What PSU should I buy?

Question

Should it have a high wattage rating? (i power a lcd monitor, a logitech g15 keyboard, a 30a 12v graphics card, two harddrives, a floppy drive, two dvd drives, and an external harddrive.)
Should I pay attention to what plugs the psu that i buy has?
Should I pay attention to just wattage, or voltage and amperage as well?
Is there anything else that I should look for?

Thanks In Advance,
someone who has never bought a psu.

Answer 1

Yes, you should pay attention to the plugs on the PSU. You need to make sure that it will plug into your video card (or video card in the future) and possibly have the new style plugs for SATA type hard drives.

None of your external devices draw power from your PSU (LCD monitor, external harddrive) but I would say with what you have you should go with at least 400 - 450 watts. The Antec web site (www.antec.com) has a power calculator that will give you a good idea of how much power you should have.

Wattage is what counts, but realize that cheap power supplies will probably not be able to put out constant clean power at their rated level without burning up. This is not a place to scrimp on you computer - best to buy a good brand like Antec, PC Power & Cooling, Enermax. The only mid price brand I have ever been happy with is Sparkle.

Look at www.newegg.com

Good Luck

Answer 2

Simply higher total wattage is no longer enough. It should NOW be HIGHER +12V wattage. The LCD monitor will just connect to AC and not really draw power from the DC voltage rails of the PSU.
Get a good brand that is ATX V2.2. It is efficient and has dual or more +12V rails. Since you have a monster graphics card there, better get something like this:
http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=RS-600-ASAA&other_title=RS-600-ASAAiGreen%20Power%20600W
It has almost 60amps on the +12V rails.
OR this:
http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=RS-850-EMBA&other_title=RS-850-EMBAReal%20Power%20Pro%20850W
It has 108 amps on six +12V rails.

Answer 3

Hi. The PSU will only provide the power needed so a higher rated one is OK to use. Mine is rated at 550 watts but never has to put out that power. This should give it a longer life as well. Brands? I use an Antec but shop around. Look at reviews. Here is a link with some info http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/410

Answer 4

All the previous posters made some fine suggestions, but not one mentioned the fact that you can go Online and type the words PSU Calculator and you can enter the data of what your computer has and the calculator will suggest the type you need for your setup and then some. Try it.