psu good enough?

[xlnc]

hi guys, been reading this forums for ages but only recently signed up so hopefully you can help me.

basically im building a new system and want to know if my psu is suffiecient,ived used the calculator here http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

it shows i need a psu of 283 watts,but i know its not quite that simple and the 12v rail needs to be upto the job

new rig consists of

amd64 939slot 3500+
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB (hopefully arrives tommorow from ocuk)
1 gig of cheap ddr ram
few extra fans
3 hdds
1 dvdr

my current psu is ultra x connect 400w UV modular
http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=42&pPath=296&productID=303

ill be honest and say i know nothing about psu's


basically do you think its upto the job? ive used the last of my cash on the new gcard so cant really afford a new one yet and may be forced to use 2 psu's in my case

cheers guys

 

[SiriusB]

That PSU should be OK for your rig. However I should point out that ATi recommends at least a 500W PSU for it's card. Having said that I know a few people who are running one just fine with 350W and 400W.

SiriusB

 

[semi-pro waster]

Welcome to the forums, 16A on the 12v rail is a little bit lower than I'd normally like to use. It should be fine but AMD recommends 20A on the 12v rail and ATI recommend 500w PSUs as SiriusB says, admittedly that is mostly to cover their own back.

 

[rangor gubbins]

For the life of me i can't find the official recommended amps on the 12v rail for an x1900xt. But like semi-pro waster says 16a may be a little low. To be on the safe side i'd recommend 20a on the 12v rail also. If you get a PSU with more watts than the 'Wattage calculator' says you need and has at least 20a on the 12v rail, then you should be ok.
e.g. if you can stretch to a tagan 380W (£46) or a 420W (£55), then i'd go for something like that. (Enermax, seasonic, and FSP also highly regarded)
Don't forget, everything in your PC is connected to the PSU. Not a good place to start scrimping. Having said that I ran my OCed PC on an old generic 400W PSU with a measly 15a on the 12v rail which ran my OCed 6600GT just fine.

 

[xlnc]

cheers for the replys guys

well if it comes to it ill run the card on the current xconnect and use another psu to run the rest of the rig untill i can get a decent psu