Thanks for all your advice. I will surely buy a decent brand. I won't buy a brand simply because it's cheap. I know the dangers of using a poor PSU.
Also I will look for not only total watt, but also quality, +12V etc.
However my major concern is whether:
- I should buy a PSU which is enough to feed my coming build (but not much room for future expansion), or
- I should buy a PSU which can stay with me for 6-9 years (having 1-2 major upgrades)
I'm using this site as my PSU calculation:
http://web.aanet.com.au/SnooP/psucalc.php
My Coming Build:
Mobo: Foxconn P35A-S, Intel P35 chipset, two PCI-Express x 16
CPU: E2180 O/C to 3.0Ghz (The PSU calc list doesn't have E2180, so I select E4700 for the calc)
RAM: DDR2 800 2GB*2 or 2GB+1GB or 1GB*3
Graphic card:
A) HD 2600 Pro (will O/C), Dual DVI outputs
B) HD 2400 Pro, Dual DVI outputs [not for Crossfire]
Monitor: 20-22", 1680x1050, * 4
HDD * 1
DVDRW * 1
Calculation Result:
(Note: the calculation has added plenty of headroom in the recommendation, according to the author)
Recommended PSU wattage for decent brand PSU: 277W
Recommended 12V combined amps / watts for decent brand PSU: 18.6 A / 223 W
Recommended 3.3V Amps: 5.4A
Recommended 5V Amps: 3.9A
Recommended 3.3V/5V Combined Watts: 31W
Possible Future Use (Minor Upgrade within 3 years):
Mobo: Foxconn P35A-S, Intel P35 chipset, two PCI-Express x 16
CPU:
Any Quad-Core CPU (will O/C) (I select Extreme QX9650 for the calc)
RAM: DDR2
1333 2GB*
4
Graphic card:
A)
HD 4850 (will O/C), Dual DVI outputs
B) HD 2400 Pro, Dual DVI outputs [not for Crossfire]
Monitor: 20-22", 1680x1050, * 4
HDD *
2
DVDRW * 1
Blue-ray Burner * 1 (There is no blue-ray burner in the PSU list so I select 1 more DVDRW)
Calculation Result:
(Note: the calculation has added plenty of headroom in the recommendation, according to the author)
Recommended PSU wattage for decent brand PSU: 447W
Recommended 12V combined amps / watts for decent brand PSU: 32.1 A / 386 W
Recommended 3.3V Amps: 9.5A
Recommended 5V Amps: 3.9A
Recommended 3.3V/5V Combined Watts: 44W
Future Major Upgrade (after 3-4 years):
Who knows what the technology will be after 3 years?
I will most likely make a budget/mainstream build only (not high-end builds!)
Note:
* I don't expect I will upgrade my computer within 3 years.
* I will only buy quality brand / PSU.
** Excess-watt approach: Dearer but more room for future expansion. I expect to use it for 6-9 years, ie the PSU will follow me for the current and next 1-2 major upgrades. But I wonder if new technology will kill my PSU after 3-4 years anyway. Another concern is aging. How serious is it? If I go for this route, I will probably select 500W-700W (?).
** Enough-watt approach: It's enough to power my current system. And it saves me money. I would simply go for 300-450W PSU.
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Question:
What PSU would you suggest in my cases?
Excess-watt approach (for 6-9yrs expansion), or enough-watt approach (more than enough for my coming build)?
I would like to buy Uninteruptable Backup Power for my desktop computer. What would you suggest?