Help with PSU

[Ronado]

The specs on my computer are:
Motherboard- Gigabyte GA-K8NSNXP
Processor- AMD Athlon FX-53
Video Card- PNY Geforce 6800GT
Gig of Corsair RAM
Audigy 2ZS Sound Card

Anyway, I've been having problems with my power supply unit as of late. I had an Antec TrueBlue 480W power supply, but that just stopped working in about a half a year and I never had problems with it before. I was just sitting there one day and the computer just turned off. I know it's the PSU that died because I tried a lesser wattage power unit and after about five minutes of the computer flickering to try to turn on, the computer finally turned on. Whereas the computer would do nothing with the Antec in there.

My question is, do I really need a higher wattage for my computer? I was told that the 480 watts would be just fine, seeing how the video card says that 350W+ is recommended. If I do need more power, how much would you recommend? Or if you think there's another explanation to this, please give me some suggestions. I appreciate any input.

 

[hygor]

I think that 480w is more than enough... it sounds like you may have another problem as you say that the comp flickered for 5mins and then eventually turned on... that is not normal. Have you had a power surge recently? as this could have destroyed your antec psu and damaged the mobo or cpu.

 

[diabloII]

OCZ powerstream 500W is your best bet

very good PSU

for your system, try to get around 500W, even though it doesn't even use that much

 

[Ronado]

Well the other power supply I was using always flickered. That was what came with the case. It flickered when I first had this computer, which has been a year. I bought the Antec because that process was long and irritating. The one that flickered was 420 watts.

 

[Ronado]

I was hoping it wasn't the motherboard or CPU...is there any way I could find this out though, or do I just need to probably send it to the manufacturer to have them look at it.

There hasn't been a power surge by the way.

 

[diabloII]

everything looks compatible

i'm pretty sure it's the power supply

even if it's not, you can return the power supply back

 

[SHAWN]

I would buy a battery backup as well. Could be the power jumping up and down wearing out the PSU.