is 350 watt enough?

[tft]

Hi everyone, right now I have a pcpc 350w psu. In a few days I'll get my new parts in, I'll be running an abit kd7 w/ an xp 1600. My question is if 350 watts is enough, also, I do plan to overclock quite a bit. I'm also wondering just what is the difference between different watt psu's (besides the higher numbers
)

thanks

 

[james.miller]

normally it should be fine. but it depends on what other system components you have: hdd's cd-rom's ect.

if you have a newer graphics card (gf4 or a new ati card) then id definatly reccomend a more powerfull psu (400watts minimum) becuase they use a lot of power. likewise if your using more than 1 hdd, or dvd+cd-writer ect.

to be honest i cant remember exactly what to look for when it comes to psu's - i know its definatly the 12v and 5v rails that are important - something like 40amps combined if im not mistaken, but im not sure. somebody else will be able to tell you that.

 

[tft]

ok, I see, the more or newer components you have the more power you'll probably need.
I have a bit of a dilemma, I got a new case, and it came w/ a cheapo no-name 450 psu. I also have my pcpc 300 watt psu. which one should I go with? I'm going to be overclocking, so I need stability in the voltages, which the cheapo psu might not be able to deliver, but on the other hand, the 300 watt one might not be enough? Which one should I use?
Thanks

 

[james.miller]

the 450 id say. even though its cheaper, the increase in available power should easily offset that. definatly go for the 450w

 

[tft]

yeah, the board I'm getting has one of those 4-pin extra power lines that is supposed to make up for psu flucuation. But actually I just heard that some place, what do those really do, would that make up for the no-name psu?
Here a pic of what I'm talking about

 

[james.miller]

that connector provides a more stable power supply to the board, by bypassing the cd drives and hard drives and connecting straingh to the board. Much like the 4 pin header on the p4 motherboards do.

unless your psu has that connector, you wont be able to take advantage of it. That wont matter though, because that 450w should still be more than adiquate

 

[tft]

yup, my psu has it, so I should be all set then.
thanks for the help james.miller