Psu

[joenewbie]

Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of the site and refer my friends here all the time. One bit of criticism in the form of a question, is the Antec 500 PSU really there for future expandability? Seems it can run the initial build but doesn't give enough power for more sophisticated add-ons later.

Thanks,

Joenewbie

[zburns]

Joenewbie, welome to the forums. If you are not a gamer and just want a mid level home computer, the Antec Earthwatts is sufficient, two +12 volt rails with, I think, 22 amps per rail, which is an upgrade about a year or so ago. If you are a gamer, you choose your cpu and your video card, look at the total power, approximately, to be consumed at max frames per second -- you have to use reviews to figure this stuff out -- and once you have a feel for total power, you then decide on a power supply. You need to limit your choices to well respected brands and it still helps to read reviews for psus even if you have a good feel for the mfg.

Three years ago when I did my first build, gaming cards worked well within the range of the Antec 500 watt supply; today, the whole reason for the much larger psu wattages is high frames per second gpus which also include approximately 250 up to 500 stream processors, the higher number being the higher wattage cards. The Antec cases are well made and good looking; they have a line of power supplies that runs the range of low, medium to high power. The 500 watt supply will still handle many mid range video cards, about 200 to 250 watts, although I would shoot for being close to the lower number say about 220 to 225 watts; leave some 'headroom'.