400watts of juice... But is it enough?

What i have is whats in my signature, what i will need power for is 2-4 CD drives, 2 hard drives, 6 fans, and a Geforce FX 5950... im not quite sure how far the power supply i have will work for this... im hoping a 400watt will at least cover all of the above minus a CD drive or two. if anyone knows anything about the matter let me know...


Also some ideas on what it would take to power the PC in my signature + 4 CD drives, zip drive, 5 hard drives, 6 LED fans, and the Geforce 5950

Depends on the make of PSU. An Antec 430Watt PSU will eat it for breakfats, ditto a Fortron 400 watt. Picking a good quality PSU helps a bit. Contrariwise, a "hi-watt" 550 watt Psu might be pressed..

Read the first post in this thread by Larva: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=252752

It should be said, it's a good guide..

i have read and am still reading the post.. i decided to throw out the iCute 400W power supply that came with my case and get an Antec.. i know that what i have as of right now would have more than enough with a 400 watt.

but what im in concern about is how far would it go with a full case.. floppy drive, Zip drive, 4 CD drives, 5 Hard drives, 6 88mm 12v 0.16a and 0.10a Fans, Abit IC7-Max3 (OTES onboard cooling system), not sure of the specs on it but a Geforce FX Ultra 5950 that needs its own 4 pin power connector, 4 PCI cards, and a power hoging P4 3.0ghz HT 800mhz FSB.. anyhow i was thinking about going way overkill with a 550w Antec.. but with the Antec im not losing any quality over the lesser watts right? i dont really know anything about power supplies but trying to get the best i can for my system

if u want THE best for ur system but arent willing to spend too much (like on a true control 550) get the fortron 530w at www.newegg.com that is the mother of all psus (in its price-range), its really nice and gives out a ton of power, u wont regret buying it, also fortron psus are under-rated so for example, the 350w model gives out 454w max, just FYI

i have heard the antecs are under rated on some of thiers, in your opinion which one is the best of those two? when i get the money for it im probably going to get the best of the best which i cant really decide between fortron and antec

the true control 550 and fortron 530w are VERY closely rated, i myself would buy the 530 because its so cheap and it gives out so much power for it's price, the truecontrol 550 is the hgiest antec but its expensive, so i wouldnt buy it

but since the fortron has an extra 4 amps on the +12v line, i would still buy it, the truecontrol 550 just doesnt give out enuff power on 12v, plus its more expensive, those extra 1amps may let u OC a bit more because newer boards derive vcore from the +12v line

i mean, the truecontrol 550 is almost twice the price of the 530w fortron...which would u rather buy?!?

i got another question

how many 4 pin connecters(power plug for CD, hard drive,etc)
are on the True Power555
and the Fortron 530

I am going to need alot of them.. about 11

im not exactly sure but since the fortron 530w gives out so much power, u wouldnt have a problem using y-adapters to split some molexes (just make sure not to split it from ur HDD)

know where i can get some of those in case i need them?

what you mean is make sure the hard drive has its own 4 pin right?

lol one more.. how many 4 pinn do you have with your 350W?