How much power for this system?

grnarrow · Post by **grnarrow** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 3:34 pm

Although still a few months away from starting to build my first system, I'm trying to get a handle on what size power supply I should be considering.

The system will likely include something like:
P4 3.0 or 3.2GHz
1GB RAM
Radeon 9700 or 9800
2 optical drives
1 hard drive
floppy
1 or 2 pci cards
fans

I want a power supply that will handle all this reliably and quietly. Although discussions here seem to indicate that most systems are using much less power than their psu's can supply, a lot of people still seem to be going for 400+ watt psu's.

I don't really care about impressing anyone with how many watts my psu can put out. My priorities, in order of importance are:
1)stability
2)energy efficiency
3)quiet
4)heat management
5)cost

Given those priorities, and the type of hardware I expect to be powering, should I be considering 300W, 350W, or 400W psu's? It should also have enough juice that it can handle whatever new cpu/mobo/video components come out the next time I upgrade in 2-3 years. Right now I've got my eye on the silenX brand, though I'd be willing to hear anyone convince me something else is better.

powergyoza · Post by **powergyoza** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 7:17 pm

300 watts should be fine. If possible get an Active PFC power supply.