How much overhead is really needed? S12 decision question..

Hellspawn · Post by **Hellspawn** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 5:10 pm

ok I've checked a few power supply calculators, and about 3 of them say this setup needs about 305w.. However, I am a little leery of the s12 380, because honestly I'm not sure how much overhead a person *really* needs. I'm choosing on the 380 or the 430 of the s12.. I'm looking at about $20 difference on it. Any real differences between them besides the power output? (something that would make me choose one over the other, given my watt needs)?

Intel 550J 3.4ghz
Asus P5GDC
1GB OCZ DDR2 533
Sapphire X800XL 256mb PCI-E (does'nt need PCI-E power conn)
160GB Diamondmax 9 SATA
Liteon 8x DVD-R/+R
Liteon 16x DVD-ROM
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Gamer
2 120mm fans
Zalman 7000-CU
Antec 3700BQE

Hellspawn · Post by **Hellspawn** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 5:19 pm

Just wondering here..

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 5:54 pm

AFAIK, the noise signature is the same among both. You really can't go wrong with either one, IMHO.

Vulcan · Post by **Vulcan** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 7:55 pm

sthayashi wrote:AFAIK, the noise signature is the same among both. You really can't go wrong with either one, IMHO.

Does anyone know which which 12v rail gets fed to the cpu? I belive the ATX 2.0 spec says the 12V1 rail is for the CPU, but perhaps I have it backwards

. The S12-380 has a 10A 12V1 rail vs a 14A 12V1 rail on the S12-430. [/b]

jamesm · Post by **jamesm** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:04 pm

see if you can find a good psu calculator for intel based setups.

The 380 works fine for me (athlon 64 3700+, geforce 6600 gt pcie, nforce 4), but you might need the extra juice.

If in doubt, I'd go for the 430 - it will provide more headroom for future upgrades, and could possibly save you a couple of headaches now if the 380 would be inadequate for you.

hazindu · Post by **hazindu** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:30 am

THose power usage calculators calculate the maximum theoretical power draw your system could experience if every single component was maxed out at the same time. This is not a very realistic scinario, however, for that price difference there is no harm in getting the 430 watt.

Hellspawn · Post by **Hellspawn** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:51 am

a few more amps on the 12v1 line can't hurt either. Only $19 difference. Going for 430, thanks to all!

Tephras · Post by **Tephras** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 2:34 pm

Vulcan wrote: Does anyone know which which 12v rail gets fed to the cpu? I belive the ATX 2.0 spec says the 12V1 rail is for the CPU, but perhaps I have it backwards .

Yep, you got it backwards, 12V2 is for the CPU.