Is 450W PSU enough?

[d70]

Hi,

 

I have an existing Antec ATX (or mid) with a 450W PSU. Is it power to supply the following combo?

 

• GA-EX58-UD5
  
• i7 930
  
• EVGA 01G-P3-N981-TR GeForce 9800 GT 1GB
  
• 6 GB RAM
  
• 1 x optical drive
  
• 1 x 7200 RPM HDD
  
• PCI Firewire 800
  
• Wifi USB dongle
  

 

Thanks!

[-†Krad†-]

No that's not enough. I suggest you go with a 500-600w psu.

500w: fine for now, unless you plan on overclocking the CPU.

600w: a bit of future proofing especially for overclocking, but not quite enough for sli.

 

Check this site out for some help calculating minimum psu needs:

 

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/...powersupply.jpg

[pirloui]

I run my Q6600 overclocked + GF9800GT + 4GB ram + 3 Hard drives with a 380W Antec Earthwatts.

 

If you allready have the PSU, use it for now. You'll be better futureproofed by keeping your money for now, and you can rather get another PSU in the future.

IMHO..

[-†Krad†-]

Wow..never expected something like that, but your config and psu may have something to do with older quad core (not i7) and the fact that you use DDR2, but hey if it works it works...

[Zaap]

Newegg's PSU calculator posted here comes out with 500W for that system- and I'd say that's a pretty good estimate. Also keep in mind that quality of PSU counts for a lot more than just the number of Watts.

 

If one looks at the specs/sys requirements for a typical 9800GT/1GB (and the same for similar cards), you'll notice this:

 

"A minimum 400W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current rating of 26A)"

 

So rather than just the wattage, I'd pay closer attention to the 12V rail ratings and make sure a PSU is up to snuff for the chosen graphic card, plus everything else. System instability from a sub-par PSU is common, and often a user may think it's the OS or drivers, when in reality, some components of their system is starved for power, or the PSU is constantly under too heavy a load.

 

So anyway, if the OP's Antec 450W has enough amps on the 12V rail(s), it might be okay, at least to start with. It'd be fine for a quad 775 based system. However- I don't know what the unique power requirements of an i7 system are, so I'd look into that to be absolutely sure that you don't need a PSU that is specifically i7 compatible.