PS unit ~ how many watts for 8GB ddr3 1333 ?

Hi

putting together an mobo handling 8GB ddr3 1333 & using max ram 8GB, duo core 2 E8400 3.0GHz 64bit chip, and installing win7 HPrem 64bit. was wondering about how large of a power supply unit i should be considering?

Sometimes all of the ram will prob be used w/ vid editing and other times just regular 2-3 applications open.

Any input greatly appreciated

Hiyya and welcome firejolt. Mate the CPU and RAM are fairly small drains on your system you need to look at hard drives GPU's Opto drives and there are some fairly good calculating tools out there - just enter in what you have and they will do a rough calc for you.

Bear in mind when you look at PSU's the quoted watts are not what you should be looking at on the side of any PSU there is a quote fr the 12v rail/s those are the figures that are important.

This one is reasonably good eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

Realistically it should be what video card you plan to use that dictates the size of the PSU.

As mentioned, the power draw from ram and CPU are pretty low.

The Video Card (GPU) is a most important consideration to determine PSU watts needed.

Fill in your System Specs.

To gather info use System Info, Speccy, or SIW

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/180324-system-info-see-your-system-specs.html
Speccy - System Information - Free Download
SIW | System Information for Windows by Gabriel Topala

Hah well perhaps I have it wrong then I was under the impression that firejolt had an idea of what was going into the machine - sorry!!

Nothing to be sorry about, hopefully you are right.
I just think it's helpful to have full system specs when someone asks for hardware help...

No David I probably should have not said anything it just looked as if the project was in the planning stage and that the calculator could help firejolt to choose the components hence my post.

Gotcha - i agree.

Hey Gang ! Thx for input .....most certainly appreciate it !

I will check out the tools you pointed me to and see if i can figure out that 12v rail thing mentioned.

Smarteye & David....say, thx for the heads up on the vid card. i don't usually do vids. this unit is going to be jointly accessed and my partner will be running some vid edits on it....that's mainly the reason for the ram ~ so.....that is great to know. In truth, I have no idea what draws except reading about certain chips. So, I will plug in the dynamics of what i have into those calc tools on the web and see what gives. I know i will be loading it up w/ fans....i like a lotta air movement, maybe even overkill....i don't know; just figure the more air flow the better....keep it down to a dull roar on the heat ya know.

ICit2 ~ hey, yeah you pretty much pegged this situation....it's a work in progress (WIP). Found an inexpensive mobo and decent chip and they were nuff to pop in 8 GB ram for the vid stuff. So, just been moving forward, gathering parts....then i read something somewhere and you know what....think by golly it was that little jewel of an item....yuppers, the vid card. It laid out some high number on the power watts for a PS ....so, figured i had better run this down before i got into a jam....

Again, thx much. Is anything on the mobo a consideration for the PS unit or just go ahead and dial in all my perimeters into those calcs you folks turned me onto ?

firejolt3 said:

Is anything on the mobo a consideration for the PS unit or just go ahead and dial in all my perimeters into those calcs you folks turned me onto ?

Click to expand...

Just dial in your parameters.

That particular calculator mentioned in post 2 is pretty good. Out of curiosity, I ran it the other day and it recommended a 240 watt PSU for my PC, which would be fine. It doesn't calculate your power usage--rather it recommends the size of PSU.

Just get a good brand---XFX, Seasonic, some Corsairs, some Antecs.

TY ! Will do that. I have had good success w/ Corsair and Antec products. Have not heard of XFX nor Seasonic 'til now. Will look into them. Thx much ignatzatsonic

the 12v rail ...what is the rail ? i get the 12v, but don't understand what rail is or what pertains to? Give it a hardy laugh...i'm pretty green but learning and still battin' away....haha !

Is there a reason you are choosing the e8400? It's a very slow chip compared to today's low end processors.
It's also a socket 775 chip and not many 775 motherboards support ddr3 ram, ddr3 ram is keyed differently and won't go into a ddr2 slot.
Also, what program do you plan on using to edit your videos and what format/resolution is your source footage, and what format/resolution is the end product going to be.

Hey Zepher !

Yeah, pretty much. Busy upgrading what we have. the system i am replacing is a 2.4 GHz single core mobo holding 2GB ram, no vid card....an old P4.

this is a stepping stone intermediate unit replacing an older P4 until i can swing all the parts for a nice i-core 7 and higher end mobo.

I have run w/ an E8400 duo core 2 on another unit...works ok.
As mentioned, an intermediate unit used in garage. the mobo is a 775 socket yes, however the board will handle ddr3 at 1333 FSB. I was surprised when i saw this board. it of course is not a zinger top o the line but think it will do for what the vids requires and the price was right especially since i am looking only to better that P4 and have something at least useful until the nice unit is built.

i don't do vids per say....my partner does.
He's using Pinnacle and i believe Sony Vegas Pro. As far as the format/resolution of the source footage, and format/resolution at end product is, that i cannot tell you because i do not know. What i do know is the man knows how to do vids, do them well.

Sorry i don't have any more info on that.

thx for asking. I am open to anything from anyone so if there is something more, please add. thx !

Yep sorry again for confusing the issue firejolt. Personally I like the Corsairs for PSU's the HX 650 is a ripper if it is within your budget.

firejolt3 said:

the 12v rail ...what is the rail ? i get the 12v, but don't understand what rail is or what pertains to? Give it a hardy laugh...i'm pretty green but learning and still battin' away....haha !

Click to expand...

Think of a rail as a circuit.

Most components in a PC, including the CPU, get their power from the 12 volt rail. That's why you need to pay attention to how much of the total power is provided through the 12 volt rail, rather than the 5 volt or 3.3 volt rails.

But the fact is that manufacturers realize that the 12 volt rail is where most of the power is needed, so they build their PSUs with that in mind. You aren't likely to find a 500 watt PSU that can provide only 150 watts on the 12 volt rail.

Ten or fifteen years ago, the 12 volt rail was not as demanding, so you saw considerable power provided by the other two rails.

ICit2lol said:

Yep sorry again for confusing the issue firejolt. Personally I like the Corsairs for PSU's the HX 650 is a ripper if it is within your budget.

Click to expand...

It didn't seem like you confused anything at all John and recommended a PSU calculator.

No prob, Mate !! Appreciate the communication and fortunately i can sort thru it....haha !

I will def check that out. I like NE for parts but there are a few others that are kool too....sometimes I have found some decent stuff at Superbizz or Geeks. either way....i will look into that Corsair 650 and giv'er a checksie.

thx again.
Ya know ICit2 talking about c'fusion ....here's another i will run by ya while we're here....now i haven't done this but from what i am understanding as long as i am running a 64bit chip and have a 64bit op system i am pretty much good to go on the amount of ram i can pump into it, providing the mobo will support it? ex: 8, 16, 24, 32 GB if mobo will take it, yeah? and i am talking win7 HPrem 64 bit, not ultimate

Alrighty then....much better idea on the rail thing....and i will look for that when studying a PS Unit. TY!

Well, I know I'm def in the right place. Hey i just wanna say thank you so much...truly....i have gleened more of an edu-ma-ca-tion tonight and in just a very short time i might add in between welds (at the farm!). this is by far advanced compared to searching and scouring the web....sometimes i get lucky but most of the time i probably phrase the google search incorrectly and am seemingly forever trying to find my answers for computer stuff.

What I learn as i go I will make sure to pass on. Ya'll have just been super !!

Yep it is exactly as ignatzatsonic says mate.

The mains coming in is stepped down from whatever your mains voltage is say 240v AC like us in the primary winding (a coil around an iron core) . This induces a a lower voltage (usually and for our purposes) in a secondary winding (also around that iron core) - but they do not actually meet.

The 12v 5v and 3.3v (AC) supplies originate from that secondary winding on the transformer at differing points in that winding (tappings).

Now the current from those secondary windings goes through a circuit which in very simple terms rectifies the AC (alternating current) to DC ( direct current) and also boosts the current output to a much higher current than it is at the transformer tapping. (The tappings are AC and usually a slightly higher voltage than the DC output because of some energy loss in the rectification and transport process)

Depending on the quality of the transformer and the other circuitry you get a DC voltage / current for your machines components. The better the quality and design of that circuitry the more you will get as usable wattage.

You can calculate the wattage by simply multiplying the current by the voltage (stated on the PSU specification sticker) and you are always or I am guided by the specs of the 12v rail current. ie 12v X 25 amps = 300watts.

For pure curiosity's sake it is exactly the same formula for the other rails.

firejolt3 said:

i am pretty much good to go on the amount of ram i can pump into it, providing the mobo will support it? ex: 8, 16, 24, 32 GB if mobo will take it, yeah? and i am talking win7 HPrem 64 bit, not ultimate

Click to expand...

Not quite:

Windows 7 Home Premium is limited to 16 GB of RAM.

Professional and above can accept I think 192 GB if your hardware supports that much.

But 90% of users are OK with 8 and probably 99.5% with 16.

I have 4 GB of RAM and don't think I've ever used over 3 GB of it.