| Windows 7: Isn't 300W too little?? |
15 Jul 2011
|
#1 | | Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit England |
Isn't 300W too little?? I will be getting this PC soon: HP Pavilion p6565uk Desktop PC Product Specifications HP
And while waiting for it to arrive, I have been looking over the specs sheet over and over. When I first read through it, it struck me as odd that the PSU was only 300W. For a computer with 6GB DDR3, 6 cores, a blu ray reader and a 1.5GB GPU, surely this is too little? The instruction manual with my Nvidia 8400GS, it said have a 300W minimum PSU (and that card only had 512MB vRAM). Yes, I know that the RAM isn't a main factor, but still, isn't 300W too little??
(Yes, I did want to build another rig, to re-strengthen my faith in my capabilities of doing so (some of you may remember that the motherboard on my last rig shorted by itself), but this PC was cheaper than it would cost to build one with worse specs (or so Custom PC magazine showed http://images.bit-tech.net/issues/20...ustompc-95.jpg ). Looks like I'll just have to wait a bit longer to build my dream rig. I will probably also be wanting to mod this a bit, e.g. get it up to the 16GB RAM max, add some more HDDs, so I do hope that despite it being a microATX board that the case will still fit normal size PSUs (as my last case didn't. Well, it did if I could go without an optical drive, which I couldn't). | My System Specs |
| System Manufacturer/Model Number [NEW PC :D] HP Pavilion p6565uk OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1035T @2.6GHz (hexacore) (=15.6GHz) Motherboard FOXCONN (2AA9) Memory 6GB DDR3-1333 (running at 1066) Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 230 (1.5GB) Sound Card Realtek HD Audio (with 5.1 surroundsound always on) Monitor(s) Displays HP 2311x (primary), Sharp LL-T1620-H (secondary) Screen Resolution 1924x1080 Keyboard Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 2000+ HP Media Centre Remote Mouse Microsoft Wireless Mouse 2000 PSU 500W Case Stock HP one that came with it, mid-size ATX Cooling Stock fans, they're fairly quiet. Hard Drives 1TB internal WD Caviar Black
500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm (for TV storage)
500GB Seagate FreeAgent Desk
500GB Seagate External Desktop Drive Internet Speed Lets just say my phone connection is four times faster... Other Info Also:
- HP deskjet 3050A
- Two HP ZV5000 laptops (the better of the two recently broke)
- A Compaq Evo D310 (has 2GB RAM and a 2.53GHz P4 but is curiously extremely slow)
- A desk fan - this weather is warm ;)
- A fair few retro consoles
- Too many cables behind the desk, probably a hazard. |
15 Jul 2011
|
#2 | | W7 Professional x64 Portland, OR |
You should be able to fit a normal PSU because the case is listed as being a mid-tower. If it really is, then it's a normal size PSU, as the only small ones are the ones for slimlines and some small media centers.
If you upgrade the RAM, etc, I would consider a 500W power supply, but stock it should run just fine. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Pugh Technologies OS W7 Professional x64 CPU AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana 3.10 GHz Motherboard MSI 870A-G54 Memory PNY XLR DDR3 1600 4x2GB Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (fermi) 1GB GDDR5 Sound Card Realtek ALC892 onboard Monitor(s) Displays ASUS VE205t, Viewsonic VX2035WM Screen Resolution 1600x900, 1600x1050 Keyboard Logitec 55 Mouse Razer Deathadder PSU Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Case ThermalTake Armor A90 Mid Tower Cooling 3x 120mm in, 1x 120mm & 200mm out, self built hydro-cooler Hard Drives 977GB Hitachi Hitachi HDS721010CLA332
244GB Western Digital WDC WD2500AAJS-65B4A0
488GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAJS-00A8B0
488GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-00UU3A0 Internet Speed 20 Mbps D/L, 9 Mbps U/L |
15 Jul 2011
|
#3 | | Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit England |
okay, thanks for the information | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number [NEW PC :D] HP Pavilion p6565uk OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1035T @2.6GHz (hexacore) (=15.6GHz) Motherboard FOXCONN (2AA9) Memory 6GB DDR3-1333 (running at 1066) Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 230 (1.5GB) Sound Card Realtek HD Audio (with 5.1 surroundsound always on) Monitor(s) Displays HP 2311x (primary), Sharp LL-T1620-H (secondary) Screen Resolution 1924x1080 Keyboard Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 2000+ HP Media Centre Remote Mouse Microsoft Wireless Mouse 2000 PSU 500W Case Stock HP one that came with it, mid-size ATX Cooling Stock fans, they're fairly quiet. Hard Drives 1TB internal WD Caviar Black
500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm (for TV storage)
500GB Seagate FreeAgent Desk
500GB Seagate External Desktop Drive Internet Speed Lets just say my phone connection is four times faster... Other Info Also:
- HP deskjet 3050A
- Two HP ZV5000 laptops (the better of the two recently broke)
- A Compaq Evo D310 (has 2GB RAM and a 2.53GHz P4 but is curiously extremely slow)
- A desk fan - this weather is warm ;)
- A fair few retro consoles
- Too many cables behind the desk, probably a hazard. |
15 Jul 2011
|
#4 | | Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit England |
I have a dead standard-size PSU lying around (don't ask why, well, y'know the US/EU voltage switch on the back? Don't switch it while it's on  ), so I'll check the sizes as soon as it arrives. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number [NEW PC :D] HP Pavilion p6565uk OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1035T @2.6GHz (hexacore) (=15.6GHz) Motherboard FOXCONN (2AA9) Memory 6GB DDR3-1333 (running at 1066) Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 230 (1.5GB) Sound Card Realtek HD Audio (with 5.1 surroundsound always on) Monitor(s) Displays HP 2311x (primary), Sharp LL-T1620-H (secondary) Screen Resolution 1924x1080 Keyboard Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 2000+ HP Media Centre Remote Mouse Microsoft Wireless Mouse 2000 PSU 500W Case Stock HP one that came with it, mid-size ATX Cooling Stock fans, they're fairly quiet. Hard Drives 1TB internal WD Caviar Black
500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm (for TV storage)
500GB Seagate FreeAgent Desk
500GB Seagate External Desktop Drive Internet Speed Lets just say my phone connection is four times faster... Other Info Also:
- HP deskjet 3050A
- Two HP ZV5000 laptops (the better of the two recently broke)
- A Compaq Evo D310 (has 2GB RAM and a 2.53GHz P4 but is curiously extremely slow)
- A desk fan - this weather is warm ;)
- A fair few retro consoles
- Too many cables behind the desk, probably a hazard. |
15 Jul 2011
|
#5 | | windows 7 ultimate 64 bit |
Be sure to hang on to the old one(PSU) in case of warranty repairs, also be prepared to return the system to stock..... | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number homemade OS windows 7 ultimate 64 bit CPU FX 8350@4300mhz COOLER MASTER Seidon 120M water cooler Motherboard ASRock 990FX Extreme4 AM3+ Memory 16gb Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600 Graphics Card Sapphire 5850 & XFX 5850 crossfire Monitor(s) Displays hanns g 1680X1050 Screen Resolution 1680x1050 Keyboard z merc Mouse Logitech wireless m705 PSU dual Antec 650 & Rosewill 530 watt continuous Case homemade Cooling 4 120mm@50cfm each/2 120mm@90cfm Hard Drives ADATA 256 gig SSD + 2 junk Internet Speed dsl |
16 Jul 2011
|
#6 | | Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit England |

Quote: Originally Posted by Ivan the SoSo Be sure to hang on to the old one(PSU) in case of warranty repairs, also be prepared to return the system to stock..... ah yeah, thanks for reminding me  (yeah, it has a 12 month warranty, and I don't particularly trust HP machines to run as smoothly as possible  )
(I'll 'spread around some rep' and then get back to you, as you were the last last person I gave rep to  ) | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number [NEW PC :D] HP Pavilion p6565uk OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1035T @2.6GHz (hexacore) (=15.6GHz) Motherboard FOXCONN (2AA9) Memory 6GB DDR3-1333 (running at 1066) Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 230 (1.5GB) Sound Card Realtek HD Audio (with 5.1 surroundsound always on) Monitor(s) Displays HP 2311x (primary), Sharp LL-T1620-H (secondary) Screen Resolution 1924x1080 Keyboard Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 2000+ HP Media Centre Remote Mouse Microsoft Wireless Mouse 2000 PSU 500W Case Stock HP one that came with it, mid-size ATX Cooling Stock fans, they're fairly quiet. Hard Drives 1TB internal WD Caviar Black
500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm (for TV storage)
500GB Seagate FreeAgent Desk
500GB Seagate External Desktop Drive Internet Speed Lets just say my phone connection is four times faster... Other Info Also:
- HP deskjet 3050A
- Two HP ZV5000 laptops (the better of the two recently broke)
- A Compaq Evo D310 (has 2GB RAM and a 2.53GHz P4 but is curiously extremely slow)
- A desk fan - this weather is warm ;)
- A fair few retro consoles
- Too many cables behind the desk, probably a hazard. |
16 Jul 2011
|
#7 | | |
Most people buy power supplies that are too large. I'm sure a prebuilt computer has enough power...if not...it's warrantied. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Self-Built in July 2009 OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 CPU Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS Memory 8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings Graphics Card EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570 Sound Card Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio Monitor(s) Displays 23" Acer x233H Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Keyboard ABS M1 Mechanical Mouse Logitech G9 Laser Mouse PSU Corsair 620HX modular Case Antec P182 Cooling stock Hard Drives Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS Internet Speed 15/2 cable modem Other Info Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset. |
16 Jul 2011
|
#8 | | windows 7 ultimate 64 bit |
Spec's on that system....not half bad... a good PSU and a nice card, and you'll be back in business.....The problem with a dream machine is the dream keeps moving..... | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number homemade OS windows 7 ultimate 64 bit CPU FX 8350@4300mhz COOLER MASTER Seidon 120M water cooler Motherboard ASRock 990FX Extreme4 AM3+ Memory 16gb Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600 Graphics Card Sapphire 5850 & XFX 5850 crossfire Monitor(s) Displays hanns g 1680X1050 Screen Resolution 1680x1050 Keyboard z merc Mouse Logitech wireless m705 PSU dual Antec 650 & Rosewill 530 watt continuous Case homemade Cooling 4 120mm@50cfm each/2 120mm@90cfm Hard Drives ADATA 256 gig SSD + 2 junk Internet Speed dsl |
19 Jul 2011
|
#9 | | Windows 7 pro 64bit. (SP1) |

Quote: Originally Posted by biggles1000 I will probably also be wanting to mod this a bit, e.g. get it up to the 16GB RAM max, add some more HDDs, so I do hope that despite it being a microATX board that the case will still fit normal size PSUs (as my last case didn't. Well, it did if I could go without an optical drive, which I couldn't). if you plan to play games on this pc you will need to change graphics card because this one is .. very very slow for games. GT230 is low economy class GPU, in this case with overload of VRAM.. that amount will never be useful for such slow GPU. (maybe 512 or so its good match for this GPU)
It's fine to watch movies etc play simple games but not for more demanding games.
I think its marketing trick GB, GHz etc.. from old times (geforce first maybe second generation time) vga was judged by its VRAM MB, and cpu by clock speed MHz.
to answer your question yes for this build 300w psu is ok. tought there is almost no spare power (a bit more RAM one more HDD may be fine, but not better vga).
and if you plan to upgrade components you will need new PSU | My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Self Built PC OS Windows 7 pro 64bit. (SP1) CPU Intel core I5 2400 Motherboard Gigabyte H61 Memory 8GB DDR3 Kingston Graphics Card Gigabyte GF GTX650OC Sound Card Realtek HD audio Monitor(s) Displays LCD 20" Screen Resolution 1600x900 Keyboard logitech Mouse logitech PSU Coolermaster RX450W Case Coolermaster atx case Cooling stock cooler Hard Drives INTEL SSD 320 80GB +Seagate 7200.12 1TBx3 Internet Speed FTTD 100mbps |
19 Jul 2011
|
#10 | | Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit England |
Yeah, I had a feeling that that card wasn't too great, as yeah, they tried to hide it's real specs behind the large vRAM label 
I've got an Nvidia 8400GS with 512MB vRAM knocking around in a cupboard, would that be better than the GT230? (or should I just buy a better graphics card straightaway  ) | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number [NEW PC :D] HP Pavilion p6565uk OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1035T @2.6GHz (hexacore) (=15.6GHz) Motherboard FOXCONN (2AA9) Memory 6GB DDR3-1333 (running at 1066) Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 230 (1.5GB) Sound Card Realtek HD Audio (with 5.1 surroundsound always on) Monitor(s) Displays HP 2311x (primary), Sharp LL-T1620-H (secondary) Screen Resolution 1924x1080 Keyboard Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 2000+ HP Media Centre Remote Mouse Microsoft Wireless Mouse 2000 PSU 500W Case Stock HP one that came with it, mid-size ATX Cooling Stock fans, they're fairly quiet. Hard Drives 1TB internal WD Caviar Black
500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm (for TV storage)
500GB Seagate FreeAgent Desk
500GB Seagate External Desktop Drive Internet Speed Lets just say my phone connection is four times faster... Other Info Also:
- HP deskjet 3050A
- Two HP ZV5000 laptops (the better of the two recently broke)
- A Compaq Evo D310 (has 2GB RAM and a 2.53GHz P4 but is curiously extremely slow)
- A desk fan - this weather is warm ;)
- A fair few retro consoles
- Too many cables behind the desk, probably a hazard. Isn't 300W too little?? problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:57 PM. | |