How big a PSU do I need?

[Pealy]

I've just about recovered from a HD falure which I'm convinced was due to my PSU starting to fail. I have a digidoc which monitors the 5V and 12V feeds and the 5V was definitely getting too low. I've since had to upgrade the MOBO to get the replacement drive working (and so the Processor and Memory) and I'm now paranoid about making sure my PSU is up to the job.

In the (big) case I have:

P4 2.4 MOBO with 1GB DDR
1 x 20GB Maxtor running from ATA133 PCI Card
1 x 160GB Seagate Barracuda (ATA)
1 x 200GB Seagate BArracuda (ATA)
1 x 200GB Maxtor (ATA)
(All drives are in Cooldrive enclosures with fans set to cut in at about 35C)
Didgidoc temp/voltage monitor & fan controller.
Combi CD/DVD Writer.
2 x Arctic 80mm temperature controlled fans
1 x Arctic CPU temp controlled CPU cooller
1 x 802.11g PCI card
1 x Bog Standard Video Card

It's all running quite happily from a cheap 300W PSU at the moment but Im putting in a decent 400w supply today. Is 400 enough or should I be looking to go higher. I have considered a dual PSU set-up but this might be overkill..

Any opionions?

[mike_w]

A decent 400W should be enough - remember the brand is more important than the wattage. Stay away from Q-Tec, and stick to the good ones e.g. Antec, Tagan, and you should be fine.

[iMc]

As above, make sure you have at least 22A on the 12+V line and all shall be well.

[Pealy]

A decent 400W should be enough - remember the brand is more important than the wattage. Stay away from Q-Tec, and stick to the good ones e.g. Antec, Tagan, and you should be fine.

Dead right - I cancelled an order for 2 q-tec's when I realised what I was doing! I've got an AOpen FSP400-60BNP which might be a re-badged Fortron?? Not the best but if 400W is enough it should be reliable.

[Pealy]

As above, make sure you have at least 22A on the 12+V line and all shall be well.

Oh dear - the Aopen looks to be max 16A on 12V, maybe I should think again.

[StoneNewt]

I hope this doesn't controvean any rules, but here is a great guide to work out how much power your system requires It's not simple but it gives you a fairly definative answer as to the power requirements (and belive me you'll work out why SFFs can 'make do' with a 300~350w psu)

[Pealy]

I hope this doesn't controvean any rules, but here is a great guide to work out how much power your system requires It's not simple but it gives you a fairly definative answer as to the power requirements (and belive me you'll work out why SFFs can 'make do' with a 300~350w psu)

Crikey StoneNewt, I think I'll need to pour myself a large glass of Chianti before I tackle that one.. Thanks for the link though, a great test for how committed I am to getting it right!

[terror_adagio]

If you are going to overclock, I recommend at least 520W. A good power supply, don't cheap out.

[StoneNewt]

oh it's not that bad Pealy... just take a deep breath and follow what it says exactly, if my partner can follow it I'm sure you can!

[RegMaster]

I think that the best would be a real 450W power supply, of any builder, but not oem. the hard drives needs sufficient energy to run fine

[menthel]

Tagan are damn fine and you can get the 480w one for a good price now. Probably £60 odd quid.

[roklipni]

Hmmm, how bout Tagan TG420-U01? I have heard only good about it.

[hatsumi]

I second (or third!) the Tagan reccomendation. I am using the Antec Neopower 480W, but the Tagan 480W was much quieter. (I managed to blow one up! hence the neopower)

[Scarlet Infidel]

Lol how 'big' cracks me up every time. 480w tagan here too, you'll never look back.

[herulach]

If youre really on the cheap, and of course depending how big your case is then you could always go for 2 psus. WE had that for a while as a crutch in our house file server. (Used a 250W generic i got in my system when i first bought it 3 years ago (pre built, oh god i was such a noob))

[Pealy]

I'd kill for a Tagan 480-U01, it's clearly a well respected supply but there's no way I can afford £60 (the missus would kill me) I'll keep an eye out for a cheap one on ebay but I'm thinking a dual PSU might be the way to go for now. If I did, should I use the good (AOPEN) PSU to power the disks to protect the data and the Cheapo to run the MOBO or the other way round?