PSU recomendation

[tycho4511]

I building a system for my dad that he will want to use for around 4 or 4 years. He does not want to overclock.

These are the components:
CHAINTECH nForce4 Ultra

Athlon 64 (939) 3000+

Mushkin PC-3200 Basic 512MB

GEFORCE 6600 GT PCI-E (Probably XFX)

Old Generic 40 GB HD, not sure of speed.

What is the cheapest power supply I could reasonably use?

Thanks

[Oklahoma Wolf]

This one should do it if overclocking isn't a priority. Note that it's the second 12v rail at 14A that powers the CPU on this one. There is a 350w unit like this as well, and both can be found with 120mm fans as the Fortron Blue Storm series (they go up to a 460w unit - AX500-A).

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-498&depa=0

[KoolDrew]

For a socket 939 system I would get something a bit better then a 300w. You could get a cheap Thermaltake.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

So would I, thus the 530w in my sig for the day I do go 939 ;)

However, the system will not be overclocked and the 300w Fortron in question will definitely power the load. I'd bet money on it, if I had any :(

14A on the CPU is 168w, enough for any current Intel or AMD CPU. IIRC the 6600GT will be coming off the other 8A 12v rail. I would take this one over most of the offerings from Thermaltake.

[larva]

This one should do it if overclocking isn't a priority. Note that it's the second 12v rail at 14A that powers the CPU on this one. There is a 350w unit like this as well, and both can be found with 120mm fans as the Fortron Blue Storm series (they go up to a 460w unit - AX500-A).

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-498&depa=0

Hey, I see on the label that the 12V1 circuit is standard yellow wire, and the 12V2 is yellow/black. If we just had a better pic of the wires we could tell what runs off of what. I may have to buy one and eat the restock just to find out... lol.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Actually, I didn't notice that... was just going by the info I got from Sparkle when I asked them about the 350w.

After I posted I was starting to get tempted to see for myself how far I could get an A64 overclock with one of these 300's... found 'em up here for $43 Canadian :)

[larva]

So what did they tell you about the 350? That the cpu 12V alone is the stronger of the two circuits (should the differ)? Which line (12V1 or 12V2) did they attribute to cpu power?

[Oklahoma Wolf]

12v2 was for the CPU they said, dedicated just for the CPU. Not sure if they meant to include the ATX connector as well as the P4. I shouldn't have deleted that email :(

They did say it was the stronger one on the 350w - one was 14A, the other was 10A if memory serves.

Edit - interesting, the Sparkle site lists down to a 250w model with the same 12v specs as the 300w and lower 3.3v/5v rails. Looks like they're available with either 80mm fan or 120mm. No equivalent for the Blue Storm AX500-A in there though - highest one is 400w.

[larva]

Yeah, that's the new THA/THN series:

http://www.sparklepower.com/proPCPS_ATX.html

It's a new family intended for use with Prescott/i9xx rigs. It sounds like you have figured out the scoop here already, the 250W model has 14A on the stronger 12V line, plus a second 8A line. Very little 12V is going to be drawn through the ATX connector as compared to the 12VAUX. 14A is enough for most anything, and I don't expect the load on the 3.3, 5V, and 12V1 to exceed what the 250 (or 300, at least) can produce.

It would be interesting to prove a point with this unit. We all just know you can't have an impressive OC without really huge numbers everywhere, but most importantly on the side of the power supply. We know that, don't we?...

[Oklahoma Wolf]

We all just know you can't have an impressive OC without really huge numbers everywhere, but most importantly on the side of the power supply. We know that, don't we?...

Oh yes ;)

I'm just getting curious enough to add one of those 300w units to my order when I can get the cash together for my 939 upgrade. Car payments might make that wait a while though. $40 I can probably swallow ($50 for the 350), and I've already got the 530w here to compare to...

[LostInTennessee]

Are not the combined 5V & 3.3V wattage low on these THA & THN supplies?

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Yep... I wouldn't use them for older P3 or Athlon systems running things off the 5v line (like my mainboard does). These are meant for 12v oriented systems only, and that's where most of the PSU's power is concentrated.

[tycho4511]

Thanks for the help and information everyone.