Questions regarding power supplies

[computernewbie]

I am thinking of purchasing a power supply for an athlon 64 3500+ (socket 939) or an athlon 64 3800+ (socket 939), first off what is the recommended power supply for this case, and second, what is the meaning of p4 ready (does it means pentium 4 compatible only?).

Thanks for your replies

[Darthtanion]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

There are a lot of good power supplies, but the most stable one I've tested so far is the Thermaltake 480w "Butterfly" model. It has given the most consistent voltage readings along all power rails and also has a multi-colored lighting on its side panel (you can just leave the removeable cover in place if you don't like this effect). It is the PSU that I use in my FX-53 box and I have yet to have any issues with it.

As to a PSU being P4 Ready, it simply means that it comes with a flat auxilliary Molex connector that was used in certain P4 motherboards a while back. It will work just fine with an AMD system, the notation just tells owners of older Intel boards that the PSU is compatible with their rig.

[computernewbie]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

Thanks for the information, one more question, do you think 420w is enough for an athlon 64 3800+ (I am not planning on overclocking it {and if i do it will be very mild overclocking}).

[Terry East]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

You don't mention if you will be running SLI or not for video. IF you are then you may want to consider going 500watts or better to support the video cards. When selecting a PSU you need to know if your video card requires a PCI-E power lead. This is a six pin power connector designed to feed today's high end video cards. Not all PCI-E cards require it now but if you upgrade video later it could be a factor. Also you can check the efficiency rating of the power supply. Thay are not all equal. SeaSonic just released their SS line of 80% effecient power supplies. Also you can compare noise ratings as well. Lots of factors to weigh, or you can go to CompUSA and get a $30 psu and be happy.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

If you have even one high-powered video card, I'd say go 480W to be safe. If you have SLI or over clock, well over 500W would be recommended. There are a number of good PSU vendors, such as Antec, Thermaltake, Sparkle, and Enermax. I have personally had very good experiences with Thermaltake, and the Butterfly model Darth mentioned is very good.

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

I am currently considering the OCZ Powerstream 520, though it is expencive and the rail adjustments should only be handles if you know what you are doing, But I though I would mention OCZ as an option too.

[computernewbie]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

While in my mythical quest for power supplies, i noticed that some power supply say atx and micro atx, does this mean that there are ps for micro atx only and ps's for atx only, or any ps will do as long as it has the right wattage?

Also to give you a better idea, i am going to post the computer i plan to build so you can tell how much watts do i need:

Motherboard: K8N NEO2-PLATINUM
Processor: AMD ATHLON 3800+
Fan: Zalman CNPS7700-Cu Cooler
Ram: 1X512 ddr 400 (later, i plan to add 2X512 kingstone ddr400)
Video card: Geforce fx5200
Hard disk: 1X30gb maxtor and 1X20gb seagate (I plan to also upgrade this later on)
Power supply: Unknown-??? watts
1 floppy disc drive
1 MSI 16x dvd burner
1 MSI CD-ROM drive (52X)

(the dvd burner, video card, hard disks, floppy, and ram i already have from a previous computer {yes i know the hard disks suck }).

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

A 420W Thermaltake will handle that just fine. Mine handles more.

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

May I ask why you chose the FX5200?

[Arjun]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

computernewbie, do not use that video card with a 3800 if u want to game. You can save cash getting a slower processor but get a decent video card and the net effect will be lightyears better as none of your components will be bottlenecked.

If u don't play games ignore what i just said.

[computernewbie]

Re: Questions regarding power supplies

I plan to upgrade the video card later on (much later on after the hard disk and memory), so ill just spend all the money on a processor to avoid having to buy a new one so soon.

May I ask why you chose the FX5200

At the time i bought 5200 i was planning to buy a geforce 5600, unfortunately for me, i wasn't able to buy through the internet (I.E. i didn't have a credit card for being 17, now i am 19) and so i have to buy it on my country, the problem is that in my country electronics are sold at 4X the prices you can get in the most expensive stores in the United States (even though people on average gain like 4 times less), and since i was desperate (i had previously a geforce mx400) i bought the 5200 which was cheaper knowing (2.5X the price of the same product in USA) full well that i'll be forced to upgrade it in a relatively short term.
Also the main bottleneck for now is the very slow hard disks i have (at least they bottleneck while loading something for the first time after that it stays in the ram).