How much power do i need for . . . .

i have a custom built system with a Thermaltake PurePower 500 watt ATX 12v PSU .
AMD Phenom II x4 940 (3.0GHz)
Radeon 4870 1GB DDR5
Sony optiarc 22x DVD
8gigs matched corsair DDR2 800 Dual Channel Memory
Seagate Barracuda 1tb HD .

My question is, is my 500 watt power supply powerful enough for me to install a western digital 500 gig HD, in addition to my current 1tb drive, without any problems ?
I have searched google for the answer, and have found numerous postings in forums about similar things, but the specifications and specifics are all too different for me to glean an answer from them .
Can anyone with sufficient knowledge counsel me on this ?

:major

 

I suppose it will run, of you have a spare Molex connector, which you probably do. But that is quite a high end system with a fairly :crap PSU. And is probably quite risky, i wouldn't be comfortable running that PSU, but i suppose it's your cash and your system so it's up to you.

Put your specs into this, PSU power calculator. Remember to stick 100w on whatever you get for upgrades in the future and also that is the minimum power requirement.

I would not run that on a 500w , i would atleast go with the Corsair TX650, 750 if budget allows!

 

I think 500 watts is pushing but but hard drives don't consume much power. I think they eat up about 15 watts probly less

I like burrell suggestions about a new psu.

 

Yes, this is the advice i have received from others as well .
I suppose ill get a more powerful PSU before installing the other HD.
Thanks, fellers !

 

Who makes high quality PSU's ?

 

IMO Corsair is the best However here is other good brands

Zalman
Thermaltake
Antec
OCZ

 

Corsair for sure. I've built three systems based on them so far. And I would not feel too comfortable running that system on a 500 watt PSU, especially because after a few months and years they can lose some power because the capacitors degrade over time. The corsairs are really reliable and also pretty cheap.

 

Personally, I would scratch out Antec from the list and stick with the other suggestions which are all excellent.

Good Luck

 

whats wrong with Antec?

 

I personally, have had too many of their units failing after 6-8 months of use over the years.

The symptoms associated with this type of failure is that the system would sometimes not power up if left for a few days but would work fine with cold boots intra day.

I also read several post from other power users at the time who experienced the same problem as well as other issues. The last one I bought was about 3 years ago. Perhaps things are better now I have not really looked.

However given that Antec seem to produce multi rail 12v psus, there is no call me for to keep up with their product line. I would as a matter of personal preference generally place Corsair and OCZ at the top of any list as regards future purchases and this for a single rail 12v psu.

Good Luck

 

For an impartial list, try this site: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=208143