Help a noob at pc
Help a noob at pc
Since the components receive the power they need, it shouldn't be a major issue. But watch out for how many components you're connecting. For instance, if your DVD rom drive, hard disk, floppy disc, etc., all need an extra 300 watts on top of the 500 watt GPU, things could get tough. Consider using a more robust power supply such as one with 600 or 700 watts.
What? Nearly spilled my morning coffee
Who still has a floppy disk, DVD drive, or even an HDD today?
Even if that were true for OP, they wouldn’t need 300W for all those devices. Not true, not true, not true.
To clarify for OP, a 580 model would consume about 180W at maximum load. Since you didn’t provide the other details, I’m assuming a conservative estimate with some extra capacity—around 250W for other parts, fans, hubs, etc.—which brings the total to roughly 430W.
That means a 550W unit should be fine, but since the power supply model isn’t specified yet, it’s hard to give a definitive answer.
80+ white is acceptable as an efficiency rating, but it doesn’t reflect the overall quality of the unit!
i rely on the brand, but just getting the 80 isn't a solid beginning.
there are many poor power supplies available, and even if it lists 550w, you can usually spot a bad PSU by checking its 12v rail—like the ones i've seen where the 12v only delivers 300w.
the 12v rail supplies most of the power to your system; older models often have two rails, but they can be tricky to work with.