I was going to build a complete I7 rig from scratch but I am thinking that it will be to expensive. I really wanted to preserve my current system to run MS office, surf the net and network to run ASA.If I cannibalize my current system, it will save me the expense of a case, on HD, DVD drives, case fans and perhaps a PSU.Do you think my current PSU is enough for a I7-950, GTX 285 and three HDs? Also, do you think I will be loosing a lot of performance by running ASA on the same rig rather than running it on another system?

Yes! Also, type "PSU calculator" into Google.

You could run all that on a quality 550W PSU. See sig. 640GB WD + 1TB Hitachi on a Corsair VX 550W. You could probably run tri SLI on your PSU, if it has enough connectors. Not that it would help FSX.

Thanks for the link and the advice. The one at Newegg says I will need 754W and another says 833W, 550W for my current system but my specific video card is know to need more power becuase of the cooler. In addition, 30 amps on the 12v rail was needed for my card.It seems like that does not leave me too much room to add anything or overclock. I received a value of 866W with overclocking.Also, my understanding is PSU's loose a little potency after time. Mine is about 3 years old.Are these calculators very accurate?

PSU Calculators are practically worthless. Read my previous post and signature. All the equipment in my sig is running on a 550W Corsair VX PSU.

If you like your current case, how about rebuilding in it for the new system reusing your good components and buying a cheap case, power supply and other components to retain what's left of the old system for Office, internet and ASA?I network ASA from a laptop, but can't truthfully say that I've noticed any affect on performance.

If you like your current case, how about rebuilding in it for the new system reusing your good components and buying a cheap case, power supply and other components to retain what's left of the old system for Office, internet and ASA?I network ASA from a laptop, but can't truthfully say that I've noticed any affect on performance.

I'm running this on a 550W PSU. Only 1 video card, but the i7 is OC'd to 4GHz...http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?s=&...t&p=1643009

If you like your current case, how about rebuilding in it for the new system reusing your good components and buying a cheap case, power supply and other components to retain what's left of the old system for Office, internet and ASA?I network ASA from a laptop, but can't truthfully say that I've noticed any affect on performance.

I was thinking about doing that. I have another system that I can part out - my wife's old P4 3Ghz. I was thinking about building the other system from all of the spare parts - I have a lot more laying around than mentioned above including an Antec Smart Power 500W PSU and a old 6800GT that I could use in the second system. I do think my 1950 pro needs the something beefier than the 500W though.The new system will be built by a local shop that specializes in building high end gaming/media systems. With all the extra parts, I can experiment with doing it myself without the fear of frying a brand new chip. I also understand that my current AMD chip is good for overclocking and it may be fun to play with. Maybe next time, I will be able to do everything myself.

PSU Calculators are practically worthless. Read my previous post and signature. All the equipment in my sig is running on a 550W Corsair VX PSU.

Not exactly. But thanks for the "input". Perhaps you mean to say something more along the lines of "there's more to know about your PSU than how many watts you'll be using".

Not exactly. But thanks for the "input". Perhaps you mean to say something more along the lines of "there's more to know about your PSU than how many watts you'll be using".

Yes, they are useless. All they're going to tell you is that you need to buy way more of a PSU than you actually need. Real world PCs disprove PSU calculators on a daily basis, mine included. When it comes to PSUs, all you need to account for is the amperage delivered by the +12V rail(s) and make sure this number is greater than or equal to what your GPU manufacturer recommends, as it is the largest consumer of power on this rail of all the devices in one's system. You don't need an 850W PSU to power an overclocked i7 and a single GTX 285, that's just absurd.

You don't need an 850W PSU to power an overclocked i7 and a single GTX 285, that's just absurd.

I did need it for my 1950 Pro - 30 amps on the 12v rail (honestly, I think I could have gone down to 650W but I still needed the 30 amps on the 12v rail). I could see how some calculators could exaggerate things - especially if they are related to a hardware supplier. Is there a reason why my old card needs more power than a new card?Thank you for ALL of the help. As you can see, I had no idea where to go with this and all help is appreciated.

I did need it for my 1950 Pro - 30 amps on the 12v rail (honestly, I think I could have gone down to 650W but I still needed the 30 amps on the 12v rail). I could see how some calculators could exaggerate things - especially if they are related to a hardware supplier. Is there a reason why my old card needs more power than a new card?Thank you for ALL of the help. As you can see, I had no idea where to go with this and all help is appreciated.

One other thing to think about. Take a look at some of the PSU reviews on sites like anandtech.com that have have curves of efficiency and fan noise as a function of load. What I've noticed is that most PSU's run most effeciently and are much quieter at 50% load. This may be the reason some are advocating larger PSU's, not because your system has the current draw of the PSU maximum rating.

I did need it for my 1950 Pro - 30 amps on the 12v rail (honestly, I think I could have gone down to 650W but I still needed the 30 amps on the 12v rail). I could see how some calculators could exaggerate things - especially if they are related to a hardware supplier. Is there a reason why my old card needs more power than a new card?Thank you for ALL of the help. As you can see, I had no idea where to go with this and all help is appreciated.

30A on the +12V rail is something that can be delivered by a quality 400W PSU. One thing to keep in mind is that PSUs often have multiple +12V rails and these are additive (unlike many other things in computing). Example: if you have a "450W" PSU which has dual +12V rails, each capable of delivering 17A, you have a maximum delivery of 34A on the +12V rail so this PSU could support a card which requires 34A. Sometimes old cards need more power than new cards because those old cards have GPUs which were manufactured on a larger process, which means larger transistors, which generally means larger GPUs, which in itself means higher power requirements. A good example of this would be to compare the GTX 280, whose GPU (GT200) was manufactured on a 65nm process, vs. the GTX 285, whose GPU (GT200b) was manufactured on a 55nm process. These two GPUs have the same amount of transistors but the GT200b consumes less power because its transistors are smaller.

Is there a reason why my old card needs more power than a new card?

That is somewhat common with some chips as the fab process gets smaller with the next gen chip.If you are concerned about your 850watt Thermaltake Toughpower, then get one of these, and sleep well at night:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817703022Your Toughpower is pretty good, so if it were me I would probably not replace it unless I were having problems. At 3 years old I do not consider that to be that old for a good power supply. I still have a PC Power unit that is 11 years old, runs daily on a business machine.

One thing to keep in mind is that PSUs often have multiple +12V rails and these are additive (unlike many other things in computing). Example: if you have a "450W" PSU which has dual +12V rails, each capable of delivering 17A, you have a maximum delivery of 34A on the +12V rail so this PSU could support a card which requires 34A.

Wrong.You don't add the rails together, there is an equation for this....Linkage:http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=1982571Essentially you divide max power for the rails by 12 volts to get total amperage.