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Basic power supply question

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by grindy, 2005/04/19.

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  1. 2005/04/19
    grindy

    grindy Inactive Thread Starter

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    m thinking about purchasing a new system, but wonder if the power supply that it comes with is adequate.
    The configuration:

    Intel P4 2.8 gigs
    1 gig DDR2 400 mhz memory
    160 gig hard drive
    DVD-RW drive
    Radeon X300 128 meg video card
    Audigy2 sound card

    Power supply is 305 watts. Is this adequate for all that?
    Also, the system will hold a max of 4 gigs of RAM. If I maxed it out at 4 gigs, will that overtax
    the supply ?
     
  2. 2005/04/19
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    If the system is pre-built I would assume that 305watts will surfice but is on the small size.

    Since Ram doesn't have a motor like a cd-rom drive does it doesn't have any effect on power consumption.
     

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  4. 2005/04/19
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Hi Steve, you may get jumped on there :) . RAM is banks of processor chips, the by-product of the processing procedure is the production of heat. Recent RAM modules are being produced with heat spreaders (the same as the heatsink on the CPU). For DDR2 modules, they are calculated at 7.5watts per stick, here:
    http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL
    (grindy, read the introduction about peak wattages).

    grindy, I can't imagine you will EVER need 4Gb of RAM. Even most large network servers would not need that much. The only reason for a home user to need that much would be to run many large programs at once and even something taxing like video editing or 3D modeling should not need much more than 1Gb. See the system requirements of the programs you are going to use. If you are looking at gaming, put your money towards the graphics card.

    Matt
     
    Last edited: 2005/04/19
  5. 2005/04/19
    jaylach

    jaylach Inactive

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    Personally I wouldn't put anything under a 400 watt PS in that system. It may very well do fine with what it comes with but what happens if you put in another drive, TV Tuner, etc.? In my opinion it is under powered. You might check with the manufacturer to see if a bigger supply can be put in it.
     
  6. 2005/04/19
    grindy

    grindy Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thx for the thoughtful reply mattman, and I agree that RAM does need to be considered when calculating PS wattage. As for why I might need 4gigs, well I'm going to be doing some rather RAM intensive operations - video, sound, voice recognition as well as some 3D modeling - and am thinking that there will probably be at least one major upgrade to the software that I use within the next 4 years that could use the extra... We all know how long 4 years is in this business.. :)
     
  7. 2005/04/20
    silverwork

    silverwork Inactive

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    Hi Grindy,

    Over my years of PC building I have only recently (last 2 years) started to realise the importance or the PSU. Not only would I get a more powerful PSU for that system, I would make sure to get a quality one. Cheap PSUs don't usually give stable voltages and can cause instability. I always use Antec or TAGAN now, but there are other quality brands like Enermax and OCZ etc.

    If you are going to be using your PC for quite hardware intensive tasks and running lots of CPU/memory hungry programs you will find a better PSU will help make the whole system more stable.

    I would suggest to most people to get a 350 (min) or 400+w PSU when building a new system especially if you are likely to upgrade (more drives or a modern GFX card).
     
  8. 2005/04/20
    grindy

    grindy Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi Silverwork,
    I agree completly... The PSU is MUCH more important today than it was 10 or 20 years ago... Let me restate that... Up until the last few years, manufacturers usually OVER supplied the PSU so that it was not running at 98% all the time and for future expansion... With margins the way they are today, that's not possible.. They put just enough PSU into systems to run what they come with, and even at that - they run it at 95%.
    Very unwise... I'm with you on using the best I can, and a quiet one too..
    Thx for the response...
    Bob
     
  9. 2005/04/24
    Hotaru

    Hotaru Well-Known Member

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    Yup, 640K ought to be enough for anyone. :rolleyes:
     
  10. 2005/04/24
    Profgab101

    Profgab101 Inactive

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    Right... Try telling that to "SolidWorks" while doing an export function.

    The following operation will require 330 GB virtual memory. Do you wish to proceed?

    ( Making a 200% STL model file. )
     
  11. 2005/04/24
    grindy

    grindy Inactive Thread Starter

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    LMAO...
    Yep, it never ends does it...... :eek: The keyboard needs to go away soon... What the hell's takin so long... Microsoft, just buy Dragon or Via and be done with it...
     
  12. 2005/04/24
    grindy

    grindy Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hey Profgab, I think Hotaru's response tongue-in-cheek ! Who was it way back when that actually said that? Not Gates, or was it?
     
    Last edited: 2005/04/24
  13. 2005/04/25
    Hotaru

    Hotaru Well-Known Member

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    It is certainly attributed to Bill Gates, and there are few dissenting opinions. Were he to issue a denial, no one would believe him anyway. Considering some of his other statements and actions, he probably did say it.
     
  14. 2005/04/25
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    I don't know what inspired me to write "EVER" (maybe it was Gatesy). Looks like we will all needing those amounts sooner or later. Hope it's not with the next release of Windows :rolleyes: .

    Matt
     
  15. 2005/04/25
    Rockster2U

    Rockster2U Geek Member

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    Matt:

    No apologies necessary. I have a tough time telling the difference between 512 and 1024 and I've got one machine with 2048 dual channel registered that looks great in benchmarks but trying to notice a difference - good luck. In fact, I'd opt for quality over quantity any day of the week. In my book, 4 gigs is still a far reach and I'd be glad to go head to head with 1/4th or 1/8th that. I too would question the wisdom and utility of 4 gigs in a desktop XP box.

    ;)

    edit: Am I allowed to change my mind next year and edit this post? :cool:
     
    Last edited: 2005/04/25
  16. 2005/04/25
    grindy

    grindy Inactive Thread Starter

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    LOL, sure you are and probably will... I agree that the vast majority of windows users don't need that much, but some do. Those would be the professionals that do really high-end number crunching with a TON of changing data... That of course includes some 3d modeling software, some neural net stuff, and quite a bit of "prediction" application modeling...
     
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