Help! Is my PSU good enough?

[purplemaestro]

Hi all!

I have recently upgraded my system and really need to know if my old PSU is actually up to the job. I have looked on a PSU Calculator and it seems that my power supply is ok. However, as far as I know, these only show wattage, which it seems is half the story… I do not overclocking etc…

My PSU is a “Thermaltake Purepower 480w Butterfly”

My system is as follows:

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (skt 939)
Asrock 939 Dual Sata motherboard
2 x 512mb RAM
ATI Radeon X1800XT 256mb
1 x Soundblaster Live! card
1 x CD drive
1 x DVD drive
2 x 40gb hard drives
2 x 92mm fans
1 x 120mm fan

If my PSU is deemed to be inadequate could you please list alternatives and reasons? I don’t really have a huge budget but am willing to spend enough to ensure my system is safe.

Thanks!

[dave87]

That should be fine, though when you build it monitor the voltages - and if they are low or drop under load then it maybe time to consider a new power supply.

If the voltage does seem low/drop under load, something like a Seasonic 5/600w would be a good investment, as it is nice & quiet, whilst also being a strong performer

edit - woo 1500 posts

[purplemaestro]

Thanks for the reply

I have been monitoring my voltages using fanspeed. I have not put the X1800XT in yet (am currently running a 9600XT until I am sure it is safe). The readings I am currently getting at idle are:

VCOREA: 1.42V
VCOREB: 1.47V
+3.3V: 3.42V
+5.21V: 5.21V
+12V: 12.16V
-12V: 1.71V
-5V: 2.44V
+5VSB: 5.64V
VBAT: 0.51V

As far as I am aware these are fine - am I correct in my assumption?

btw, well done on your posts!

[amjedm]

Thanks for the reply

I have been monitoring my voltages using fanspeed. I have not put the X1800XT in yet (am currently running a 9600XT until I am sure it is safe). The readings I am currently getting at idle are:

VCOREA: 1.42V
VCOREB: 1.47V
+3.3V: 3.42V
+5.21V: 5.21V
+12V: 12.16V
-12V: 1.71V
-5V: 2.44V
+5VSB: 5.64V
VBAT: 0.51V

As far as I am aware these are fine - am I correct in my assumption?

btw, well done on your posts!

Software doesn't give accurate voltages. If you want to measure correctly - use a multimeter

See this thread for advice on how to measure - http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=82665

[dave87]

Software doesn't give accurate voltages. If you want to measure correctly - use a multimeter

See this thread for advice on how to measure - http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=82665

yea, although that is true, they can give a rough indication of whether things are in the right sorta area.