Elliot B. Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 My Antec EarthWatts 500W PSU is powering: Intel Core i5-750 CPU 8 GB RAM NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 1x SSD 3x 7,200 RPM HDDs 1x 5,400 RPM HDD Webcam, mouse, keyboard DVD writer 3x external HDDs (but they're also connected to the mains) The reason I ask if I am stressing the PSU is that since I installed the third 7,200 RPM HDD, every now and again (probably 5 times a day), my mouse disconnects (Windows plays Device Disconnect sound) and reconnects a second or two later (Windows plays Device Connect sound). It could be a co-incidence. However, I am wanting to install a fourth 7,200 RPM HDD soon and I want to make sure I'm not already stressing the PSU as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovell Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 That doesn't sound like a PSU problem if it was when you game your PC would crash, try playing a really intensive game if it crashes then you know it's your PSU. HDDs use around 20w card 150-200w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot B. Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 That doesn't sound like a PSU problem if it was when you game your PC would crash, try playing a really intensive game if it crashes then you know it's your PSU. True - this does not happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detection Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 To get an idea of headroom left on your PSU, enter your hardware here http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot B. Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 To get an idea of headroom left on your PSU, enter your hardware here http://www.extreme.o...culatorlite.jsp It says around 45-50w - weird. Anyway, I just noticed that when my mouse disconnects and reconnects, my external hard drives kick into action also. I think my motherboard is shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detection Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 It says around 45-50w - weird. Anyway, I just noticed that when my mouse disconnects and reconnects, my external hard drives kick into action also. I think my motherboard is shot. Entering your OP hardware into that calculator, I get 431w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot B. Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 Entering your OP hardware into that calculator, I get 431w Strange, it's not what I got. Oh well, either way, it seems my 500W will do :) Cheers for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detection Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Strange, it's not what I got. Oh well, either way, it seems my 500W will do :) Cheers for the help! :) Would be nice if all that hardware only took 45-50w, your CPU alone sucks up more than double that ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_K Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 500w output is it's PEAK output, no PSU should run at PEAK, in fact, they won't run at PEAK continiously. Plus you've got to account for plus/minus 10% and you shouldn't be running a PSU at more than 90% or 95% capacity of this AT MOST. 10% off 500w = 450w, so if you're using 431w I would strongly recommend getting a more powerful PSU - or plug the internal drives into a seperate much smaller PSU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot B. Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 500w output is it's PEAK output, no PSU should run at PEAK, in fact, they won't run at PEAK continiously. Plus you've got to account for plus/minus 10% and you shouldn't be running a PSU at more than 90% or 95% capacity of this AT MOST. 10% off 500w = 450w, so if you're using 431w I would strongly recommend getting a more powerful PSU - or plug the internal drives into a seperate much smaller PSU. Nah, this will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaP Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Strange, it's not what I got. Oh well, either way, it seems my 500W will do :) Cheers for the help! PSU lose efficiency over time. Your PSU is probably not even able to provide 500W peak if it is old. At 431W load you are really border line if the PSU is cheap and old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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