Scared to upgrade any more

[Mangr0v3]

My current PSU (300W):

+12v 19A
+5v 30A
+3.3v 28A
-12v 0.8A
+5VSB 2A

+5V & +3.3V 180w max
+5v and +12v 288w max
(Bestec BST ATX-300-127)
Is powering:

Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2200
Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L
4GB RAM
TP-Link PCI Wireless card (802.11g)
Galaxy GeForce 9500GT
SATA HDD
IDE HDD
SATA DVD drive
Internal USB cardreader
couple of fans


How much further could it be pushed? The power calculatord I've come across say my rig should have about 430W.

[TheMG]

Well your CPU is a fairly low power CPU, and nothing else in your system really uses much power, so your system is fine as it is, and could easily handle more hard drives and other things that don't use much power.

However, if you plan on upgrading to a higher end video card (9800 series and up) I'd upgrade the PSU, since you don't have much power available on the 12V rail, and running a PSU close to its maximum is generally not a very good idea.

PS: power supply calculators are a joke most of the time. To be taken with a very BIG grain of salt.

[Pickanewnameplzkthx]

You don't "push" PSU's. That's asking to burn down the PSU and in turn burn down your system. I see this come up all the time. "How much PSU can I get by with?" You don't buy PSU's to "get by". You buy PSU's with twice as much as you need. The reason? Many. It keeps them running stable and keeps the voltages from fluctuating all over the place under load which will raise havok with a system. It's keeps them running below the 80% capacity range which is where they are most efficient. It's keeps them running cool, and most of the time the fan never speeds up which keeps them running quiet as well. Another good reason, is it makes them last.

A PSU is the backbone of your entire system. Everything is connected to it. It is the first thing I look at when building a system because it is the most important. Some people say otherwise, but without a good PSU and a strong one, those other components make no difference. These things run on electricty, and they need good clean power going to them. Abusing a PSU is really asking for big trouble and alot of greif. I've seen it happen over and over again.

[renegadeafk]

I would upgrade the psu if you plan to upgrade the video card at all, would be really pushing it on a 300 watt. Get a quality psu like a corsair 450-550 watt. Do not get cheap no name psus, a 1000 watt psu can be worse that a 500 watt if its a really cheap and poorly made one.

If your psu dies it can damage or kill your other parts, a good psu can save you money later. Running a PSU close to its max power all the time will shorten its life.

Some good brands:
corsair
seasonic
Antec
PCP&C
OCZ

[freeloader105]

Speaking of PSUs, can you guys recommend any quiet PSUs? Currently, the PSU is the only loud component in my PC. My current PSU is 700 Watts, but I only need around 560 watts, according to Newegg's PSU calculator (which isn't comprehensive, so maybe I need at least 600 watts).

[Mangr0v3]

I dont want to push it, but I want to know how much further I can upgrade without it stressing or dieing. Would a E8x00 kill it? A Q6x00? A QXxxxx? Another hard drive?

What I'm looking at doing when I get some money is adding another hard drive, and upgrading the cpu if possible.

Some good brands:
corsair
seasonic
Antec
PCP&C
OCZ

The only decent ones you can get down here are:

Corsair
Thermaltake
Coolermaster
Antec

[freeloader105]

I dont want to push it, but I want to know how much further I can upgrade without it stressing or dieing. Would a E8x00 kill it? A Q6x00? A QXxxxx? Another hard drive?

What I'm looking at doing when I get some money is adding another hard drive, and upgrading the cpu if possible.



The only decent ones you can get down here are:

Corsair
Thermaltake
Coolermaster
Antec


http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2693#anchor_os

It seems to support all the CPUs you're interested in. So just get a new PSU (the companies you listed are just fine, especially Antec), and you'll be good to go.

[Mangr0v3]

I know it supports it, but I'm not in the market for a new PSU when this one is currently working fine. Maybe I'll just build a whole new rig, but that'll cost a lot more.

[Buff]

For reference:

My setup:


Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0gHz
ASUS P5N-MX motherboard
1 SATA Harddrive
1 IDE Harddrive
1 DVD drive
4GB DDR2 800mHz ram
XFX 9800GT OC'd
Custom CPU cooler (Arctic Freezer 7 Pro)
Custom GPU cooler (Zalman VF1000)
Soundcard


My PSU:


Antec Basiq 350W