Power Supply compatiablity

[Doofmaster924]

I'm building my first computer and have a question regarding a power supply for my Athlon 64 3000+ CPU and corresponding gigabyte GA-K8NSC motherboard. Are all ATX motherboards compatiable with all power supplies as the case I am thinking of buying comes with a power supply description as follows: P3, P4 ATX 400W Max Will this be a problem?

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

You will most likely want a better power supply than what comes with the case.

 

[BASSMASTER]

That will work just fine, as long as they are both ATX

 

[Trifid]

Not all ATX PSU's are compatible, there is 20 and 24 pin PSU's. (24pin PSU's are for PCIE motherboards, and are called ATX2.0.)

Those 2 should be compatible, but before you get that PSU, you should know that generic PSU's are terrible. Their reliablity is not great, as they die early, and when they die, they could even take out your whole system. They also fluctuate alot, as the voltage on the lines, can go dangerously over or under, and cause restarts. That 400w is not measured in a real world enviroment, and is a peak, so it could be 250watts sustained, and for a split second hit that 400watts, and they call it 400 watts.

Post all your system specs before buying BTW. and we can make recomendations.