help with power supply?

Question

ok so i know pretty much everything about hardware except the power supply lol

i have a 400watt i didnt purchase the computer at a store or any thing, i built it and im looking to get a bigger watt power supply

are there different kinds that wont work with mine?

what should i keep in mind?

lol i know it's stupid but i really dont know to much about power supplies.

plz help

Answer 1

it all depends on your hardware that you want to upgrade to



500watts is a good choice also most new power supplies have multipul connections for most mother boards made in the last 3 years for example you can get a power supply that has a 20pin plus a 4pin to make a 24pin if you need it

as seen here http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/svcompucycle/psuguideatx12v.jpg



also if your a gamer you'll want to make sure you get a power supply that has the 6 and 8pin connections used on any high end pci express video card the ati 2900xt uses a 6pin + a 8pin (although you can get by with 2 6pins)



alot of intel 775 socket boards use 24pins + a 8pin 12v connection



alot of 940 socket boards (AM2) use 24pin + 4pin 12v



heres a handy site that you can input your system configuration and it will tell you your power requirements

a good planning tool

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp



a good choice if you want a solid psu for the future is the thermaltake tough power line of psus

Answer 2

There are multipul types of Power Supplys. Most you have to worry about is the Motherboard Connection. There are as far as I know 4, maybe 5 diffrent type of Power Supply Motherboard Connections. You should check your motherboard requirements before looking into what type of powersupply you wish you buy. I also suggest going a little higher then your current power draw for furture expansions. Also keep in mind that with the current Tech, there are some Video Cards that require there own 4 connection direct from the power supply.

Answer 3

There is nothing wrong with a 400Watt PSU. You may consider one with atleast 500watts or more which would be an average and comfortable amount of stable power for your PC.

They are universal, it all depends how much power you need.

For instance, my PC has an ASUS EAX1950PRO Video card which requires a minimum of a 450watt power supply.

I also considered possibly adding hardware in the future as well so to be on the safe side, I installed an Ultra-Connect VS 700watt PSU. This way I'm covered should I choose to add an additional video card, a hard drive, a burner , etc.

Answer 4

Most important is finding a power supply unit (PSU) that fits your case (and motherboard form factor). The most common is ATX, but this is not the only type of PSU.



Next, the main component that requires a higher-wattage PSU is the video card. Check the power supply recommendations for your video card. If there are none, you can find nVidia chipset specifications at the eVGA website. This will give you a ballpark figure for proper PSU wattage.



BTW, it is very common for people to buy larger PSUs than they actually need. Don't bother upgrading unless the expense will definitely benefit you. Generally, people are much better off spending that extra $ on RAM.



Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 5

Make sure the number of pins on your motherboard match with the number of pins on your power supply. There are two kinds out right now, 20-pin and 24-pin; newer motherboards use the 24-pin variety.



I suggest getting at least 500w in case you decide to get a high-end graphics card; more if you're thinking of getting those crossfire cards.



Aside from that, you should also think about how much noise the power supply generates.

Answer 6

Wat you should look at most is your video card, if your card requires alot of power you need a better power supply.

also look at volts, most video cards now require a 12 volt rail. also you want to look at amps. for example and 8800 GTS wants a 12 volt rail running on 26 amps. most all power supply boxes have a diagram on them showing all the specs

Answer 7

use 500W