I have more computer issues(power supply question)

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Bones

Bones

ok my dell came stock with a 360 watt power supply, and it has yet to cause me any trouble. I have a, i7-920, ati 4850 gpu, 2 optical drives(one dvd and one blu-ray) and 2 WD green caviar drives. my friend warned me earlier that if I dont upgrade my PSU I will burn out my computer in a few days. I thought I would ask you smart people about it. so do I need to install a larger PSU, or is it simply a safe than sorry kind of thing? I dont understand how it was fine before the new drive, but now it is going to die...very confused.

thanks a bunch
 
C

Chibibar

360 does seem a bit low. The main power eaters are cooling (always have adequate cooling especially if you put more stuff), Video Card and Hard Drive. Most CPU/motherboard is pretty good in using less power now, but video card can really really drain it especially if you go Dual card system :) If you have added cooling that usually sucks up the ol electricity ;)


That is just my take.
 
Bones

Bones

basically a friend of mine who is a computer engineer/awesome sauce figured out that my current supply is adequet for what I have at the moment, but I still may upgrade my psu later.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

PSUs do decline in strength over time. If you're running close to capacity, keep an ear out for warning signs, have a spare handy. I always try to buy 20-25% more wattage than I need at the start to lay in a good cushion.

--Patrick
 
Bones

Bones

I decided to add a couple more sticks of memory so I am going to purchase a much more powerful unit to replace the current one on monday. it is an antec earthwatts 650 watt supply and it has been used in my model of computer by others so I know I can get it to fit.

EDIT:
ok as of right now I have replaced my PSU unit with the one listed above, it took me all morning but I should now have pleanty of power to keep the computer running. It is really hard to route wires in a mid-tower case, Kinda wish I had gone with a bigger full tower, but meh she seems to be running fine.
 
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