[Archimedez]

How do I know if my PC's power supply is insufficient? I routinely upgrade various internals; and I have utilities to benchmark RAM, CPU, and such. Is there a utility that will identify the power supply as the next bottleneck in my system?

[mphenterprises]

Hi Archimedez. Open your case and look at the sticker of your Power Supply. If the "Peak Power Wattage" is less than 450-500 Watts, you are under-powered no matter what you have in your computer.Now, if your Power Supply is above the average minimum, no one can tell you if you are under-powered unless you tell us specifically what components you have in you computer.

[Knifeblade]

Now how did I know you would start with that query, Mph? :wink:One good way to determine your power needs is to google some calculators that add up what components you have, and then they give you a "base" power requirement. PCW has an article and a calculator for just this purpose in their dowload section of the site.Anyhoo, like Mph states.

[mphenterprises]

LOL Come on now... LOL :lol: I could almost recite my Power Supply mantra by heart LOL :wink:

[spike]

[quote name='mphenterprises']LOL Come on now... LOL :lol: I could almost recite my Power Supply mantra by heart LOL :wink:...........and with good reason, the power supply is the most over looked piece of hardware in the computer,............you should know that knifeblade,....after all, you own a Dell,...........( I almost puked, just typing the name ) :shock:

[Knifeblade]

Meh, at least I did get a 500W'er into this silly thing!!!!:)