Need help with my Power supply

[MjTalon]

That 500w Powersupply will not run a 9800 GTX...to be safe you need 30 amps on the 12v rail for a 9800 GTX.

KAM

still a bit computer component slow. Mind informing me what the amps are for?

[Fender16]

Sweet socks, dude.

May be a dumb question but, do you have RAM for that computer? Noticed the slots were empty.

I had an ATI card and an Nvidia card but I prefer Nvidia just because the drivers are much easier to get a hold of.

As for the power supply, MOAR W4TTS!!!!2111!

[kamori]

I borrowed this explanation from: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070921160735AAIlK1g

It's easier to think of water flowing through a pipe. The analogy isn't perfect, though, since when a pipe breaks all the water flows out, but in electricity the flow just stops.

Amperage is the volume of water going through the pipe in a given time. Voltage is the water pressure. Resistance is the diameter of the pipe, so a narrower pipe gives you less flow for the same pressure. You can just see in your mind how all three of these interact, one with the other.

Watts is the amount of power. This is volts times amps. It's actually the amount of 'work' the flowing water could do if, for instance, it was turning a water wheel or something.

Pick the Vid card you want then look up the sects of the card. make sure your Power supply has the ability to Carry enough amps for that card.

KAM

[MjTalon]

Sweet socks, dude.

May be a dumb question but, do you have RAM for that computer? Noticed the slots were empty.

I had an ATI card and an Nvidia card but I prefer Nvidia just because the drivers are much easier to get a hold of.

As for the power supply, MOAR W4TTS!!!!2111!

RAM cards are coming either this weekend or next week hopefully. I'm just trying to find another Vid card and HD primarily, becoming a slight pain due to my inability to purchase online.  

[MjTalon]

I borrowed this explination from: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070921160735AAIlK1g

It's easier to think of water flowing through a pipe. The analogy isn't perfect, though, since when a pipe breaks all the water flows out, but in electricity the flow just stops.

Amperage is the volume of water going through the pipe in a given time. Voltage is the water pressure. Resistance is the diameter of the pipe, so a narrower pipe gives you less flow for the same pressure. You can just see in your mind how all three of these interact, one with the other.

Watts is the amount of power. This is volts times amps. It's actually the amount of 'work' the flowing water could do if, for instance, it was turning a water wheel or something.

Pick the Vid card you want then look up the spects of the card. make sure your Power supply has the ability to cary enough amps for thet card.

KAM

Roger, that's for the brief explanation kam. 

[BaldEagl]

That 500w Powersupply will not run a 9800 GTX...to be safe you need 30 amps on the 12v rail for a 9800 GTX.

KAM

Where did you get that information?  I just looked at newegg.  I found 3 Thermaltake 500W PSU's.  Each has enough amps to power a 9800 GTX+ 1 Gb card although one doesn't have a PCIe connector so hopefully that's not the one he has:

Thermaltake W0093RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Version Passive PFC Power Supply - Retail
PCI-E Connectors: No
+3.3V@30A, +5V@28A, +12V1@14A, +12V2@15A, -12V@0.3A, +5VSB@2A

Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply - Retail
PCI-E Connectors: 1 x 6Pin
+3.3V@22A,+5V@32A,+12V1@14A,+12V2@15A, -12V@0.3A,+5VSB@2A

Thermaltake Litepower W0294RU 500W ATX12V 2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
PCI-E Connectors: 2 x 6Pin
+3.3V@24A,+5V@24A,+12V1@18A,+12V2@18A,-12V@0.5A, +5VSB@2.5A

EVGA 01G-P3-N880-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Minimum of a 450 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 24 Amp Amps.)
Minimum 550 Watt for SLI mode system.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 30 Amp Amps.)

[Masherbrum]

Where did you get that information?  I just looked at newegg.  I found 3 Thermaltake 500W PSU's.  Each has enough amps to power a 9800 GTX+ 1 Gb card although one doesn't have a PCIe connector so hopefully that's not the one he has:

Thermaltake W0093RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Version Passive PFC Power Supply - Retail
PCI-E Connectors: No
+3.3V@30A, +5V@28A, +12V1@14A, +12V2@15A, -12V@0.3A, +5VSB@2A

Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply - Retail
PCI-E Connectors: 1 x 6Pin
+3.3V@22A,+5V@32A,+12V1@14A,+12V2@15A, -12V@0.3A,+5VSB@2A

Thermaltake Litepower W0294RU 500W ATX12V 2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
PCI-E Connectors: 2 x 6Pin
+3.3V@24A,+5V@24A,+12V1@18A,+12V2@18A,-12V@0.5A, +5VSB@2.5A

EVGA 01G-P3-N880-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Minimum of a 450 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 24 Amp Amps.)
Minimum 550 Watt for SLI mode system.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 30 Amp Amps.)

According to the picture he has the Purepower and it HAS the 6 pin.   

I was worried for a second that I gave him a bad card selection.  But he doesn't have a system that can fully utilize the GTX 2's.   

Thanks Bald.   

[TilDeath]

NEVER NEVER NEVER get a video card that will use all the amps available on the rails... there should be at the very least 50% additional amps to what the card requires.  Example in this case an EVGA 9800GTX 24amps you would need at least 36amps to have a stable reliable system.

What some builders don’t realize is that the Power Supply is without a doubt the most important component of a build.  I have seen lots of guys here and elsewhere go all out on Video, Memory, CPU and Motherboard only to install a less then what I would call less then adequate power supply.  When we do our builds 700 watts in the min PSU we will use and that’s with our so called budget builds.  I actually prefer 800 watts and above esp. on higher end CPU and memory.

On an i7 build depending on the PSU maker you have to use 800 watts or more with a quality MB, Video card and memory.  For instance a Tagan BZ900 will not power an EVGA X58 with a 260GTX or higher but a ThermalTake 800 or above will.  Do the math before a build; get all the electrical requirements of each component before ordering a PSU.  Don't skimp


TD

[MjTalon]

TD, you mind if i pm you sir? I'm a novice CPU builder and I would like to ask for your advice. 

[BaldEagl]

NEVER NEVER NEVER get a video card that will use all the amps available on the rails... there should be at the very least 50% additional amps to what the card requires.  Example in this case an EVGA 9800GTX 24amps you would need at least 36amps to have a stable reliable system.

The recommendation isn't just for the video card.  The manufacturer actually does realize that the PSU they recommend also has to power other components and they've recommended a PSU with overhead to do so.  If the card itself drew a full 24 amps why do two cards in SLI only draw 30 amps?

[TilDeath]

The recommendation isn't just for the video card.  The manufacturer actually does realize that the PSU they recommend also has to power other components and they've recommended a PSU with overhead to do so.  If the card itself drew a full 24 amps why do two cards in SLI only draw 30 amps?

Stability and Reliabilty is what I am talking about... it will not be stable and if you over clock your gonna get in the crapper without a large amount of amps.... been ther done that in real world and when I have to warranty a build, I want no problems in the future.  You have to remember these sites quoting specs are very min requirements.  They are not in the market to sell PSUs they are selling their component.  You call tech support at EVGA (1st level knows almost nothing) they ask if you can try a different PSU... reason being is that some PSUs will power some will not. 

[humble]

The issue is somewhat complex, one of the biggest problems is in the PS's continuous clean power capability. While some PS's can deliver clean power equal to the listed wattage many can't. The 1st thing to do is add up the total power available...often you'll see a system that actually can deliver significantly less continuous power ex a 600w PS (when you add it up) that actually can only deliver 530W. The question then becomes how is power delivered, The I see is that the system only has 29@'s over both rails which is less then ideal given a 24@ load in a gaming environment.

Here is a 600W rosewell...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182185

It has 4 20@ 12v rails. That would mean each rail could theoretically deliver 240W of power...or 960W total. Hmmm tough to do in a 600W PS:). It has 199.2W on the 3 & 5 v lines...so if you load up a pair of high end cards you'll either run your MB or your VC under powered...and something will go...end of story.