and it doesnt matter how many W its got... you look at the A you're gonna need on each rail and find a suitable PSU... only in rare occasions do you actually look at the W in deciding on a PSU
brr007
BongWizard is referring to the total watts of any PSU.
Modern PCs have the processor and graphics card draw their power from the 12v and the processor and graphics card uses the most power in a gaming rig. This is why you want a good amount of amps/watts on the 12v rail/s
All the hardware power consumption benchmarks are in watts(that I have seen)
On the 12 volt rail/s of the psu, 1 amp = 12 watts
The 600watt psu you posted in the first post has 24A(amps) on the 12 volt rail(+12V) So you take 24A and multiply it by 12 to get the watts 24x12= 288watts on the 12v rail, Now compare that to the rosewill 550watt psu, and a even better choice(maybe) $60 rosewill 530 watt
Newegg.com - Rosewill RG530-2 530W 80Plus Bronze Certified, ATX12V v2.3/EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready, Active-PFC Power Supply, UL,FCC,CE,TUV,ROHS - Power Supplies
600watt psu----ATX---------------288watts/24amps on the 12v rail
550watt rosewill ATX12V v2.01-----420watts/35amps on the 12v rails
530watt rosewill ATX12V v2.3------492watts/41amps on the 12v rails
Also there are different versions of ATX PSUs the latest version is ATX12V 2.3, I believe the latest version is the new Intel standard for the core 2 duo (for reasons I wish I knew) and puts more power/watts/amps on the 12v rails where new computers need it most.
The 530 watt rosewill is the new ATX12V 2.3 and it seems like a better choice, BUT it doesn't have 2x 6pin pcie connectors that the 4870 requires, BUT the saphire 4870 comes with 2 pcie adapters and the cooler is better(I think)
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Dose anyone know if there is a down side to using the pcie adapter?