PSU. is it crap? (56K)

OK, i opened up my PC case earlier, to have a look at the PSU specs.

I really know nothing about Power Supplies, so i took a photo of the specs.

Can someone tell me if this PSU (550W) is any good, and if it can power an 8800GTS ?

yep, you got 550W and 35A total on the +12V rails, wich is perfect.greatmax1

thanks. That is good news. One less thing to worry about, lol

Thats certainly sufficient for your intentions though I probably wouldn't try to SLI it.

what do all the different voltages and amps actually mean on the PSU?dbowman

Anything other than the +12V is the same across power supplies so far as I'm aware so you don't have to worry about that. The +12V rails are important because they are what will be supplying current to your CPU, GPU, HDD, etc. and right now you are definitely wanting dual rails and at a minimum 30+ amps on the +12V rails.

Wattage is important but not as important as you might think, you can't just look at how many watts it says and take that to mean it can run something although there are requirements there. 500 watts should be sufficient for anything but extreme gaming rigs.

im still hesitating concerning my psu being able to handle a 8800gts 320mb...i get mixed answers... the minimum requirements are 400W and 26A on the +12V rails, i got 470W and 29A total on the 2 +12V rails... i would still need some advice on this please.greatmax1

You should be fine. What PSU is it?

[QUOTE="greatmax1"]im still hesitating concerning my psu being able to handle a 8800gts 320mb...i get mixed answers... the minimum requirements are 400W and 26A on the +12V rails, i got 470W and 29A total on the 2 +12V rails... i would still need some advice on this please.JSDempsey

You should be fine. What PSU is it?

and right now you are definitely wanting dual rails and at a minimum 30+ amps on the +12V rails.Runningflame570

There are some small pros and cons to a single +12v rail vs a multi +12v rail. One isn't simply better then the other though and I definitely would take a single +12v rail over multis any day of the week.

im still hesitating concerning my psu being able to handle a 8800gts 320mb...i get mixed answers... the minimum requirements are 400W and 26A on the +12V rails, i got 470W and 29A total on the 2 +12V rails... i would still need some advice on this please.greatmax1

Dude, don't worry. If I say you are good, you will be fine.

Sorry, but i just want to clarify something here.

On the picture i posted it says +12v1 has 18A and +12v2 has 17A

So, do i have to add the 18A and 17A together in order to find out how much i have on the 12V rails? In this case 35A.

Thanks

dbowman

Sorry, but i just want to clarify something here.

On the picture i posted it says +12v1 has 18A and +12v2 has 17A

So, do i have to add the 18A and 17A together in order to find out how much i have on the 12V rails? In this case 35A.

Thanks

dbowman

dbowman

No, you can't just add the current ratings for multiple +12V rails together. The rating for each rail is a maximum current draw for that rail. Once you start drawing power from multiple rails the maximum available to all rails will drop.

Going by what little information is given, that power supply will provide somewhere around 28 - 29 amps maximum to both +12V rails combined.

Dude, you'll be fine.