Adequate PSU?

[Brangwen]

Fellow Members:

I am running the following components on my system:

Asus A7N8Xe motherboard
XP 3200 Barton
1.5GB PC 3200 DDR (2.5) 400/Crucial/Micron
6 PanaFlo Whisper fans
40GB Maxtor (Fast Drive) HDD
160GB Maxtor SCSI HDD
Matrox Parhelia 128 graphics card
SyncMaster monitors (19 in. & 17 in.)
Windows 2000 Professional
Acoustic Magic Array microphone (Dragon NaturallySpeaking v. 7 voice-recognition software)
CanoScan (USB 2.0) scanner; HP LaserJet printer; Epson C82 color printer & (ubiquitous) USB Iomega Zip Drive
Relatively inexpensive speaker system (sub woofer + two satellites)
Zoom Voice/fax/data PCI modem
Integrated NVIDIA audio system

My PSU is between 340 & 360W: is this adequate to run the above components? I ask this because after four to six hours of running many different types of programs, my computer will freeze up unless I notice certain signs of (what may be best described as) sluggishness, e.g. a program window may not "snap" closed like it would have when I first began my session. That kind of thing. The next thing that I know I am closing down programs in an effort to save data and then I reboot computer -- presumably to flush out or return memory. At boot, I do load microphone for speech-recognition, antivirus program, firewall, Linksys ethernet card.

So, is my computer simply acting like any other that has been put "through its paces" and simply needs a reboot after four to six hours? Or do I need more "juice?"

Thanks. I appreciate your opinions.

Brangwen

[stroyal]

Check your voltages and see if they are falling off when you have the problem.

[RamonGTP]

Well the nice thing is that many of your listed components don't draw power from the psu... Like the 2 monitors, the software, the printers and your speaker system

That said, if its a generic brand PSU, i'd recommend an upgrade. If its a quality one, is probably close to its limit. My system with similar power requirments (2500+@3200+ 1GB RAM, 80GB 8MB HDD, 9800 Pro, 6 case fans, 2 CC lights, DVD, DVDRW, 5 PCI cards) was getting graphical glitches at times with an Enermax 350watter which is a good quality 350. I upgraded to the Enermax 550 and glitches are no longer an issue.

Wether your problem is PSU related or not, I cannot say for sure. But its not a bad idea to upgrade especially if its a generic brand.

[Brangwen]

Originally posted by RamonGTP
That said, if its a generic brand PSU, i'd recommend an upgrade. If its a quality one, is probably close to its limit. My system with similar power requirments . . . was getting graphical glitches at times with an Enermax 350watter which is a good quality 350. I upgraded to the Enermax 550 and glitches are no longer an issue.

Wether your problem is PSU related or not, I cannot say for sure. But its not a bad idea to upgrade especially if its a generic brand.

Good info, thank you. Actually my PSU is an Antec ... I do not know where that rates. I'm not getting glitches per se, I equated my system with one that should not require a reboot after 4-6 hrs of intensive use. Perhaps I'm being unrealistic ... ?

Brangwen

[RamonGTP]

You shouldn't have to reboot ever 4-6 hours... I've had mine up for over over a week with hardcore gaming and no issues, and its an overclocked system too. Only reason I rebooted eventually was because I updated my video drivers. Antec's are good PSU's. But could still be being pushed a little too hard. As suggested, check the voltages, not with software but with a multimeter. Software is very innacurrate.

[gerald_weigel]

Definitly upgrade, you can never have too much power, but too little is a bad thing.

[Sweeper]

well before you go and upgrade the power supply on a "GUESS" I would do some testing and see if it is your power supply that is the culprit here.

[Agent_Embryo]

Memory leaks perhaps?