My current system specs are intel DP45SG mobo Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz 2GB DDR3 @ 1066Mhz 1 SATA HDD 1 DVD RW HIS 5750 1GB few case fans some USB devices like KB, mouse etc.. Now im curently using a 450W PSU. A delux PSU. Its working fine without any problem. But what i want to know is whether the PSU is enough for my computer? Also another question. If the computer's power requirement is not met by the PSU, does the computer's performance slow down?
If the PSU isnt strong enough it usually results in a failure to boot/ post ( maybe an error code for that to reference ) from what I've read, or random crashing/ resets when a heavy load is placed on it ( CPU/ GPU intensive use ). That said, I couldnt tell you if 450watts is okay/fine/great for your setup, but if it's working now and not smelling like giant ashtray when you do some gaming/ graphics work etc, you should be good to go
If there's not enough power the system won't POST correctly as some components will seem to fail due to lack of power. So likely you will not get to boot the machine or will get lots of error beeps. What make and model is the PSU, easier if we can see how many rails and what its actual power rating is...?
I seem to remember having a "deluxe" PSU in my old rig, it claimed 500w, was gold in colour and was bought for around £35 from eBuyer. It never did me any harm, but I wasn't running a particularly heavy rig. But it was very noisy. Moving to a bequiet 650w unit was a dream, though I now wish I'd spent a little more and got something modular and with a higher rating (for future upgrades). As they say, buy cheap, buy twice...
Only 20 Amps on the 12v rail. 8 or 9 of those Amps will be going to the 5750 under load. I don't know enough about the amp requirements of the other components though. Maybe others here do? Still does look a mite close to me. But then I'm a proponent of having a little more power than you need (for the sake of reliability, heat and future upgrades).
Who knows what shortcuts have been made if they can't even go to te effort of spelling deluxe properly
theoretically 450 watts should be ok for that build, but thats continuous, not max. to err on the side of caution i would upgrade. if it was me i would get a 550 continuous made by a known reliable manufacturer to ensure proper operation and some headroom.
Fizzban what exactly do you mean by "for the sake of reliability, heat". Do low Watt PSUs damage computers? lysol what do you mean by "to ensure proper operation and some headroom"? Also headroom is necessary if your going for future upgrades, right? Or is it necessary even if you are not going for future upgrades? Sry for asking things over and over again.
agree with getting a branded psu, ive had my fair share of s*** psu (before i knew what i was doing lol) and can honestly they arent worth the money and even if they do manage to give enough power they wont last long and will struggle when under load to output anywhere near their stated wattage, id personally go for a corsair vx series, silverstone or antec earthwatts psu. if you require say 350w then you should really be looking at something around 500watts, the less load you put on the psu the longer its likely to be a good servent to you plus as stated above a bit of extra headroom is always good in case you want upggrade with extra hdd's or another gpu
There are a few issues at play here. The first is that with your PSU, it provides a lot of its power on the 3.3 and 5v rails, over half. This is typical of cheap PSUs and older designs and isn't great for newer computers which heavily use the 12v rail. If you look at a technically lower powered PSU, the Corsair CX400, you will find that it outputs 360W of a total 400W on the 12v rail, compared to 240W of your 450W. The other issue is that cheap PSUs are known for blowing up (sometimes literally). Whilst a decent PSU may have a fault and die, it should take the rest of the computer with it. Cheaper ones tend not to have this protection and can do. Do you want to see your nice rig destroyed by a cheap PSU? Probably not. Cheaper PSUs are also a lot less efficient. If you have a load of, say, 300w and a 70% efficient PSU, it is wasting 130w as heat which the fan has to remove. An 85% efficient one (easily manageable, and many are better) will only be wasting 50W as heat. This means that the internal components will be less stressed so should last longer and the fan will be doing less work. Comparing the two, the cheap one will have a cheap fan removing a lot of heat where the better quality one will have a better fan removing less heat. Which is going to be quieter? And that isn't mentioning the electricity bills Hope that helps a bit!
Didn't realise the maker's name was 'Delux'... never seen one of those before. The two principle things you need to achieve with a PSU are sufficient power and a continuous power level. Not knowing that make, then I have no idea on the efficiency, you'd have to test that at the wall to see the draw. Like most BT members, I am always going to recommend going for a known brand with a good reputation. Even if you PSU is in warranty, that warranty does not cover your other components should it go pop. There's always at least one annual BT PSU review article that will include non-branded PSUs and they never get good marks... I mean I'm talking 30/100 at best. Something like one of these: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w...ilder-series-80-eff-120mm-fan-single-rail-atx http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w...ular-psu-eps-12v-120mm-fan-atx-12v-version-22 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-antec-bp500u-gb-basiq-power-80mm-quiet-fan-dual-rail-atx12v-v201 ... would be more than enough to power the spec you listed.
Ok. thx for the quick replies. I have this idea in mind. I have this PSU which i mentioned (450W) which im currently using. And then i also have another 400W un branded PSU which i dont use. But its working fine. Do you think its good to connect the 2 PSUs together to the computer and get power from both at the same time? Ive seen people doing it.
not really a good idea at all, the best thing you can do is buy a decent branded psu that will be more reliable, efficient, quieter and ultimate last longer and not take your system down with it should it go wrong
If you have a PSU that is fully loaded or almost fully loaded all the time then you will have an increase in heat in the system (waste heat means wasted energy), and a much higher chance of instability. If a PSU is maxed all the time it's not going to be as efficient as a PSU that is at 50% load. Also a PSU at max all the time is going to wear out faster. A more efficient PSU will keep the system stable, components cooler and have the added benefit of saving you money on your electricity bill. It's worth baring in mind that, over time, a PSU will degrade. So if you are maxing it all the time, one day it might just go pop..especially a cheap or ancient one. And even if it doesn't, you might find you will start getting random crashes and other weird things happening in your system as it is not being fed the required amout of power when it needs it. This is one reason having a little more oomff is a good idea. Another reason having a bit more power than you need is so that in the future if you want to upgrade the system in any way, you can. Like for instance upgrading to a more powerful GPU. Edit: And no, low wattage PSU's don't necessarily damage computers. You just need to have a decent branded one that supplys enough power consistently. And having a little extra headroom never hurts.
