Correct Power Supply?

[jw]

I now have the GA-MA785GM-US2H AMD motherboard. I need to get a
better power supply than I now have. 500W or more. Can someone
recommend one and why? This mobo has a second power connector which
is 2X8. One with both PATA and SATA would be nice to have.

I appreciate and live off of your suggestions herein.


Thanks

Duke

 

[John McGaw]

I now have the GA-MA785GM-US2H AMD motherboard. I need to get a
better power supply than I now have. 500W or more. Can someone
recommend one and why? This mobo has a second power connector which
is 2X8. One with both PATA and SATA would be nice to have.

I appreciate and live off of your suggestions herein.


Thanks

Duke

What are your priorities? Long life, efficiency, noise, price, modular,
etc. You could spend $100 or you could spend $250 for a usable PS around
500W depending on what your final aims are. Personally I prefer Seasonic
supplies but there are quite a few good makers out there. But there are
even more bad makers out there too. You might want to look at the Seasonic
M12 series to get an idea of a top-line supply that isn't totally over the
top. Hint: you probably don't need a 1000W supply. Actually, you probably
don't need a 500W unless you are doing something pretty extreme but that's
up to you -- not knowing what else is going into the system nobody can tell.

 

[Paul]

I now have the GA-MA785GM-US2H AMD motherboard. I need to get a
better power supply than I now have. 500W or more. Can someone
recommend one and why? This mobo has a second power connector which
is 2X8. One with both PATA and SATA would be nice to have.

I appreciate and live off of your suggestions herein.


Thanks

Duke

Did you get this "500W" number from the documentation that comes
with your video card ? Those are only estimates, based on some
assumptions about what hardware is in the computer. Some "basic"
systems, use well less power than the documentation with the video
card might suggest. Higher end systems come closer to the estimate.
The 500W number might already include a percentage of margin.

Your motherboard comes with a 2x4 connector for ATX12V processor power.
The motherboard may have had a sticker over top of 2x2 of those pins.
That is put there, to show you where to plug a 2x2 power connector, if
that is what the power supply came with. Using a 2x4 is optional, and
helps with extreme overclocks of 125-140W or higher processors. For
regular processors, the 2x2 as a connection option, is just fine.
If you're not overclocking, the 2x2 should be enough for about anything.

With regard to picking a supply, use the Newegg search engine. Set the
power to 500W, then sort the resulting list via "best rating". The
supplies that have good customer ratings, should be safe to buy. If
you want modular, check to see if the search engine includes a
selection for modular cabling.

Paul

 

[jw]

Did you get this "500W" number from the documentation that comes
with your video card ? Those are only estimates, based on some
assumptions about what hardware is in the computer. Some "basic"
systems, use well less power than the documentation with the video
card might suggest. Higher end systems come closer to the estimate.
The 500W number might already include a percentage of margin.

The motherboard manual says "to meet expansion requirements, it is
recommended that a power supply that can withstand high power
consumption be used (500W or greater)."

I have a AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9500 2.2 GHz cpu and a GEFORCE 9300
GE 256MB PCI-E (HP pn 466851) video card that I plan to use. They
came from a HP Pavilion Media Center m8530f with a bad M2N78-LA
motherboard. The power supply I have is only 300W.

Your motherboard comes with a 2x4 connector for ATX12V processor power.
The motherboard may have had a sticker over top of 2x2 of those pins.

It did not.

That is put there, to show you where to plug a 2x2 power connector, if
that is what the power supply came with. Using a 2x4 is optional, and
helps with extreme overclocks of 125-140W or higher processors. For
regular processors, the 2x2 as a connection option, is just fine.
If you're not overclocking, the 2x2 should be enough for about anything.

I'll just have to be sure to plug it right.

With regard to picking a supply, use the Newegg search engine. Set the
power to 500W, then sort the resulting list via "best rating". The
supplies that have good customer ratings, should be safe to buy. If
you want modular, check to see if the search engine includes a
selection for modular cabling.

Paul

Thanks again Paul

Duke

 

[Paul]

The motherboard manual says "to meet expansion requirements, it is
recommended that a power supply that can withstand high power
consumption be used (500W or greater)."

I have a AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9500 2.2 GHz cpu and a GEFORCE 9300
GE 256MB PCI-E (HP pn 466851) video card that I plan to use. They
came from a HP Pavilion Media Center m8530f with a bad M2N78-LA
motherboard. The power supply I have is only 300W.


It did not.


I'll just have to be sure to plug it right.


Thanks again Paul

Duke

Your processor is listed here as 95W. The Vcore regulator is around
90% efficient, so 95W/0.9 = 105.6W at the power supply itself.

http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=20

The 9300 GE is the same as a 9300 GS, according to the table here.

http://xtreview.com/images-added.php?image=images/GeForce-9300-GS-and-GeForce-9300-GE-03.gif&id=5376

I can't find power numbers, but because the card lacks a PCI Express
auxiliary power connector on the end of the card, that says the
card is less than 50 watts. Probably 35W or less, based on the
size of the cooler and fan assembly.

So if we total up the power of your system, an estimate is

105.6+35+12+25.5+6+10+50=244W

You could use something between 400W and 500W there if you want.
Sometimes, to get a quality power supply product, you have to go
up the power scale a bit. I have a 500W in my current system, but
I didn't arrive at 500W by calculation - it was the quality of the
supply that determined the purchase. When power supplies drop in
power level (like down to the 350W range), the price is also pretty
low, and the temptation to "cheap out" internally, is overpowering for
the manufacturer. Going upscale a bit, means they have enough
money to put in EMI filters, OVP, OCP, and other forms of
protection. It improves the odds as well, that the computer
will survive, if the power supply fails.

It's really hard to stay ahead of the power supply manufacturers.
I can't say that every supply I've bought, was a winner :-(
At least none of them has exploded, or shot flames out
through the grill.

Paul