500 Watt or 600 Watt?

**mac89** · November 04, 2006, 05:46 PM

Is 600 really necessary or can you just go with 500?
And what brand is best? Im thinking about an OZC or Coolermaster.
Thanks in advance!

**Germanicus75** · November 04, 2006, 08:20 PM

I've got a 550 watt Ultron, if that helps at all. The most important thing is that you've got enough amperage on the rails and that the PSU is stable and from a reliable producer, not the wattage so much. Of course, you'll need enough watts to power your devices though.
Check out this link: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/p....jsp#footnote2

**mac89** · November 05, 2006, 06:23 AM

Are all power supplies compatible with ATX motherboards these days?

**Spart** · November 05, 2006, 08:07 AM

Yeah, they mostly are, at least those big ones I think. What kind of system do you need that psu for? 500W is more than enough for high end system nowadays, but if you're going to have like Quad-SLI and 10 harddrives.. =)
Look at the prizes and quality. Lots of amps for 12V rail.

**Erik** · November 05, 2006, 08:44 AM

300W is enough for normal systems.
500W is more than enough for high end systems.

In PSU's quality is more important than wattage.

**mac89** · November 05, 2006, 10:10 AM

I got this one, is it alright do you think?

**Erik** · November 05, 2006, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by mac89

I got this one, is it alright do you think?

I'm no expert but I think that's a very good power supply.
Cooler Master is a good brand, and this one sound like one of there better products.
It might be a bit overkill though.

Originally Posted by Germanicus91

Yeah, those dual cores and DX10 cards are power-hungry...

You are right about DX10 card: they will consume more power.
But the difference isn't going to be 100's of watts of course.

But intel Core 2 Duo processors (I think you were referring to them) consume less power than older intel processors.

Originally Posted by Shaun

Actually, Crossfire systems need 550W

I would like to see some evidence for that.

Also, remember the advertised number is power CONSUMPTION, not power OUTPUT.
This makes a huge difference because it means a 80% efficient 300W power supply delivers as much power to your computer as a 600W model that is just 40% efficient.

**Shaun** · November 05, 2006, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by Erik

300W is enough for normal systems.
500W is more than enough for high end systems.

In PSU's quality is more important than wattage.

Actually, Crossfire systems need 550W, and its best not to get the bare minimum so better off getting 600W from a good brand.

**krazykarl** · November 05, 2006, 11:50 AM

it really depends on what you are running, but a 600 watt name brand PSU will give you a bit more flexablity in the future with upgrades, as desktop hardware keeps sucking back more power every generation.

**Germanicus75** · November 05, 2006, 12:08 PM

Yeah, those dual cores and DX10 cards are power-hungry...

**ProudNerd** · November 05, 2006, 05:33 PM

even the new 8800 dx10 card only suggests a 450watt psu. id go with the 500watt unless you want sli.

**mac89** · November 06, 2006, 09:37 AM

I'm no expert but I think that's a very good power supply.
Cooler Master is a good brand, and this one sound like one of there better products.
It might be a bit overkill though.

Well, might be so but its not that expensive. I went ahead and bought it.