as well since basically half of the +12V rail is divided off to be dedicated to a high-end power hungry video card that won't even exist in this system??

I appreciate any help or recommendations you guys can give... thanks. :thumbsup:

Update:

Okay, so I am thinking of buying the mobo+CPU in a combo from Monarch here. The DFI Infinity boards look like a nice decently priced option compared to the rest, and i've heard mostly good things about them. But when I choose one of those I get a popup saying "Tech Note: DFI recommends that you use a 400W power supply or higher with this motherboard." :thumbsdown: Strange, because that pop up doesn't appear when you select any of the other brands of motherboards... so will the Antec 380W still be enough for this one or not? Do DFI boards really require more power than other motherboards, even if I won't be overclocking it much?

I was going to use a 2x1GB PC3200 Corsair Value RAM kit in the system as well... how do the DFI Infinity motherboards get along with this memory? Thought I had heard possibly that they didn't work well with Corsair, but didn't know if it was all their boards or just the LAN Party series, or if it was just related to heavy overclocking or what...

If the DFI will give me trouble, what's the next best motherboard from that Monarch selector that you would recommend? Anyone know the differences between NForce4 and NForce4 Ultra chipsets off the top of their head? Thanks again for any knowledge or experience you all can share on this matter... :beer:

 

[Crescent13]

What graphic card is it?

EDIT: I have the sams PSU powering...

Epox 9npa+ultra
Opteron 144 @ 2.7ghz
2 x 1gb value ram
geforce 6200TC

This is a rig that I built for my dad for photo editing. The PSU powers it fine.

EDIT2: I would never even think of running say a 7800GTX512MB on there, a 7800GTX is almost out of the question, a 7800GT is sorta pushing it, but it might work. A 6800GS and below should be perfectly fine.

 

[Bobthelost]

It will run it, look at the power draw in the FX60 review, it drew 225W. I think with the >50% saftey margin you've got there you should be ok.

Anyone who's worried about peak load at startup should relax too, PSUs are designed to have a brief "overload" ability.

 

[imported_IronPlasma]

Originally posted by: Crescent13
What graphic card is it?

I don't know yet really... basically whatever is left over from the system budget for graphics. heh Maybe a 6600 or so? Or whatever is the best graphics card I can find for $75 to $100.

 

[l Xes l]

trust me, it's enough

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: IronPlasma

Originally posted by: Crescent13
What graphic card is it?

I don't know yet really... basically whatever is left over from the system budget for graphics. heh Maybe a 6600 or so? Or whatever is the best graphics card I can find for $75 to $100.

For a little more than $100 you can get a 6600GT, which is a pretty decent card, and it will the 380W Antec will definatly be enough for that.

 

[imported_IronPlasma]

Crescent, did you get the single rail or dual rail version of the Antec 380W with your Sonata?

I wasn't worried about the total wattage as much as I am about the +12V rails being low, as it seems this is how power supplies are judged nowadays instead of on total peak wattage. Say if the supply is split into two +12V rails, with each one only having maybe around 12A per rail... i'm not worried about the graphics card not getting enough power from it's rail as I won't be using a very powerful graphics card... but will the CPU and anything else on the other rail get enough power off of only 12A max? Seems kind of low to me...

 

[InlineFour]

antec updated the new sonata with the sonata II. it has minor air improvements. the most noticable improvement is the 450watt PSU.

 

[imported_IronPlasma]

Originally posted by: InlineFour
antec updated the new sonata with the sonata II. it has minor air improvements. the most noticable improvement is the 450watt PSU.

True, though I think Antec also updated the PSU of the original Sonata... it's still 380W, but it seems to be a different model with the +12V rail now split into dual rails. I'd go for the Sonata II, but have only seen it on sale for ~$100 or so. The regular Sonata can be found at Fry's for $39 after rebate, or $59 with no rebate... which fits into my system budget much more easily.

 

[imported_IronPlasma]

Updated the OP with a couple new Q's...

 

[InlineFour]

i don't see why dfi would use a lot more power than other brand motherboards. you'll be fine with 380watt.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Why do people insist on using the bare minimum? It's a nice rig, get a nice PSU.

 

[halw]

The Sonata still comes with the TP380. Sonata II comes with the Smart Power 450.

 

[imported_IronPlasma]

Originally posted by: InlineFour
i don't see why dfi would use a lot more power than other brand motherboards. you'll be fine with 380watt.

I don't see why either, but according to some people who've had experience with them they are picky about power supplies and require a little more than most boards. I just am not sure if it's all their 939 boards or just certain models. Or if it's just when the motherboard is highly overclocked. Monarch must know about some issues people have had or I doubt they would display that pop up warning only when a DFI board was selected...

Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
Why do people insist on using the bare minimum? It's a nice rig, get a nice PSU.

I understand what you mean. Though it's a little disheartening when an Antec 380W Truepower PSU is concidered "the bare minimum" nowadays, especially in a system that won't even see a high end video card. As for the reason we do it, I assume just to stay within our budget is all.

Originally posted by: halw
The Sonata still comes with the TP380. Sonata II comes with the Smart Power 450.

That's what I thought as well, but searching around some more turned up a thread about the most recent Sonata deal at FW. Here's what people who bought the case recently had to say...

"I just picked up the Sonata at Fry's Austin TX. PS is a TruePower II 380 v2.0 (has dual 12v rails, separate fan cables). It looks just like this one at Newegg. ...Apparently, the power supply has been changed on this case. Originally, it was not a v2.0 PS, but now is, with dual rails. Depends on whether you get old or new stock."

I guess Antec needs to update it's website. Anyway, that is good news to me... looking at the specs of the 380W TruePower II, the PSU provides 16A on both +12V rails, which should be plenty enough for the CPU, the motherboard (even DFI?), and a nice video card. And at $40 to $60 dollars or so for the Sonata case and this power supply, I think it's an excellent deal. I just hope that I end up getting one with this PSU in it, or else i'll probably return it.

Thanks for the replies, I think most of my questions have been answered as far as the power issue goes... but if anyone can share info about their DFI motherboard experience or make other motherboard recommendations from that Monarch list within my budget, please do. :thumbsup:

 

[Danly]

Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
Why do people insist on using the bare minimum? It's a nice rig, get a nice PSU.

No kidding, pick up a Fortron 450W for $57 shipped. I'm sure 380W is enough, but with hardware like that why not spend a little more and have peace of mind?