PSU recommendation

Hello.

I am building a new system. I had my last (custom built by myself) system for 3 years before the PSU and mobo fried. About a year after I got it I transferred everything into a £180 Antec silent case and replaced the PSU (upgraded from 300w to 430w) with a quiet one and stuck Zalman flower coolers on the CPU and graphics card so it could be used in my audio recording setup.

It was only recently that it fried and I am not sure why and niether are the company that replaced the PSU and mobo. They did notice a burnt pin on the mobo and PSU lead.

To avoid this situation again what wattage power supply would be recommended and how much money should I be paying for one? I'll be using my new system primarily for audio recording again and to play Half Life Orange Box. My last system even with it's meagre specs could run HL2 very well. I generally don't play alot of PC games (mainly console).

I will be getting a self-powered firewire audio interface as opposed to the previous USB powered one I had and I have a self-powered external hard drive. Apart from that its just the usual: USB wireless keyboard+mouse receiver/transmitter, MP3 player and pen drive so it isn't that taxing. The audio software by it's nature will tax the CPU. I've seen buggy performance with Quad Core CPUs so I'm sticking to the dual core. I'll also be playing Orange Box on it.

Here's the specs I'm probably going to stick to for my new system along with how many PCI devices, drives + fans will be in it:

-Intel Core2Duo E6600 2.40Ghz
-Abit IP35 mobo
-Radeon 2400 based GFX-card (probably will upgrade in future, but can't afford fancy card now)
-2Gb PC800 RAM
-160 to 200Gb HDD

Components:

-TV tuner card (w/ hardware decoding)
-WiFi card
-Possibly PCI audio card but I may have to sell this (support from Yamaha ceased)
-LiteOn DVD drive
-LiteOn DVD-rewriter
-2x 120mm case fans
-1x 92mm CPU fan (always lowest RPM)
-1x 80mm GPU fan (always lowest RPM)

Thanks for your time,

Ciaran.

P.S. Here are my previous specs just incase for reference. This system had all the above specs components in it too:

-Pentium 4 Prescott 3.2Ghz HT
-1Gb PC400 RAM
-2x 80Gb SATA HDDs
-Radeon 9250 GFX-card
-Thermaltake 430w PSU

[colster]

Hi There

I would go for a branded one and spend as much as you can no less than £45-£200. Some good makes ive found are Seasonic, Corsair, Tagan, Enermax, FSP, OCZ their but a few. As for the power 550-750W should run all but the ultra high end gaming rigs.

Thanks colster,

I'm gonna go with a Corsair 550w one I saw that costs £70. Decent enough I'd reckon.

[edzep79]

hey,was wondering if my icute 450w psu,12v@19a,is enouhg to power a single 8800gt

[jbennet]

430w isnt enough.

450 minimum, no more than 650w max (unles you are going to run 2 graphics cards)

[edzep79]

im running a 450w 19a @12v but on my 8800gt box it says i need 26a @12v,soz 4 the noobness of my question,just need help,much appreciated.

[jbennet]

probably wont work edzep. The 12v rail voltage is the most important to high end cards.

[edzep79]

ok mate thanks,any suggestins on decent cheapish psu?

[edzep79]

odd tho coz it runs my 8600gt,an that says it needs 26a too

[jbennet]

the specs are for maximum use on a standard system.

The specific power requirements therefore vary between machines

(a machine with few drives or a lower end cpu for exaple, will have much more voltage available for cards, whereas a high end cpu, or a machine with manu peripherals will need a better cpu to run the same card, as there is greater competition)