Should i buy a new PSU?

snow patrol · 24 Mar 2006 at 19:39

A couple of days ago, my brand new 1900xtx broke. Red dots everywhere doesn't get into windows. Any way, not too worry too much as i got the RMA no. from ocuk and will be hopefully getting a replacement next week then...

Could the PSU cause the card to bork like that? It was working fine to begin with!

Any way, i got to thinking that perhaps my PSU isn't good enough to power my system. I have an Enermax Noisetaker 485w psu, which is supposedly beefy enough, but i have quite a lot of stuff in my system:

2.65 Ghz dual core (running 1.5 volts)
2 gig Ram
5 x Hard Disks
1 x DVD RW
1 x DD5 Water Pump
3 x 120mm low speed fans
1 x floppy
1 x multi card reader
1 x Fan speed controller
3 x UV Cold Cathode lights
and of couse the 1 x 1900xtx card...

Is it too much? I was considering getting a seasonic 600w to be absolutely safe and future proofed...but 100quid, is it really worth it?? do I need it with my system? Many thanks

semi-pro waster · 24 Mar 2006 at 19:44

I would have thought you were pushing it since you are overclocking, running a lot of hard drives and water cooling as well. To be on the safe side I'd suggest getting a larger PSU.

snow patrol · 25 Mar 2006 at 07:49

thanks, any other input before i take the plunge?

PieEater · 25 Mar 2006 at 10:16

There are a number of PSU calculators around, I'd see what they say. Personally with nearly 500w on hand I think you should be OK.

snow patrol · 25 Mar 2006 at 10:41

PieEater said:
There are a number of PSU calculators around, I'd see what they say. Personally with nearly 500w on hand I think you should be OK.

just did a quick one on extremehardware and i think i'm going to have to plump for a seasonic 600w!

wattsy · 25 Mar 2006 at 13:20

sounds like the right one to me

MG42Maniac · 25 Mar 2006 at 13:28

umm how accurate is that Calculator.
I'm getting 377w for my new build in one week which is a AMD64 3700+ @ 2.6Ghz , X1900XT, 2GB G.skill, X-fi Music, 74GB Raptor, 120GB SATA, DFI Ultra-D, Asus DVD-RW, 2 120mm & 1 92mm fans. I'm looking to power this on a Akasa 460w but some people think its not up to the job yet this calculator suggests it might be :confused:

lumocolor · 25 Mar 2006 at 15:04

A Decent 485W PSU is more than enough to power the rig you have, and even if it was not it would be very unlikely to damage the Gfx card! Your system would simply become unstable as the voltage would drop below spec as the computer would be asking the PSU to supply more current then it could cope with! (Current (I) is directionally proportional to Voltage (V)