How do you find out the strain of a PSU?

Tommy B · 10 Apr 2006 at 17:04

Is there anyway you can find out if the PSU is struggling?

I've got a Levicom 420W powering 3HDs, Athlon 64 3500+, 7800GTX, 2 DVD drives, 4 fans... (and soon to be UV cathode and 2 more fans)

semi-pro waster · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:03

You can choose an online calculator such as this one http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp
and see what sort of load your system will be creating roughly. Another good thing to do is to monitor the rails of your system, if you have an Asus motherboard then use their PC Probe utility otherwise something like Motherboard Monitor should do the trick and see if there are any major fluctuations.

Tommy B · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:12

Thanks for that. I should be OK.

WatchTower · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:31

That can't be right it said I needed a 175watt PSU. lol

_PD_ · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:35

Mmmm I reckon it's accurate for me.
You sure you did it all correct? 175 is VERY low!

semi-pro waster · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:39

WatchTower said:
That can't be right it said I needed a 175watt PSU. lol

Well if your signature is correct and you don't have a CPU.....

Mine comes out about 285w and that seems about right, I've got a 400w PSU which is more than comfortable with the load

//edit if you do it without any CPU then a figure of around 175w is quite possible.

ultim · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:44

ive just tried it and i think its pretty accurate, well the result was around what i expected it to be.

Orifice · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:46

I'm not convinced its very accurate, as it says I need a 483w PSU, when the shuttle everythings in only has a 350w supply, and works perfectly well.

csmager · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:58

I think it's pretty generous with it's power ratings - probably goes to the absolute max of an component, and then adds a bit extra.

Plus I really wouldn't forsee a situation where everything in your case is using 100% load.