What kind of power supply for this motherboard?

Question

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128301

Custom system, i need alot of watts, pretty cheap, sli ready. How do i make sure they are compatible? Is it just the 24 pin i need to look at besides the wattage? And will it be compatible with all of the other parts in the custom computer? (like voltages and stuff). I understand everything else about computer componets, just not the power supplies.

Answer 1

The key thing is that the spec says "ATX". Get a large enough case and plug in any quality ATX power supply and you will be all set. Some ATX cases come with the power supply. Pick the case, then (if it does not come with a power supply) pick the ATX power supply. This is a full size board, so the regular ATX case should do the trick.

Good luck and Happy Computing!

Answer 2

First of all, it's not just the watts either. Depending on what you need which I don't know but it depends on whether or not you are going to install two graphics cards or one. Are you going to install ones that require a connection to the power supply or not. If they are going to need a connection to the power supply then you will need at least 550W, it not more.

You said it needs to be cheap, the thing is, efficient, powerful, and SLi certified power supplies do not come cheap but I'll see what I can find. I couldn't locate one meeting those requirements at Newegg BUT here's what you need to keep an eye out for:

I went with a 550W power supply from Sparkle Power which was SLi certified, I got it for about $100 which wasn't bad at the time. You should be looking for a power supply that can deliver at least 24A on the 12V rail. You don't really need to worry about the other rails, just the 12V, it should say something like +12V 24A, that means it can deliver 24 amps on the 12V rail. Don't worry about the negative values, they mean little.

My power supply can deliver 36A on the 12V rail but it's not terribly efficient at only 65% efficiency, meaning it puts out more heat. If you don't want to deal with the heat build up then look for a power supply that is at least 85% efficient, I saw one in Best Buy for about $150.

You're going to have to ask yourself which is more important, less heat or powerful. I guarantee you will not find an 85% efficient 550W SLi certified power supply with +12V 36A for under $100, chances are it will be much more, like in the order of $200 and that's even if you can find it.

You need to take a step back and ask yourself which is the most important, I say:

+12V 24A (or better)
550W or more
SLi certification

are the most important, consider efficiency a secondary concern if you have effective cooling, it won't matter how efficient it is but don't dip below 60%.

My system is water cooled so internal components don't get too hot and the power supply has a fan on it (other than the one it came with) so it too has plenty of cooling.

The power supply I got was FSP550PLG-SLI listed on this page, http://www.sparklepower.com/

Answer 3

the people above me are both right, but there are some more things to keep in mind.

1. your motherboard has a separate 12V connection on it. most have 4-pin connectors, some newer ones have 8-pin connectors. if your mobo has an 8-pin connector on it, you need to get a power supply with said connector. an 8-pin power supply will fit on a 4-pin mobo, but not vice versa.

2. you mentioned SLI. the most overlooked part of shopping a power supply is the power available on the +12V rail(s). check your video card's specs and see how much power they recommend on the 12 Volt rail. a lot of cheap power supplies have no more than 20 Amps available, even though high-end video cards require 30 or more amps, especially with an SLI setup.

don't go cheap on the PSU! a cheap power supply can fry your motherboard! some reputable brands include, but are not limited to, Seasonic (my favorite), OCZ, Thermaltake, and Enermax.

Answer 4

Yes - the Watts and the 24-pin connection are what you need to look for. The PSU should also say that it is SLI ready.

You can't go wrong with a Jeantech 600W arctic. Its great!

http://www.jeantech.com/power.htm

It has a cool cable management system, and gives you all the connections you'll ever need including PCI Express and SATA.