Hey there everybody, this is my first time posting on these forums. I use these forums regularly though, at my job on a college campus. I work for an IT help desk and the solutions provided here help me to answer questions better than I ever could myself, so I figured this would be my first stop with the problem I'm having.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of power supply to buy for my system. I upgraded my machine last year with some parts that my current power supply isn't really supposed to be running. Most of the parts in my comp. are salvaged from my old HP (a 5500, I think it was. One of the all in one bundles), but I bought a new mb, video card, and more RAM to start a gaming rig. Here are the stats that I think are important. Tell me if I've left anything out that would help.

Windows XP Pro.
Intel Pentium 4 2.0GHz
Mach Speed X-Caliber P4X400DBP VIA Socket 478 ATX Motherboard
1.25GB PC2100 DDR 266MHz
GeForce FX 5200 / 256MB DDR / AGP
3 case fans
(all of the below were salvaged, so I don't know the exact specs)
30GB HD
16x DVD/CD-ROM drive
3.5 Floppy drive


I was just wondering if there are differences between power supplies? I've read some reviews on Newegg about how a certain PS didn't have a 24 pin plug or something. I'm just worried that I'm going to buy a PS and it won't work with my MB for some reason. Could someone please explain if there is a difference I should be looking for?

Thanks,
spyrious

I Don't Know if it matters or not on which Power Supply you have, They all do the same damn job in my eyes lol.

You will just need to see what exactly the PS does and waht makes it different and better (If it does...)

As for the system, it seems fine i cant think of anything for ya except a bigger Hard Drive... But then thats just my personall Oppinion (I got 2 matching 160gb altogether!)

Good luck

Here's a couple of sites to help you calculate what size power supply you need:
PC Power Recommendation/Consumption Calculator
Power Supply Calculator

There are others who can tell you some specifics but from my limited experience you do need to match up your PSU with your motherboard connector, CPU requirements and Graphics card requirements.
The original ATX power supply had one 20 pin connector and that was it. With AGP ad CPU requiring ever more power there was a second 4-pin power connector introduced to plug into the motherboard near the AGP slot (Called ATX12V). Now I'm reading the 'standard' ATX connector is 24-pin (but further readings show I may be misinformed on this)


There are adaptors to convert 24 pin to 20 pin plugs but you would have to do some research regarding what you do about the other 4 pins. I'd be happy to be enlightened by others more experienced.....

hth

Dear spy,

If you are running a 256mb vid card you should have at least a 500watt power supply.

I recommend Antec. Although I did have a problem with my Antec 550 truepower. I sent it back to Antec and they sent back a new one. Not many companies do that anymore.

I run a Antec 380 watt in my"burning comp" and it does fine. If you go games in any way, go for at least 500 watts.

Let us know,

junkdk

Thanks for everybody's help. I'm sure I'm gonna go with a 500w, I just wasn't sure if there were differences in the connections. The articles and advice you offered really helped.