Have I got the power supply level right??

[nicath]

hi everyone, I have just ordered the following spec and think it should all be ok, I would be very grateful if someone could just check my power supply wattage vs. spec etc.

I don't do gaming (except Chess), so shouldn't need a dedicated gpu, but might want to add one in the future if the need or wish arises, in which case should I be ok with the 450W power supply?, any comments greatly appreciated, thank you.

Case COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
CPU Intel® Core i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics (hd 3000)

Motherboard ASUS® P8H67-M LX SI (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, USB 2.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, 2 xPCI
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
INTEGRATED INTEL HD GRAPHICS (HDMI, DVI, 1920 X 1200)
1.5TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1502FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

 

[Unwina]

what does the configurator say?. When you have quoted it it will say if you have too much too little, thing is you don't seem to have a graphics card so i'm guessing that with the 450w it said you were ok.

I generally I would go for what the configurator says and add 20-30% on and select one from there. I also tend to go for a known branded item so in this case its probably the lowest corsair enthusiast perhaps. I never scrimp on PSU power if I can help it, better to have more and only use a little than to have the bare minimum and need a bit more yyou will just end up crashing your nice pc and wondering what has happened.

It also helps if you use the quote options to create the list for the forum that will give us your starting point url and allows us to go in and check your config quicker.

I just re-read and noticed you might want to add a GPU they tend to be power hungry that will mean you are probably too low and will need to change PSU as well.

One thing you cannot tell is what the dual rail PSU has on each rail I generally go for a better PSU with single (12v) rail and enough umph (Watts/Amps) on one rail. One with a good regulator on would be best I believe the Corsairs are good PSU's. One trick you can use is to trick the configurator into what you might want in the future so you can see what the supply requirements are.

Also the little help buttons to the right of each configurator option are really useful especially for GPU's and I think the PSU one tells you roughly how to work it out, but as I said the PCS configurator is a good one I think.

Hope this helps

 

[Unwina]

I also notice that you have the k version of the processor, if you are intending on using overclocking I'd recommend the following

• Use the Overclocking Option - PCS warranty will work better you can turn it off if you don;t want to use it all the time.
• Add in the arctic paste option - Arctic Cooling MX-3 High Thermal Conductivity Compound
• If you do intend to over clock then don't forget to check the warranty options in the forums.
  3284-Warranty-When-Overclocking!
  and the other overclocking messages
  9-Overclocking Forum

If you are not intending to overclock then the K version is not worth the extra money.

I checked your current config and the tool says you need 236W but if you add the lowest card nvidia needs min 350W and radion needs min 450W I'd go for the 650W enthusiast or even the 750 to give you some leeway later. Also remember you might want to add an extra drive. (see below)

One other thing I noticed is that you had a single 1.5T drive I'd go for the 750 Caviar Black for OS and 1.5T for 2nd (data) disk. You will unlikely need all the 750 for OS so you could partition it. Make sure they are the 64MB cache for the OS at least. I think this was £30 more but it will be well spent I feel.

The reason for 2 drives is that you could use the data disk for backups of OS disk. The likely-hood of 2 disks going down is much lower. I tried external backup but they tend to be too slow I find unless you are doing a big backup for holiday when you don't mind it being more sluggish. I do update backups every 3 days now that I have had too many close shaves with my important stuff.

I also missed off the warranty tip, you can get a better warranty (silver instead of Bronze) for £5 more. Its well worth the extra unless you are buying even better warranty of course.

Hope this helps

 

[pr1s0ner]

generally I would go for what the configurator says and add 20-30% on and select one from there

Thats usually my thinking: or leave extra power for future upgrades/outboard kit etc... but does anyone know of any tested example with power supply configurations. With plenty of other power applications underloading is often as bad as overloading (I'm thinking AC motors, PA equipment etc...)
It sounds a bit counter intuitive, but often this stuff is designed to operate at a particular level or range, and outside of that, higher or lower can reduce efficiency or lower lifespan? Anyone aware of any tests?

 

[nicath]

Hey, thanks for your answers. I just spoke with the guys at PCS and double checked. My psu is fine for me and I have an extra 150 W to play with if I want, so in view of only needing integrated graphics, I should be fine, and if I want to add a low to mid level gpu at a later stage there shoud be enough.

I am not looking to overclock, I specifically chose the i5 2500K version because it is the only i5 with HD3000 graphics instead of HD2000 as on all the other i5's, I wanted the better integrated gpu (that's my logic anyway). I dont do gaming but like to watch decent quality videos sometimes on the pc.
Once again, thanks for your answers.

 

[Unwina]

thats interesting about the HD2000/3000 I've looked at this stuff over the last few weeks like I dream it in my sleep never picked up on that one. Must go and see if the same is true on the i7-2600/k options not that it bothers me much as I wanted the overclock.

I love it on here learning all the time and at my age too I gave you some Rep for that one.

 

[nicath]

Nice of you to answer me Unwina, this is my first ever time at speccing my own pc so I am NO EXPERT whatsoever, hence my original questions, but I did very carefully check out the difference between HD2000 & HD3000, basically double the execution units (in Intels own language!).

Anyway, I think it will be quite an eye opener for me when I get my new machine, especially in view of what I am going from (an Intel E-2140 @ 1.6ghz) !!!

Repped you back & thanks for your good answers