Will a 320W Power supply be ok for an Athlon XP 2500?

[Rand3000]

I'm upgrading my computer. I currently have an Athlon 1 GHz processor and I'm upgrading the processor to Athlon XP 2500. Will a 320W power supply be ok? I looked at the review at Anandtech of the motherboard I'm getting and they had a 350W processor in their test configuration so I'm guessing a 320W should be ok. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Zepper]

If the mobo you choose has a P4 connector (square, 4-pin, 12V) to power the CPU, then it will be more than enough. If your PSU doesn't have the P4 connector you can get an adapter from SVC.com or newegg.com. It will probably be OK in any case. if it's a good brand.
.bh.

 

[beatle]

320 should be fine if it's a decent brand. When you consider that there are mini pcs running fine with 200-250W PSUs, you have to wonder why most people would need a 400W+ PSU for their desktops.

AMD cpus don't run on the 12v rail, so the 4 pin connector is no big deal. The big deal with the 4 pin connector is that it is available on most new PSUs, so you're sure it's not old as dirt.

 

[Zepper]

Sorry beatle,
. AMD mobos can run the CPU off the 12V rail. In fact, AMD recommends it for stability. Most nForce based mobos have the P4 connector and more Via-based mobos are doing it too - see some of the newer MSI, Soltec and Abit mobos. I won't buy one any more that lacks the P4 connector. I'm using two MSIs in my rigs that both use it. You wouldn't believe all the stuff I have hanging off a little Sparkle 250 Watter with no problemo.
.bh.

 

[0roo0roo]

my 1800@2.4ghz 1.85v runs fine on a 350watt antec. depends how many drives u have and stuff. u only need those insane psu's if u have raid setups and other goodies.

 

[chocoruacal]

Its more than enough.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
my 1800@2.4ghz 1.85v runs fine on a 350watt antec. depends how many drives u have and stuff. u only need those insane psu's if u have raid setups and other goodies.

an antec 350 will power a mobo, 2 hard drives, 2 optical drives, and a 9800pro no problem with some power left to spare. PSUs are so overrated.

 

[DanFungus]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
my 1800@2.4ghz 1.85v runs fine on a 350watt antec. depends how many drives u have and stuff. u only need those insane psu's if u have raid setups and other goodies.

an antec 350 will power a mobo, 2 hard drives, 2 optical drives, and a 9800pro no problem with some power left to spare. PSUs are so overrated.

my antec 300W will do a xp2000+, 2 opticals, 4 hard drives, geforce3, matrox rt2500 firewire card, and 6 or something case fans (i forget how many i've got in there..) without a problem

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: DanFungus

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
my 1800@2.4ghz 1.85v runs fine on a 350watt antec. depends how many drives u have and stuff. u only need those insane psu's if u have raid setups and other goodies.

an antec 350 will power a mobo, 2 hard drives, 2 optical drives, and a 9800pro no problem with some power left to spare. PSUs are so overrated.

my antec 300W will do a xp2000+, 2 opticals, 4 hard drives, geforce3, matrox rt2500 firewire card, and 6 or something case fans (i forget how many i've got in there..) without a problem

yeah i know you can get a lot more, i was just giving him an example

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Antec True330, which up until last week was running 2 optical drives, 2 hard drives, an nforce 2, radeon 9700 pro, 512mb ddr, modded Thornton to 2.4ghz. Ran without a hitch at all.

This week, same exact Power Supply, P4 2.4c M0 step @ 3.55ghz, 1gb ddr, 9700 Pro, 2 Optical Drives, 3 Hard Drives, all running beautifullly...

So I always preach Power Supply quality over quantity.


Mike

 

[DanFungus]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: DanFungus

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
my 1800@2.4ghz 1.85v runs fine on a 350watt antec. depends how many drives u have and stuff. u only need those insane psu's if u have raid setups and other goodies.

an antec 350 will power a mobo, 2 hard drives, 2 optical drives, and a 9800pro no problem with some power left to spare. PSUs are so overrated.

my antec 300W will do a xp2000+, 2 opticals, 4 hard drives, geforce3, matrox rt2500 firewire card, and 6 or something case fans (i forget how many i've got in there..) without a problem

yeah i know you can get a lot more, i was just giving him an example

I figured, but since I always hear people saying "you should get at LEAST 350W anymore", the more examples of computers like ours' the better

 

[beatle]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Sorry beatle,
. AMD mobos can run the CPU off the 12V rail. In fact, AMD recommends it for stability. Most nForce based mobos have the P4 connector and more Via-based mobos are doing it too - see some of the newer MSI, Soltec and Abit mobos. I won't buy one any more that lacks the P4 connector. I'm using two MSIs in my rigs that both use it. You wouldn't believe all the stuff I have hanging off a little Sparkle 250 Watter with no problemo.
.bh.

Hey, you're right! Who would have thought it. I called AMD and asked them about power consumption. He said that the newer chips run on the 12v rail and the 4 pin connector starts to become important. He said a 2500+ should work alright without it, however. The breakdown of which rail it uses varies from board to board. Some of the older CPUs used the +3.3v. Newer ones are using +12v.