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CessnaPilot09  New Forum Member Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Total posts: 36 Location: In my home in Alabama Age: 22 Gender: Male
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Hey guys. I'm still relatively new to building, but so far it's been a breeze for me. I'm a good learner  . But there is one piece of information I can't seem to find anywhere! I've looked all over my system for this info and have tried several web sites, but I can't find out if there's a way to tell how much of the power supply is being used. I found a list of certain peripherals and approximately how much wattage they use on howstuffworks, but it was all older processers and such and I knew today's stuff probably uses more power than older stuff.
I have a 600W PSU and want a stronger graphics card, the NVidia 9800GTX+ to be specific. I currently have in:
ASUS M3N78 Pro mother board with an AMD dual core 3.0Gz processer
2GB DDR2 RAM
SATA 250GB Hard drive (RPM unkown)
Sony DVD-RW Drive
NVidia 9600GSO graphics card, 768MB, 580mHz core
All temperatures stay well below 110 degrees Farenheit.
Does anyone have an idea how much wattage is being used, and if it would be safe for me to buy and install the 9800GTX+? Or if there's a way to check on the wattage usage? |
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| rd Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Total posts: 4240 Location: COMFORTABLY NUMB, in U.S.A. *** KOFF *** Age: 19 Gender: Male
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One thing you have to remember. Just because it's newer, doesn't mean it needs more power. Some things use power more efficiently, than others.
But, I would put your system in the 650+ PSU category.
This may sound stupid, but you should be fine with 600. It really depends on what brand it is, and whether it can sustain the amp loads that your system needs.
If it's a good/decent brand PSU, then you should be fine, with the NVidia 9800GTX+.
RD |
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Cat1 Forum Moderator - Master member Joined: 02 Jul 2004 Total posts: 1487 Location: KFTW (Meacham Intl, Ft. Worth) Age: 39 Gender: Male
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The manufacturers web sites will usually have that type of information somewhere, if not a call to tech support may be able to get you the answer.
RD is correct, newer doesn't mean more power required. In fact with some components it's the opposite. |
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tropicalfish Addict to SurClaro Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Total posts: 989 Age: 4 Gender: Male
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600W is more than sufficient.
What brand is your CURRENT power supply? |
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CessnaPilot09New Forum Member Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Total posts: 36 Location: In my home in Alabama Age: 22 Gender: Male
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It's made by Ultra. Not an OEM.
To Tropicalfish: I'll check their web site for that info. I completely forgot about that! 
Me thinks you have the Cat and the Fish confused |
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tropicalfishAddict to SurClaro Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Total posts: 989 Age: 4 Gender: Male
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| CessnaPilot09 wrote: | It's made by Ultra. Not an OEM.
To Tropicalfish: I'll check their web site for that info. I completely forgot about that! |
Your current power supply inside your computer is made by Ultra? |
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| rd Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Total posts: 4240 Location: COMFORTABLY NUMB, in U.S.A. *** KOFF *** Age: 19 Gender: Male
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| tropicalfish wrote: | 600W is more than sufficient.
What brand is your CURRENT power supply? |
Hey Fish, the Manufacturer requires a minimum of 450 watts with the NVidia 9800GTX+.
600 watts should be the minimum. Therefore, it is not "more than sufficient".
Rule #1: Always get a PSU at least 100 watts more than is required. No brainer there. 
RD |
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tropicalfishAddict to SurClaro Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Total posts: 989 Age: 4 Gender: Male
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| rd wrote: | | tropicalfish wrote: | 600W is more than sufficient.
What brand is your CURRENT power supply? |
Hey Fish, the Manufacturer requires a minimum of 450 watts with the NVidia 9800GTX+.
600 watts should be the minimum. Therefore, it is not "more than sufficient".
Rule #1: Always get a PSU at least 100 watts more than is required. No brainer there.
RD |
It *recommends* that much, which would be on a general system including processor and other drives, not to mention that his processor isn't all that power hungry either.
The graphics card will use no more than 250W. The wattage requirement is as a safety measure to ensure that the amperages are sufficient. (Which he should have at least 30A on the 12V)
I don't know if Ultra is a good PSU manufacturer. What model is it? |
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heeshung SurClaro senior forum member Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Total posts: 571
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| Ultra? I'd say it's just right for your system. However, if you add any more peripherals, you might want to start looking at higher wattages. For now, the 600W should be no problem for your computer. |
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| rd Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Total posts: 4240 Location: COMFORTABLY NUMB, in U.S.A. *** KOFF *** Age: 19 Gender: Male
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| tropicalfish wrote: | | rd wrote: | | tropicalfish wrote: | 600W is more than sufficient.
What brand is your CURRENT power supply? |
Hey Fish, the Manufacturer requires a minimum of 450 watts with the NVidia 9800GTX+.
600 watts should be the minimum. Therefore, it is not "more than sufficient".
Rule #1: Always get a PSU at least 100 watts more than is required. No brainer there.
RD |
It *recommends* that much, which would be on a general system including processor and other drives, not to mention that his processor isn't all that power hungry either.
The graphics card will use no more than 250W. The wattage requirement is as a safety measure to ensure that the amperages are sufficient. (Which he should have at least 30A on the 12V)
I don't know if Ultra is a good PSU manufacturer. What model is it? |
It does not *recommend* 450W, it *REQUIRES* a minimum of 450W: http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9800_gtx_plus_us.html
Look at the last box for power. And yes, it only uses 141W max.
RD |
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tropicalfishAddict to SurClaro Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Total posts: 989 Age: 4 Gender: Male
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| rd wrote: | | tropicalfish wrote: | | rd wrote: | | tropicalfish wrote: | 600W is more than sufficient.
What brand is your CURRENT power supply? |
Hey Fish, the Manufacturer requires a minimum of 450 watts with the NVidia 9800GTX+.
600 watts should be the minimum. Therefore, it is not "more than sufficient".
Rule #1: Always get a PSU at least 100 watts more than is required. No brainer there.
RD |
It *recommends* that much, which would be on a general system including processor and other drives, not to mention that his processor isn't all that power hungry either.
The graphics card will use no more than 250W. The wattage requirement is as a safety measure to ensure that the amperages are sufficient. (Which he should have at least 30A on the 12V)
I don't know if Ultra is a good PSU manufacturer. What model is it? |
It does not *recommend* 450W, it *REQUIRES* a minimum of 450W: http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9800_gtx_plus_us.html
Look at the last box for power. And yes, it only uses 141W max.
RD |
That just simply means that total system power supply CANNOT be below 450W.
I give up. Your narrow vision is missing the big picture. RD
lol.
Last edited by tropicalfish on Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:38 am; edited 2 times in total |
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CessnaPilot09New Forum Member Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Total posts: 36 Location: In my home in Alabama Age: 22 Gender: Male
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Man, I lost track of what you all were saying. And sorry about the mix up with the fish and the cat, I tend to do that a lot 
From what I gather, and I believe is true, a manufacturer's recommended wattage for their product is a safety measure, huh? I guess I can believe that, it only makes sense.
Alright, here's a new question: What would happen should I exceed the wattage my power supply can handle? Would it meltdown or would I see a warning message describing an overload? |
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tropicalfishAddict to SurClaro Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Total posts: 989 Age: 4 Gender: Male
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| CessnaPilot09 wrote: | Man, I lost track of what you all were saying. And sorry about the mix up with the fish and the cat, I tend to do that a lot
From what I gather, and I believe is true, a manufacturer's recommended wattage for their product is a safety measure, huh? I guess I can believe that, it only makes sense.
Alright, here's a new question: What would happen should I exceed the wattage my power supply can handle? Would it meltdown or would I see a warning message describing an overload? |
Your power supply (if it is a quality one) will cut off.
Your power supply should run your current CPU with a new graphics card without a hitch.
Do you have a model number for your power supply? |
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| rd Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Total posts: 4240 Location: COMFORTABLY NUMB, in U.S.A. *** KOFF *** Age: 19 Gender: Male
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Which is the reason I go by Rule #1.
You can't have too much power. Your system will use what it needs. But for your system, I would stay with your 600w PSU, as I said earlier.
RD |
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CessnaPilot09New Forum Member Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Total posts: 36 Location: In my home in Alabama Age: 22 Gender: Male
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My system runs cool, at about 89 degrees Farenheit usually. While running games, like FS and DOOM3, I can come back to find the temperature a few degrees higher. I'm not sure if heat is a major player in determining the PSU's load, but I do know higher wattages in electronics or electrical devices is usually tagged with heat as a by-product.
P.S. Would anyone be willing to recommend a personal favorite motherboard/CPU/PSU combination? PM me if you've got any suggestions. |
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