Is my 370W PC Power Cooling PSU good enough?

Hey guys,

I want to upgrade my CPU and video card to...

AMD FX6350,
ZOTAC GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-Bit GDDR3 card
WD 1TB, 64MB cache
ASUS AM3+ board
8GB DDR3
multicard reader
BDROM drive

I'm currently using a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 370 Watt 80Plus PSU. I'd rather not take it out. But will it work? Has 27A on 12v single rail.

http://www.pcpower.com/products/description/Silencer_370_ATX/

No. You should look into a GOOD 550W PSU for this build. The FX 6 & 8 core CPU's can draw 200W themselves. The GTS 250 has a listed TDP of 150W plus the drives and MoBo.

The last thing you want to do is underpower your rig. When the PSU goes it likes to take other stuff with it.

EDIT: Here is a very good EVGA 750W PSU for $60 after MIR. It's a little more than what you need, but it'll last and give you room to grow if you ever decide to upgrade your GPU's in an SLI/X-fire set-up.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

That is pushing it, even for me, LOL! At all stock speeds, it should be ok so long as you are not stress testing on it or mining/folding (running both GPU and CPU at 100% load). I would look into a quality 600W PSU if you are looking to overclock that CPU and GPU. Though that deal for 750W is quite solid and should be the only PSU you need for many years.

Cool! Thanks guys.

I'm gonna slightly disagree with the other posters. I entered your specs into a power supply calculator making a few guesses along the way. Your system should draw around 294 watts at stock speeds. They recommend a 344 watt power supply.

What will change the recommendation above:
Age of parts. As the motherboard, video card and other components age, they require more energy to keep working.
If you overclock the CPU/GPU.
If you upgrade your video card or add another video card.
If you have a lot of fans, lights, etc.

With just the basic specs you provided, you should be fine. Even at 100% CPU/GPU usage.

*Edit* I added your card reader and two 120 mm fans. That brought it up to 312 watts used and 362 watts recommended.

27A * 12v = 324W. Though its rated to handle it, I'm not a fan of running my stuff over 95% of its capacity...

It was also mentioned above something similar:

At all stock speeds, it should be ok so long as you are not stress testing on it or mining/folding (running both GPU and CPU at 100% load).

Click to expand...

EarthDog said:

27A * 12v = 324W. Though its rated to handle it, I'm not a fan of running my stuff over 95% of its capacity...

Click to expand...

Agreed except 27A is what his PS can supply on that rail. It is not what it will need on that rail.

I will add (against myself) that a 370W PCP&C 80+ is probably old. As such, it is probably not producing the same output as when it was new for sure.

Its darn well near most/all it will need is from the 12v. This is not a PC from 2004 where there was more use on the 3.3/5v rails.

psu's became more 12v heavy with the release of P4's. my oc'd rig in sig with my 2 ssd's, bd drive, GTX660, is on a Silverston SFX 450watt unit i got from OW many years ago. never used except for his review, now i will agree that psu would have been enough for his rig when new. any solid Seasonic unit with 400w-500w will be more then enough.

im not sure how people started getting into this OMG you need a 750 unit or 1wk+ for a oc'd cpu+ single video card setups.

my first oc'd pc was a P3, those were 5v rail heavy. i was using a Enlight 300watt unit that came with the case, as back then all access for pc stuff for me was local shops. no one had any other branded psu's besides them and a few other cheaper companies psu's. that unit back then handled my oc'd cpu+4 drives+2d video card and Voodoo 2 12mb.

Would be nice if we could get back to suggesting reasonable Power supplies for basicly non-power hungry setups. unless your going all out with multi gpu setups, stay away from 1kw much less 750watt units.

I agree Evil a 500w psu would work for his listed upgrade, but for $10 more he has the ability to and a second GPU in the future which was mentioned in my original post. I'm not sure why you wouldn't want a bigger PSU.