Technical Question

[Levi Argon]

I've just received an email from a member of staff who works for the company from which I am ordering new parts for my computer. He says that there will be no compatability problems except I need to make sure I have a 300w PSU.

This leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. What's a 300w PSU and how do I know if I have one?

[TheHolo.Net]

300w PSU referrs to the PC's power suppy. The only way to know what wattage your power supply is, is to pop open the case and look at the label on the side of the power suply.

[Levi Argon]

Ok. I'll check for that in a moment. But thank God for that; I just searched for a 300w PSU and the results were of remote power supply units costing over £250. Which gave me quite a fright.

[TheHolo.Net]

250w PSU is usually standard in most PCs, but recent PCs are more likley to have a 300 since its more common for PCs to have 2 CDROMs and or other periphials that require extra power.

[Levi Argon]

Krast! Mine has only a 250w output. Perhaps I could overclock it to 300. :lol

How much do you think a 300w PSU would cost?

[TheHolo.Net]

a 300w PS here in the US usually runs about $50 or $60...I think.

Overclocking a PS is not possible, but taxing a 250 to 300 can have very poor results.

[Levi Argon]

I was only joking about the over-clocking bit. Hence the dirty, great :lol . :mneh

Bloody hell! Looks like I got more buying to do. But it'll be worth it.

[Levi Argon]

Turns out the same company, Overclockers UK, also sell a wide range of Power Supplies.

For a 300W Sparkle ATX they charge £41.13 inc. VAT. Not bad. Not bad at all.

[Figrin D'an]

For a power supply, I would recommend the following:

1) Get a 350W supply if you can. It never hurts to have the extra juice available.

2) Go with Enermax or Antec. Either one of those are the best ones around, at least in the US. They should be available in the UK, but I can't say for certain.

[Levi Argon]

I was considering getting a greater power supply but was worried that it might cause problems for my older hardware.

I could buy this (http://www.enermax.com.tw/eg365ax-ve-fca.htm), it is available from OCUK at £49.94 inc. VAT.

So my only question now is, would having extra power cause any problems?

[Figrin D'an]

I don't see why it would cause any problems. The power required for each part of your system... drives, motherboard, processor, etc,... is regulated by those individual parts. Having the extra wattage just ensures that you will have enough juice to power more units if you decided to further upgrade your system. Newer processors = faster = larger power requirement... that kind of thing.

[Loki Ahmrah]

Righto. 350W it is. Thanks for your help and advice you lot. :)

[Morgan Evanar]

Sparkle makes excellent PSUs. Enermax, Antec and Sparkle are all very solid units.

A cheapo "350" watt won't touch a product from one of the aformentioned manufactuers... but since its an enermax its all good.