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Is this PSU too weak?

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Sorry to say you've linked to the CPU twice. Is the MB going to have onboard video?
 
I'd be worried. 120W is awfully small to run much of a PC at all. That said, since I've never tried an HTPC, others may be better suited to answer your question.

On a side note, TDP is not referring to how much power the CPU pulls. It's how much heat the CPU is giving off. Per Intel:
Thermal Design Power - (Also referred to as Thermal Guideline) The maximum amount of heat which a thermal solution must be able to dissipate from the processor so that the processor will operate under normal operating conditions.
Click to expand...
 
Wow.... I would highly doubt it. But you need to see how many amps on that PSU's 12v rail. Again though, I highly doubt it as you have the HDD, mobo, ram, fans etc on there.
 
What if I decided to go with the same board but instead of the Intel 95W CPU, it uses an AMD AM2 65W CPU.

My current T7200 runs off of a similar PSU but I guess it's only 35W...
 
FudgeNuggets said:
What if I decided to go with the same board but instead of the Intel 95W CPU, it uses an AMD AM2 65W CPU.

My current T7200 runs off of a similar PSU but I guess it's only 35W...
Click to expand...

What are ya using the system for? Anyway, check out the rig in my sig.. Those watt numbers are at the wall, so figure the system is only drawing about 50 watts from the PSU. You could grab one of those Athlon 2 X2 250's and be fine with a 120w PSU even.
 
i think those psu's are leaned towards atom and ion builds... i wouldnt try to run your system with such a small psu.... why not get a cheap 350w their only like 20 bucks lol
 
xtkxhom3r said:
i think those psu's are leaned towards atom and ion builds... i wouldnt try to run your system with such a small psu.... why not get a cheap 350w their only like 20 bucks lol
Click to expand...

I'm wanting to go as small as possible (close to Mac Mini size) and my Mac Mini is already Core2Duo 2.0GHz. I'm wanting to go Quad Core as I do a lot of video processing. I'de hate to but I guess I could get a SFF case and spend even more money on a silent PSU........ but I don't think they make those in Small Form Factor.
 
FudgeNuggets said:
What if I decided to go with the same board but instead of the Intel 95W CPU, it uses an AMD AM2 65W CPU.

My current T7200 runs off of a similar PSU but I guess it's only 35W...
Click to expand...
I believe you're still misunderstanding. The TDP of a CPU is the maximum amount of heat, in watts, that a heat sink will be required to remove from the CPU in order for it to operate properly. That's it. It doesn't speak to the power consumption of the CPU.
 
FudgeNuggets said:
I'm wanting to go as small as possible (close to Mac Mini size) and my Mac Mini is already Core2Duo 2.0GHz. I'm wanting to go Quad Core as I do a lot of video processing. I'de hate to but I guess I could get a SFF case and spend even more money on a silent PSU........ but I don't think they make those in Small Form Factor.
Click to expand...

How the heck are you gonna cool a quad in a case that won't even fit a stock cooler?
 
I wouldn't use a cheap PSU in a HTPC box, too noisy. Stick with the Corsair HX series or Seasonics for low noise.

Seriously, stick with a regular ATX or Micro ATX form factor or you're going to run into too many brick walls. Much easier to build a system using "standard" components. Easier to make a silent system that way too as you can use larger heatsinks and larger fans running at lower rpms.
 
mjw21a said:
I wouldn't use a cheap PSU in a HTPC box, too noisy. Stick with the Corsair HX series or Seasonics for low noise.

Seriously, stick with a regular ATX or Micro ATX form factor or you're going to run into too many brick walls. Much easier to build a system using "standard" components. Easier to make a silent system that way too as you can use larger heatsinks and larger fans running at lower rpms.
Click to expand...

any ideas on a small footprint case then? I really don't want something as big as a mid-tower.
 
hokiealumnus said:
I believe you're still misunderstanding. The TDP of a CPU is the maximum amount of heat, in watts, that a heat sink will be required to remove from the CPU in order for it to operate properly. That's it. It doesn't speak to the power consumption of the CPU.
Click to expand...

Ok gotcha, so the 65W AMD will put off less heat than the 95W Intel so it would be better suited for the small form factor case, right?

Which in turn would mean that the 160W power supply should really have no trouble driving a mini-itx motherboard with a Nvidia 8200 northbridge, right? Since essentially aside from the CPU it is all laptop/notebook components like the Mac Mini, am I correct?

I was bummed.....but now this is looking more promising.......

Remember, this box is totally NOT for gaming so I really don't see heating up the GPU much. The CPU is the concern because because when running video encoders, I will likely have all 4 cores at 100%.
 
No way. I wouldnt trust any quad on a 120W PSU. At the most, that thing has 10A on a 12v rail and that is the ABSOLUTE most. It likey has 8A or so with NO LOAD on the 3.3/5v. Less when there is a load. I wouldnt put anything more than a dual core on there. And really, a single would be best.

Between case fans, the mobo, ram, and CPU on load a quad will blow the doors off 120W.
 
Last edited:
I would personally go for a dual core rather than a quad. The quad is too much for the PSU IMHO and is too much for the case, unless your looking into water cooling.
 
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