Hey all, Im new to this forum but have read many posts.
Just building a new PC and need help with choosing an adequate PSU for it.
I want it as a gaming rig but not an excessive. This is what i have already got:

Leadtek gtx 260 standard

EVGA 780i sli motherboard

320 gb seagate hdd

dvd rewritable

4 gb RAM corsair, 2x 2gb

q6600 quad at 2.4 standard but wish to overclock

4x 120mm fans

Hi

You can run your rig through this calculator to check the wattage:
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

I wouldn't entirely trust the Power Supply Calculator GPU Wattage (it appears to list the average of the peak 2D and 3D power requirements). Refering to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_200_Series
You can see the 260 GT has maximum 3D power requirement of 136 watts. It requires 2x 6-pin PCIe power connectors.

So it needs a PSU with 12V rails which supply at least 136/12=11 A.

At the budget end that would mean a Corsair 550VX or Corsair 520HX (for modular) for example. Ideally you operate a PSU at around 50% of its rated capacity. This is typically were they are the most efficient. At idle efficiency usually drops to ~80% (or less for a crap PSU) and the same at full load. That PSU will also handle a Q6600 overclock.

Here's a review of the 550VX:
http://www.jonnyguru.com//modules. [...] ry&reid=62

The full list of tiered power supplies is on this thread:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088
this is based on build quality/component quality following a disassembly of a single unit.

If you are thinking of setting up SLI in the future (why else would you endure a Nvidia chipset ) then you will need to future proof yourself. You need a PSU with 4x PCIe 6-pin connectors and >750 Watts peak (ensures your PSU is around 50% loaded). Lots of good stuff in this market (Ultra X3 series, Corsair 1000HX, PC Power & Cooling range). Just make sure your case can fit the PSU!! (Ultra X3 and Corsair aren't very long so are a good choice.)

Bob

i would recommend something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817103939
or if u want to do sli later on this psu will give 2 gtx260 plenty of power.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341010

Thanks guys, i was also looking at the ODIN 550w powersupply and it seems to be pretty good but i just need a second opinion. Any thoughts about it?

Its great I'm sure but looking on NewEgg you could get a Corsair 620HX for much less!!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139002

Corsair are the best performers at the low end of the market (apart from some cheap Antec models that are Seasonic builds).

Bob

IT does look like a great PSU, high chance of getting it now thanks mate, but i have quite a few peripherals that need power, will i be able to get like a hub for the PSU so i can connect them all to that corsair 620HX?

thats overkill 135$ after rebate u could get something much cheaper and work just as fine. up to u if u have money to spend.

This will get you in the right wattage range.
http://www.extreme.outervision.com [...] orlite.jsp
This will get you the right PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] rder=PRICE

Cool, thanks for all of the help with that guys. But will it support a CPU overclock because atm its hard to decide to keep my e8400 at standard clock or take my dads new q6600 standard clock. Which is better standard clock and also which is better to overclock with keeping the PSU in mind?

e8400 oc more but i still prefer quad because it can oc just as well but not as much but 2 extra core is better. which psu did u decide on?

well still speculating but the 620hx corsair looks good, do you have any better preference though? plus i really want maximum performance for gaming so quad would be the way to go?

no the e8400 oc would be "slightly" better for gaming but newer games coming out soon will slowly start to support multi cores thats when quad will take over. e8400 can oc to 4.0ghz while the quads usually can hit 3.6ghz not much difference in gaming maybe 1-3fps difference. i see u have 4gig to tell u the the truth in my opinion to get better performance instead of buying such a expensive psu i would get a cheaper one and get more ram, even tho 4gig is plenty getting more ram would help a little more. (just my opinion)

interesting. yeah i guess that is an option. But i still need a decent psu to run it all. About 550w you reckon? or still around the 600 mark? also the e8400 clock standard against the q6600 clock standard in games beats it doesnt it?

yes the e8400 destroys the quad at stock speeds. 3.0ghz vs 2.4ghz to much difference. ya u need a decent psu look at my rig in the sig area im running my whole system off a 500w. ur sys would need a good 450w and for sli a good psu around 550w+ would be enough.

yeah i noticed that, must be a beautiful system. is the antec psu reliable though? and with your cpu do you prefer the q6600 over the e8400?