Is my 500W power supply enough??

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SvenK

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#1 SvenK
Member since 2004 • 25 Posts

i am making a computer for a friend of me thats not to expensive and can play all the new games on high or normal setting.., what i have:

-Asus M2A-VM (supports the new phenom processor)
-AMD Athlon X2 5000+ (the 65W one with 1MB L2)
-2GB DDR2 800Mhz
-Case with 500W power supply
-
DVD writer
-320GB SATA 2 Hard Disk
-ATI HD3870 Videocard 512MB DDR4,.... the 55nm one

I think the videocardasks more power?...

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RayvinAzn

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#2 RayvinAzn
Member since 2004 • 12552 Posts

You do know that all AM2 motherboards technically support the Phenom with a BIOS update - only AM2+ boards give you the full range of features with Phenom though.

That being said, a case/power supply combo is generally a bad idea, but some case power supplies are better than others. If that's an Antec Sonata III, you're just fine. If it's a Raidmax or Apevia case, I wouldn't say you need more power, you just need a properly rated and more efficient unit.

However, even a mediocre 500w unit should be more than enough for that system - just make sure the power supply has a 24-pin motherboard connector and 6-pin PCI-e connector. A lot of cheaper case/power supply combos come with power supplies rated as high as 600w, yet don't even have a modern setup like the one I listed above. Some of those units have hugely overpowered 3.3v and 5v rails for today's computers which are more heavily reliant on the +12v rail, making their somewhat impressive wattage rating useless in a practical setting.

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Roguetrp

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#3 Roguetrp
Member since 2006 • 219 Posts
make sure you have enough amps coming from the psu. buy a good make and you'll be fine
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SvenK

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#4 SvenK
Member since 2004 • 25 Posts
Thx, and yes the case is a Antec Sonata III:)
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RayvinAzn

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#5 RayvinAzn
Member since 2004 • 12552 Posts

Thx, and yes the case is a Antec Sonata III:)SvenK

Then you've got no worries, that power supply has plenty of juice for that setup, even if you want to throw in another hard drive or two and overclock.

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dayaccus007

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#6 dayaccus007
Member since 2007 • 4349 Posts
With no overclock you can throw a new HD3870 for crossfire and the PSu will handle the system