Power Supply

I just got a warning message up indicating that there is not enough power for my graphics cards. It pointed out the need for supplemental power connections, which I have, and also to be sure that I have a power supply sufficient to power all the components, which leads me here. I wonder if someone could confirm that the latter is in fact the case, and also opinions on a replacement power supply I have found.

The following are powered by a 650W supply:

2 x 7800GTX cards
Intel Q6600
4GB RAM
Audigy 2 Zs
One DVD/CD Rom
SLI 680i board
750GB HD
4 fans

So is it likely that the above is too much for my 650W supply? If so, I would appreciate opinions on this 1KW supply:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4S09&SearchType=1&CategorySelectedId=11259&SearchTerms=power+supply&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=11259,4294963789,4294953911

And another:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4QZP&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=power+supply&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=4294963789

at first glance the coolmaster looks like its biult better, and they have many many years of experience, when your running 1000 watts this counts

also notice the cool master says TRUE power, this means it can provide 1kw 100% of the time, its real peak is probably 1500watts, on the XILENCE it just says 1kw power supply, which to me screams 1kw PEAK with probably a 500 watt recommended constant load

also notice the coolmaster is not afraid to give up its specs down to each detail, the XILENCE doenst, another red flag against it

last red flag against the XILENCE is there is no nvidia logo, this means its not tested or certified to deal with the load of SLI, it might, but who knows

get the coolmaster

oh but first make sure you dont have any fans locked up, those little buggers will drain a ton of power trying to fight a seized bering

Thanks Osgeld!

The fans seem ok. So given the components I listed, is it very likely that I do need more than 650kW? I just don't want to order a new supply and then find out a fault somewhere is causing the message to come up.

And if I do need the new supply, is that coolmaster sufficient, or should I be looking at something else? Is there anything I need to consider when purchasing a supply, I mean I assume there are no compatability issues, they're all the same in that regard?

as long as its a brand new power supply it will be compatible with anything on the market past or present

as far as your current power draw its hard to tell,

roughly

video card - 80 watts *2 - 160 watts
cpu running full tilt - 100watts
ram 2 watts * 4 sticks - 8 watts
optical drive full speed - 30 watts
hard disk - 60 watts
sound card - 2 watts
fans 10 *4 - 40 watts
mainboard 100 watts
= 500 watts

based on loose averages pulled off the internet you should only be doing around 500 watts, but if your old power supply is 650w PEAK, it would be safe to guess its really only gonna give 325watts before overloading the components, and cause premature failures, such as your video card not getting enough juice, fans slowing down and various other glitches

so do you need a killowatt? yes if you get a cheap one, cause its probably only gonna do 500 watts without killing itself, if you get something like the cool master or any other supply that has REAL or TRUE wattage you would be fine with another 650watt

Thank you!

Osgeld's advise all makes sense to me, but you might also like to use a PSU Calculator and see what your actual wattage calculates out at, if only as a matter of interest:

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

that link doesnt work for me, which stinks because a pc wattage calculator would be handy in situations like this

seriously, have you tried to look up components power consumption??? i found us army documents detailing area 51 quicker (sarcasm)

I did, but the results from one source to another were about as consistent as the information you can find on Area 51

I just had another power warning, this time informing me that the processing speed will be dropped, so it appears the power supply is muchos needed. It should be delivered today, possibly tomorrow <fingers crossed>

Thanks for your help!

yea no problem, at least its dying slowly, nothing like sitting there using your pc, smell a poof of electronic smoke and then notice you blew a regulator