300-Watt PSU enough for 1.2-GHz Athlon box?

[CDRecorder]

Here is my system configuration:

1.2-GHz Thunderbird with 200MHz bus
ABIT KT7A 1.3 BIOS version B4
512-MB CL3 PC133 SDRAM
ATI 32MB Xpert 2000 Pro
SoundBlaster Live Value
Linksys/Network Anywhere 10/100 Ethernet
V.92 dial-up modem
Hi-Val 52x CD-ROM
Lite-On LTR-32123S CD-RW
Maxtor 60-GB ATA133 7200RPM HDD with 2MB cache
Floppy drive

Is an ANTEC 300-Watt PSU enough for this system? The computer seems to "reset" the drives strangely when I start the computer up, and I was wondering if it was a PSU thing or if it was a "feature" of the mobo. I don't think that the mobo is broken because I RMA'd the first one after talking to ABIT tech support, but the new mobo does the same thing.

Thanks!

[kuser9]

Here is the link to calculate how much power you need.
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/maxpc/index_cases.htm

[CDRecorder]

Thanks for the link, Kuser9! It is very helpful!

Welcome to CDRLabs, BTW!

[Inertia]

Antec is a recommend AMD power supply. I have two Antec towers with Antec PP303XP 300 watt power supplies.

One computer is a Soyo SY-K7V DRAGON Plus! with an Athlon XP 1800+ CPU, four 80 GB 7200 RPM hard drives (on the RAID connectors), and four ATAPI devices.

The other is an ABIT KT7A-RAID also with an Athlon XP 1800+ processor, four 7200 RPM hard drives and four ATAPI devices.

In addition, there is networking, modems, USB devices, sound cards, etc.

I have had no power supply problems with either computer, although I am probably pushing my luck with all of the stuff connected.

Just as a longshot, you may want to do a visual inspection of your motherboard (checking that connectors are seated properly while you're at it) for evidence of Leaking Capacitors Muck up Motherboards. ABIT among others is known to be affected by this problem.

You might also check out (if you haven't already) Paul's Unofficial ABIT KT7A-RAID FAQ, the very best ABIT FAQ site. There is a wealth of troubleshooting tips and general information. Paul Howland has a PhD and Masters degrees in Electronic and Electrical Engineering and is a Principal Scientist for NATO, doing research on future radar systems. He did the FAQ's in his spare time.

By the way, under instabilities he recommends a minimum 350 watt power supply. This is probably good general advice, but not all power supplies are created equal and my experience with the 300 watt Antecs continues to be satisfactory.

[CDRecorder]

Actually, my KT7A is on an older version of ths PSU in Antec tower, and I have another Antec tower with the same PSU as you mentioned.

Thanks for the link, too. I'll check it out. BTW, my system is stable (nothing is OC'd either), so it sounds like I probably don't have a PSU problem.

[CDRecorder]

Thanks for the capacitor link, too. This doesn't seem to be affecting me, though.

[Action Jackson]

Why not spring for a higher wattage quality PSU? That way when you upgrade, you'll be covered.

I like my Antec Truepower. It's got a 3 yr warranty to boot.

[CDRecorder]

Well, my current PSU is good quality, but I suppose it certainly couldn't hurt to get a larger one. Thank you all for your advice! I appreciate it!

[Wedge Maniac]

I'm in the middle of learning a bit about PSUs. According to what I have read, it's more about a PSU's efficiency than anything else, i.e., higher wattage power supplies aren't necessarily better than smaller ones; conversly, smaller PSUs may outperform higher wattage PSUs.

Here is an interesting thread from Silent PC Reveiw entitled How much will a 300w power supply run?.

[Dartman]

I have about as many things in my full tower case as Inertia and one more HD and my Antec 300 is doing fine also. As long as your motherboard has good regulation and all that I think it should work OK but I'm thinking I'll upgrade the PS soon just to be safe. The only problems I've had was a cold solder joint that developed after a year or so and my old Asus a7v133 could not handle my new ti 4200. Crappy power regulation I guess becuase my new MSI KT3 Ultra has no problems with pretty much all the same hardware in place.
The Antec 300 was the best PS Anand tech tested several years ago, even beating 400 watt rigs, they make good stuff.