300w PS: how much is too much for it?

[hierogrammate]

I have a SmartPower 300W ATX power supply in an Antec box. I was wondering if I have too many things connected to it. Here's the list:

* MSI K7T266 Pro2 with an Athlon XP 2000+ and 512 MB DDR RAM running WinXP Pro SP1
* 1 Radeon 8500
* 4 HDD's
* 1 IOmega Zip 100 (I rarely use it nowadays)
* 1 Standard floppy disk
* 1 Toshiba DVD player,
* 1 TDK CD-R/RW burner
* 1 USB scanner (CanoScan)
* 1 USB modem (Diamond SupraMax)
* 1 USB Gravis Eliminator Aftershock
* 1 network card (one of those smallish D-link cards I believe)
* 1 Audigy MP3+ audio PCI card (connected to Logitec Z-560 4.1 speakers)
* 1 Adaptec PCI card with two extra IDE connectors (for the extra HDDs)
* 1 Keyboard, 1 mouse (Intellimouse optical)
* 4 fans (2 on the back, 1 on front, plus the one on the Athlon)

There's a Lexmark Z55 USB printer connected, but it draws power from its own PS. I don't think the Linksys router or the 19" CRT monitor count, do they? Each has its own power plug.

I believe that's it.

E.

 

[DragonQ0105]

I think you're pushing it.

I've never run into a system that a 400W PSU couldn't take, but to be sure I used this website:

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

Assuming that you have 2 Sticks of RAM (256MB each), and using the following equipment, as per your post:

4 HDDs
AthlonXP 2000+
2x DDR RAM
Radeon 8500
DVD-ROM
CD-RW
3x System Fan
3 USB Devices
PCI Network Card
Sound Blaster (Closest thing possible)
Aditional PCI Card (for the 2 extra HDDs)

(Mouse, Keyboard, Floppy Drive, Motherboard and CPU Fan automatically added)

With the above, it says that the highest your PC will EVER consume is 330W (with each device drawing maximum power at the same time, which'll never happen), so I would suggest 400W.

 

[SkipCox]

I think you're pushing it."

I consider that an understatement even is it's one of the best 300w psu's on the planet. The machine needs a comfortable amount of overhead to compensate for increased heat and aging components running out of specs.

Skip

http://home.comcast.net/~skip9/index.html

http://scc.i8.com

 

[edfair]

You are guaranteed to stress the power supply every time you power it up. It is marginal at stable usage and the power up surges will probably take it to 120%.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[hierogrammate]

Oh crap... I've been running it like that, only with one less HDD, for almost two years... When I added the 4th HDD a month ago I wondered if I were pushing it, which prompted me to post my message.

*sigh* Any advice on the best, and most silent, PS around?

 

[hierogrammate]

Err... I opened the case to fix something (got some problems with my PC that are beyond the scope of this post), and read the PS label... the Antec PS is 350W... sorry about that... I used the order slip to check how much watts had my PS...it says "300W" but I forgot I asked them to change it to one with 350W... I guess old age shows im my poorer and poorer powers of recollection.

ANYWAY... from the feedback I received, even 350 would be too wimpy. I'll order one with 450W or better. I narrowed my choices to Thermaltake, Enermax, and Antec.

Any suggestions which way should I go? I'm basically an Antec guy, but I've read excellent reviews of Thermaltake's and Enermax's PS's... It has to be as quiet as possible, and having cute blue LEDs would be a nice extra, but obviously not vital.

E.

 

[hierogrammate]

Just to give this thread a sense of closure (and hopefully to avoid taking any more of your time, people, esp. when the main question has been answered).

I decided on the Thermaltake PurePower 480W "Butterfly" PSU (model W0019, which is the one with active power correction), whis has been reviewed here:

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/power/Tt/butterfly/index.htm

It also looks real nice, and gives me the perfect excuse to do a little case modding

Thanks for the help...

E.

 

[paparazi]

hierogrammate
Just a temporary resurection! perhaps too late?
In my opinion the extra 50watts and given the aforementioned quality of this PSU does throw a slightly differant light on this discussion.
Rather that 120% the machine is now maxing at around 100% so within safe hardware limits?
This leads me to suggest another option!!
Perhaps a nice 200 gig replacement HDD (about the same price?) so that you could remove two or more lesser drives that in turn could be re-used elsewhere?
Martin


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[hierogrammate]

Hmm, that option didn't cross my mind...I'll think about it. I haven't ordered the new PS yet...

Heck, I may do both things, since I was planning to build a new PC anyway, and give the "old one" with the lesser drives to my niece. I use Photoshop quite a bit, and having a 200 GB HDD would give me the wide open spaces I need for all those huge graphic files.