PSU Questions

Alright I know first real post, but bare with me. PSUs are where I have little knowledge with. I have a knowledge of power and its uses, but computers are something new to me.

My current specs:
AMD Phenom II x4-925 @2800MHz
msi 870A-G54 Mainboard
ATi Radeon HD-5830 1GB Graphic Card
Patriot Sector 5 8GB(4x2GB)DDR3 1333MHz
Antec 500W Basiq PSU
Antec Sonata Proto Mid Tower Case
OEM Windows 7 Home 64-bit
120mm Fan
7200RPM 1.5TB HDD

Soon upgrades:
Cooler Master Hyper 212+
80GB 10000RPM HDD

NewEggs calculator says I need ~650w PSU, the eXtreme PS Calc says Im good at ~327w. Thats a lot of variance and not sure if I uses the Xtreme Calc correctly. I would like to overclock just to play around with the BIOS but Im not going to go insane. Maybe 2800MHz to 3000MHz, just throwing a number out there really.

Computer uses:
Graphic Design: Mostly all Adobe Design Suite balls to the wall.
Gaming: It would be nice to crank up the graphics, but its not really needed since I rarely play games.

I hope you guys can give me a little insight as to what wattage I need for my PSU. And as stated in the specs I have a 500w Antec Basiq which currently runs the system fine with a game at almost full load.

Pretty much everything can be answered at the top of this forum in the stickies.

Amperage and quality is as important as total wattage.

Here is the link.
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=589708

Conumdrum said:

Pretty much everything can be answered at the top of this forum in the stickies.

Amperage and quality is as important as total wattage.

Here is the link.
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=589708

Click to expand...

I have read the stickies, but still a little lost. Im still torn with the difference from NewEgg and eXtreme. I know I have a handicap here being that Im not here to overclock, but I know that if you want something to be the best you go to the best. As for what I want out of this machine I see 500w being fine.

Is there a different way I should be thinking about my build? What are some core things to take into affect and what calculations should I be using?

Sorry if this seems noobish, but I am here to learn. I love learning everything and anything I can, but I get lost in the stickies since I cant seem to find the answer Im looking for.

500W should be enough for what you have. You are not OCing so this should help. Antecs are good PSU. I would do the upgrade and see if there's any instability issues. Having said that I'm an overkill type of guy so in all my systems, my PSU is overkill compared to what I use it for. Most wattage calculator point you to the high side.

Cigarsmoker said:

500W should be enough for what you have. You are not OCing so this should help. Antecs are good PSU. I would do the upgrade and see if there's any instability issues. Having said that I'm an overkill type of guy so in all my systems, my PSU is overkill compared to what I use it for. Most wattage calculator point you to the high side.

Click to expand...

So then going with a 650w should be more than enough, Im currently looking at a CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX and a Antec EA-650 Green. I think 650w will give me plenty of wiggle room, if I do choose to OC a little bit. Also cooling fans on this PSUs I feel will help keep the system cool, even though my first upgrade is going to be to replace my noisy stock AMD II x4 heatsink and fan with a Cooler Master Hyper 212+. Nice part about the heatsink upgrade is that the intercooler fins line up perfectly with my case exhaust fan perfectly , and fits really nice in my case according to my measurements.

JoshJoshua said:

So then going with a 650w should be more than enough, Im currently looking at a CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX and a Antec EA-650 Green. I think 650w will give me plenty of wiggle room, if I do choose to OC a little bit. Also cooling fans on this PSUs I feel will help keep the system cool, even though my first upgrade is going to be to replace my noisy stock AMD II x4 heatsink and fan with a Cooler Master Hyper 212+. Nice part about the heatsink upgrade is that the intercooler fins line up perfectly with my case exhaust fan perfectly , and fits really nice in my case according to my measurements.

Click to expand...

650W is enough. I like the Antec. I'm currently running a 955 BE (OCed), 6870 GPU (OCed), 4 HDDs, and 6 case fans on 650W with no problems.

Thanks for everyone's input. But just re-did the eXtreme PSU test, after adding a CoolerMaster 212+, and two more 120mm CoolerMaster Fans, did some wire organizing, and the test says 365w is what my demand would be going with the recommended settings.

Also just finished running FurMark @ 1920x1080 Full Screen "Burn-In Test" no anti-aliasing, and a dynamic background for 30mins. Temp Alarm set @ 95*C.
Results: 24FPS/avg, Max Temp 93*C, Avg Temp 90*C, Max Fan Speed 53%(cant remember the RPM).

No crash, so I guess I should be more than fine with my current 500w Antec Basiq. My biggest worry was the my graphics card would steal all my power. Im still having issues with Portal 2 crashing, but Ive read that there are some glitches in the program that might be causing the crashes. Ohh well almost done with the game. Probably be another couple of years until I find a game worth buying.

JoshJoshua said:

Thanks for everyone's input. But just re-did the eXtreme PSU test, after adding a CoolerMaster 212+, and two more 120mm CoolerMaster Fans, did some wire organizing, and the test says 365w is what my demand would be going with the recommended settings.

Also just finished running FurMark @ 1920x1080 Full Screen "Burn-In Test" no anti-aliasing, and a dynamic background for 30mins. Temp Alarm set @ 95*C.
Results: 24FPS/avg, Max Temp 93*C, Avg Temp 90*C, Max Fan Speed 53%(cant remember the RPM).

No crash, so I guess I should be more than fine with my current 500w Antec Basiq. My biggest worry was the my graphics card would steal all my power. Im still having issues with Portal 2 crashing, but Ive read that there are some glitches in the program that might be causing the crashes. Ohh well almost done with the game. Probably be another couple of years until I find a game worth buying.

Click to expand...

The extreme calculator is much more accurate than neweggs. Glad to hear everything is working.

That rig would be lucky to break 300W on full load... 500W is PLENTY. Glad it worked out.