Do you really need that bigger PSU?

some11 · Post by **some11** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:40 am

Is there any point of having a 500w? ok if you have 3 DVDRW and 2HDD, there might, but does joe blogs have that!?

is there a way of measuring how much walts your using? - then i can figuer out how running a pc costs!

mb2 · Post by **mb2** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:16 am

is there a way of measuring how much walts your using?

yes - get a device such as a kill-a-watt or seasonic power angel. i've just received one in the post a couple of minutes ago

Is there any point of [joe blogs] having a 500w?

no. see here.
my system (see sig) is currently pulling a max of 65W. 50 at idle. u'd need more than DVD drives and HDDs to get to 500w; whack in a couple of very powerfull graphics cards in SLI and a presscott then maybe u need to think about it.

advertised PSU wattages, like dBA ratings and processor TDPs, are unregulated and not completely useful. many cheap PSUs wont output what they are rated at (good ones will output more), and theres the issue with power rail useage aswell (although it far from justifies 500w PSUs to 95% of people)

acyf · Post by **acyf** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 10:48 am

it's more important to say what CPU and video card you are running...and whether you are gonna overclock or not...

PopCorn · Post by **PopCorn** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 11:01 am

i bought a 400W enermax liberty to be safe for any upgrades i might do later on and i overclock my cpu and i havent really checked the rails woth a software program but i can tell im not even working the psu because the fan barely spins

some11 · Post by **some11** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:55 am

Ebuyer Extra Value KG-8830 ATX Middle Tower Case

Ebuyer Extra Value 500w ATX Power Supply in Blue With Dual Fans

Gigabyte GA-K8VT800 PRO Socket 754 K8T800

AMD (Newcastle) Athlon 64bit 3200+ 512kb L2cache 754pin Retail Boxed Processor With 3 Year Warranty and Fan Included

Maxtor 6Y080M0 Plus 9 80Gb 7200RPM

NEC ND3540A 16x DVDÂ±RW

Connect3d ATI Radeon 9550

[Also got a system fan] - but its not a fancy one

... and some more stuff, but i cant see how they could make any noise.

nothing is overclock....

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 3:21 am

ebuyer extra value and dual fans does not sound very quiet, to be honest.

That system will likely draw only something like 100W.

I run my opteron dual core at 2600mHz and a 7900GTX on a 300W psu

Is the graphics card passive?

I might just be stupid, but i don't understand if you already have the system you mentioned, or if you are about to buy it.

some11 · Post by **some11** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:05 am

My replies...

ebuyer extra value and dual fans does not sound very quiet, to be honest.

Yep, just read the guide - about finding what is making the noise..Yep, your right, its the PSU which was making the most...it was then the case fan, then the CPU fan (dont have any other fans....)

Is the graphics card passive?

its a AIT 9550 else i dont know - how would i find out?

you already have the system you mentioned, or if you are about to buy it.

I have it now, my coffee mug is on top of it

tho, i have got cash hidden away, and have been thinking about getting a new system (what do you think? start fresh, or just upgrade the nosiy parts?)

kill-a-watt or seasonic power angel

hey hey! that is exactly what i was after - could I ask where you got yours from - just done a quick eBay on it - just over 15

my system (see sig) is currently pulling a max of 65W. 50 at idle.

wow! is that it!?

That system will likely draw only something like 100W.

will get bk to you on that, when i do know

i bought a 400W enermax liberty to be safe for any upgrades i might do later on

what upgrades are you thinkig about? the guy above is only 65w...so would a 200w be just as good?

i can tell im not even working the psu because the fan barely spins

does this mean, get a huge PSU, hence the PSU doesn't have to work hard - hence its "slient"...but then does it cost more to run!?

Thanks for all the replys!

BillyBuerger · Post by **BillyBuerger** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:26 am

some11 wrote:
i can tell im not even working the psu because the fan barely spins
does this mean, get a huge PSU, hence the PSU doesn't have to work hard - hence its "slient"...but then does it cost more to run!?

Me thinks you need to read the Power Supply Fundamentals article. Particularly page 3.

some11 · Post by **some11** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 5:35 am

...lots of questions answear - thanks

*its 22 papers if you print it off

*

vincentfox · Post by **vincentfox** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:13 pm

So the REAL problem, which has been much lamented in many other thread and articles, is that no one seems to make well-balanced ATX power supplies that are EFFICIENT in a lower part of the power curve. Less heat generated means less fan power to cool it.

Sure there's a Seasonic 300 Watt unit that is efficient in the 90-150 Watt range. But it's one of those mini-supplies that doesn't fit in standard cases. I used a PC Power & Cooling 235 Watt ATX unit for some years. Good little unit and provided enough power for my needs. However not very efficient, so more heat so more fan noise.

Quite frankly what would make me happiest, is if they took the Seasonic S12 or M12 and tweaked it's efficency curve. I don't care if they lower the top end from 500W to 300 or not, I just want the 80+% efficiency part of the curve to be close to the low end instead of the high end.

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 5:57 pm

I buy from eBuyer on a weekly basis, the "eBuyer dual fan 500W PSU's" actually output more power than the 600W PSU's, and that according the the labels

Anyway they are nowhere near quiet, and probably dont even need the back fan for your sytem, but removing it means pulling the PSU apart, and it will still be loud by SPCR's standards.

Your case I cant comment on, the top Google of the case name + ebuyer came up with the thread I am writing right now which is really freaky........

The boxed cooler on your CPU is not really bad, but is not great, there are stacks of options on the reccomended list, the cheapest being the Alpine 64 dirt cheap at eBuyer if they have any.

That drive is not really nasty sounding, unless the rest of your system is quiet.

I am in half a mind to suggest starting from the beginning with a new PC as silencing is an expensive hobby and your system was cheap, but this is up to you.

If you want to go cheap and quiet just say so and I will give you the codes for the parts to order from eBuyer. What you want is a new PSU, and a new CPU heatsink for a start, then the case/case fans come into it, but you might just be able to mod the voltage and the case to keep it cool and quiet.

Andy

PopCorn · Post by **PopCorn** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:49 pm

by upgrades i mean as video cards get bigger they get more power hungery... and as cpus get faster theyll need more too... and when i get around to doing sli.... by upgrades i mean like when they come out with a 12GHz cpu its gonna be pwer hungery and the same with video... so in a couple of years my psu will still be decent and usable....when i bought it i was thinking long term

some11 · Post by **some11** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:46 am

Thanks andyb!

I buy from eBuyer on a weekly basis, the "eBuyer dual fan 500W PSU's" actually output more power than the 600W PSU's, and that according the the labels Shocked
Anyway they are nowhere near quiet, and probably dont even need the back fan for your sytem, but removing it means pulling the PSU apart, and it will still be loud by SPCR's standards.

So which PSU would you say? (Not the one which i have at the mo!)

Your case I cant comment on, the top Google of the case name + ebuyer came up with the thread I am writing right now which is really freaky........

didn't work for me....

The boxed cooler on your CPU is not really bad, but is not great, there are stacks of options on the reccomended list, the cheapest being the Alpine 64 dirt cheap at eBuyer if they have any.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products ... uid=105995
im thinking is the ninja worth the extra Â£$Â£$Â£$...

That drive is not really nasty sounding, unless the rest of your system is quiet.

Its loud when I write to it (reading its quiet) tho this is due to me having it for performance, over nosie....

I am in half a mind to suggest starting from the beginning with a new PC as silencing is an expensive hobby and your system was cheap, but this is up to you.

Im a studnet, money is something that has a limit - but i do want it to be slient...! ok - so IF i was to start again - what would you say? Im not a "hardcore gamer", will now and then play CS...Speed is what I do want! (that and it be slient)

Code: Select all

If you want to go cheap and quiet just say so and I will give you the codes for the parts to order from eBuyer. What you want is a new PSU, and a new CPU heatsink for a start, then the case/case fans come into it, but you might just be able to mod the voltage and the case to keep it cool and quiet.

will quote you on that

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 3:09 am

by upgrades i mean like when they come out with a 12GHz cpu its gonna be pwer hungry

The MHz race is over. there will never be a 12GHz CPU. The race is now to add more cores, and make them usable (ie for software to make use of multiple cores). As AMD and Intel have shown, multi-core CPU's can use the same or less amount of power than one core.

some11 · Post by **some11** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 7:23 am

The MHz race is over

Who won?!

stromgald · Post by **stromgald** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:05 pm

some11 wrote:
The MHz race is over
Who won?!

Nobody won except maybe the consumer. AMD kinda won since they ended the Mhz race first and got a slight advantage, but that seems to be gone now.

AMD proved with the Athlon64 that Mhz != Performance. The Pentium 4 Prescotts which had netburst could get higher speeds (Mhz) but were inefficient in doing things so the Athlon64s kicked its butt. Now, Intel has jumped on the efficiency bandwagon with the Core 2 series of processors.

Having higher Mhz, is much like having a faster car. But, no matter how fast your car is, if you're stuck in traffic, you'll still take a long time to get where you're going. Right now, the focus has turned to reducing the bottlenecks and optimizing the stuff inside the CPU (i.e. relieving the traffic by widening highly traveled roads).

stromgald · Post by **stromgald** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:18 pm

some11 wrote:
Ebuyer Extra Value KG-8830 ATX Middle Tower Case

Ebuyer Extra Value 500w ATX Power Supply in Blue With Dual Fans

Gigabyte GA-K8VT800 PRO Socket 754 K8T800

AMD (Newcastle) Athlon 64bit 3200+ 512kb L2cache 754pin Retail Boxed Processor With 3 Year Warranty and Fan Included

Maxtor 6Y080M0 Plus 9 80Gb 7200RPM

NEC ND3540A 16x DVDÂ±RW

Connect3d ATI Radeon 9550

[Also got a system fan] - but its not a fancy one

... and some more stuff, but i cant see how they could make any noise.
nothing is overclock....

Since you're on a budget, here's my suggestions:
I would replace the stock cooler with an Arctic Cooling Alpine64 (~$10-15). Its dirt cheap even at newegg.com. The Ninja (~$40-45) is overkill for your system. I'd rather spend that money towards a better PSU. At most, I would get a Zalman 7000B-AlCu (~$30) for your system.

If you're going to replace the whole case and PSU at once, I'd get an Antec NSK4400 (~$75) since it comes with a 380W PSU and fairly quiet case fans. If you're keeping the case, and just replacing the PSU, I'd look for an Antec SmartPower 2.0 or Fortron Blue Storm PSU. They have some fairly quiet 300-400W PSUs for about $40-50. If you're just replacing the PSU, you'll have to replace the case fans also. Yate Loon and low speed Panaflo fans are good, inexpensive choices.

After that, your noisiest components will probably be your hard drives and DVD drives.

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:48 pm

I think that IBM will win the MHz race in the foreseeable future, the Power 6 will be out this year @ 5 GHz.

Andy

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:22 pm

I think that IBM will win the MHz race in the foreseeable future, the Power 6 will be out this year @ 5 GHz

Yeah, but the TDP on those things is like 200W+. That's more than the Prescotts ever pulled.

PopCorn · Post by **PopCorn** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:26 pm

what i meant about the "12Ghz cpu" was simply saying i got the psu so i could still useit a few years from now and after there done getting to the max cores they can then they will go back to the GHz race

some11 · Post by **some11** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 4:56 pm

upgrades im thinking...

-(Case Fan) NF-S12 1200 RPM 120mm
http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... f-s12-1200

-(PSU) Seasonic S12 Series 380W
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/115238

-(CHEAP CPU + HeatSink) Arctic Cooling (AC-ALP-64)
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/105995

...and I think I might wait about, for a sale/offer to go on the Ninja and or Noctua

Btw, as long as it can come to the UK, i dont mind which webbie I buy from!

Thanks so much! You have really been helping me out!
-Some11

P.s. If there is anything else you think is as good, but a bit cheaper, or it there is something worth spending an extra Â£5 or so on, or if you think ive missed any products, please let me know!

Could I also thank the guys out, via PMs!

some11 · Post by **some11** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 6:06 am

-(PSU) Seasonic S12 Series 380W
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/115238

-(CHEAP CPU + HeatSink) Arctic Cooling (AC-ALP-64)
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/105995

is what ive just bought, and fitted...

I didn't get the case fan (from last post), becuase, ive just disconnect the old one, and not using it (pc is cool enought)

the PSU is a huge upgrade (thats "silent" enought for me), tho i now want a CPU fan and head sink to now "match" the level of quietness from the PSU...