what psu do i need

[sc0tt]

i have a sony vaio with the following stats:
1.5 GHz Intel Pentium 4
256 MB SDRAM, upgraded to 512
60 GB Hard Disk
CD-RW: 40x (read), 16x (write), 10x (rewrite); DVD-ROM: 16x;

and i have also added a nic, and santa cruz sound card.

from looking around i think my psu is about 270W, but I am now planning on adding a 200g hard drive, and a radeon 9600 all-in-wonder.

im going to have to move all my stuff to a new case, since the sony psu is propietary, and i've heard a standard psu will touch other components in this case. but, i was wondering, how many watts should my new power supply be, and what are some good brands. i have looked over these baords and seen a lot of people complain about cheap psu's messing things up, and i also saw a post that says too many watts can be a problem too. any help would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[Shakie]

I wouldn't go any less than 350, but if you can find a cheap one then 400.

 

[sc0tt]

hey guy, you have a vaio also? if so what kind of psu are you running that 9800 off of? and if you did up grade psu, how did you go about it?

 

[Shakie]

Yep, I have a Vaio. Extremely nice computer for 'store bought' IMO.

Stock PSU (and runs fine, with no problems).

I kept the same PSU, but I am planning an upgrade in the next 6 months. [ upgrade of the case actually ] I will be going with a 400 watt when I do. I have enough power now, but I couldn't upgrade any more if I wanted to without changing the case.

 

[sc0tt]

how does this psu look?

http://secure.newegg.com/app/CustratingReview.asp?item=17-153-006

420W, and some very favorable reviews for a good price, anyone had problems with thermaltake?

 

[m3incorp]

Thermaltake is a very respectable company. Be aware of really cheap 400 watt psu....

 

[steve max]

Just put in the thermaltake purepower 420watt w0009r. I was looking to buy the vantec ion 400w but the store I went to did'nt have em. I have a generic ps 300w and I have so much stuff(computer terms) in it I was afraid of a meltdown (well not that bad). I was concerned about the fan noise. Installed it and is the quietest one in my house. The problem with the old ps is that I ran out of molex connectors,did not want to stress it more than it was, it had 6 and the thermaltake has 9. Should be more than enough. Two speed fan depending on temp. It actually made my case temps more stable. Moves more air now. Been running for a couple of hours and running just perfect(knock on wood). Paid $73 canadian. I read some reviews that worn't to favorable but I am glad I bought this one! Hope this will help in your decision making.

 

[mike11973]

http://www.xpcgear.com/powersupply.html

 

[sc0tt]

thanks for the info steve, glad to know someone got one and liked it. what kind of setup you running it with?

 

[steve max]

I am running a k7S5A Mb,amd 2400+xp,2 maxtor 40gig hd, 2 sticks of apacer 512 2100 ram, mitsumi 7 in 1 mem card reader floppy combo, G Force 2, LG cdrw @ Lg dvd burner, hardcano 10 and hardcanoII hd cooler two Vantec 80mm stealth fans,
Audigy 2 zs sound card (just installed and love it) and of course the thermaltake 420 watt ps in a Tsunami case. With my old ps I noticed a difference in the speed in the fan when it was under load, I found a watt calculator on the web and added up all of my add ons and was over the 300w up to 340w thats why I upgraded. You won't go wrong with this ps.