Seasonic Sizing question

Mystr_Byrnz · Post by **Mystr_Byrnz** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 11:03 pm

Do you think the Seasonic S12 500W would be good for the following setup?:

AMD64 Athlon 3200
Abit AN8 SLi Fatal1ty
1GB Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL (DDR400)
eVGA Geforce 6800GT (eventually 2 in SLi)
200GB Diamondmax 10 SATA
NEC DvD burner 16X
Antec P180

I'm looking for something pretty quiet to go along with the P180, but it also needs to give me the power I need. I don't plan to do SLi in the immediate future, but I'd like to be able to just buy the vid card when I do make that decision. I know this power supply has been talked up all over the place, and I think it'll work in my rig. I just thought I'd ask.

Post by **Rusty075** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 8:44 am

Some rough wattage math:

3200 = 56W, max
6800GT = 55W times 2=110W
HDD= ~20W
Mobo/RAM= ~30

Total draw= ~216 watts.

Even if you assume worst case scenario and have all the wattage being pulled from the 12V lines, that's only 18amps. A decent 300W ATC12V x2.0 or newer PSU will be plenty of juice. If I were going to buy one right now, it'd be the S12-430. Plenty of power for your needs, plus it will be significantly quieter than the 500, which uses a higher speed fan.

Vulcan · Post by **Vulcan** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:55 am

Rusty075 wrote:Some rough wattage math:

3200 = 56W, max
6800GT = 55W times 2=110W
HDD= ~20W
Mobo/RAM= ~30

Total draw= ~216 watts.

Even if you assume worst case scenario and have all the wattage being pulled from the 12V lines, that's only 18amps. A decent 300W ATC12V x2.0 or newer PSU will be plenty of juice. If I were going to buy one right now, it'd be the S12-430. Plenty of power for your needs, plus it will be significantly quieter than the 500, which uses a higher speed fan.

I'd get the 500w, just for the dual PCI-E conectivity. Using an adapter works, but its not a good solution imo.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 12:13 pm

I was going to recommend the 430, but I hadn't thought about that, good point. In light of this, I'd say get the 500. Shouldn't be any noise difference between the two, IIRC they use the same fan. Probably more power than you need, but it's a better unit in many ways that the lower models.

Mystr_Byrnz · Post by **Mystr_Byrnz** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 3:01 pm

Thanks for the replies guys.

I was looking at the 430, but then noticed the two PCIe plugs on the 500. that's what leaned me that way. thanks again.

Post by **MikeC** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 4:26 pm

frostedflakes wrote: Shouldn't be any noise difference between the two, IIRC they use the same fan.

They don't. The 500 and 600 models are a bit louder. Read the reviews again to be sure.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 8:32 pm

Thanks for the correction Mike, I won't let it happen again.

technarch · Post by **technarch** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:16 am

Rusty, why a 430?

From your rough wattage math you only come up to 216 watts..

Why not go with a 330w S12 as a choice instead? It's cheaper, and you can potentially benefit from a higher efficiency curve.

teknerd · Post by **teknerd** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:14 am

technarch wrote:Rusty, why a 430?

From your rough wattage math you only come up to 216 watts..

Why not go with a 330w S12 as a choice instead? It's cheaper, and you can potentially benefit from a higher efficiency curve.

There are several reasons to go higher:
1) There are more components than what Rusty listed (fans, opticla drives, external devices, etc)
2) Its always good to have overhead in case you add later
3) Current components pull dispraportionatly on the 12V line, so even if the computer only requires 215W to run, it might need 180W of that on the 12V line, while a 330W power supply only provides 150W on the 12V line. (note that these are not acurate values for the system or seasonic s12 330, i am simply using them as an example).

tabbal · Post by **tabbal** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:24 am

technarch wrote:Rusty, why a 430?

From your rough wattage math you only come up to 216 watts..

Why not go with a 330w S12 as a choice instead? It's cheaper, and you can potentially benefit from a higher efficiency curve.

I agree!
I have about the same configuration load; and a Seasonic S12-330 - and it is more than enough for now and in the forseeable future; because it has a lot of power left to spare!
It is very quiet, a lot cheaper and doesn't add a lot of heat.
Bigger is not necessarily better!
PS. Even if "There are more components than what is listed (fans, opticla drives, external devices, etc)": They do not all draw power at the same time! Maybe just half of the components at the most do need full power at any given time... and the other half sits idle!