Hi there, I've just purchased a barebones Shuttle PC (+components) and will be building it soon. However, I read a review that suggested the power supply provided (250w) was quite low. I was under the assumption that small form factor PCs can run with less power consumption than a standard ATX system but after reading that a typical ATX system power supply is about 400w I'm a little worried that my psu won't be capable enough.

I won't be running anything particularly extreme on the Shuttle but I often use quite cpu-intensive programs like Cubase and Max/MSP. Can anyone tell me whether this (250w) is a typical psu for a small form factor? And, if not, what kind of wattage should I be aiming for instead?

I can post system specs if it's helpful to anyone

Post your total hardware so we can get a better idea. 250w seems a little lean to me.

BAREBONES: Shuttle XPC Barebone SG31G2
RAM: Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.16GHz
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
PSU: 250 Watt mini power supply unit
+ standard cd drive

No graphics card? No fans?
Looks like you may be able to get away with 250w.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

The gfx are onboard and I'm pretty sure it comes with one 92mm fan. Thanks for the link, I'll plug everything in now.

Remember that a generic psu will supply nowhere near what a name brand psu will, nor is it as reliable.

Great, it's coming out at under 200w even with potential extras factored in. Thanks a lot for your help!

Thanks for the tip, I'll bare that in mind.

No worries . Mark the thread as solved, if you wish.