Originally Posted by
Knightsun
On the PSU issue, I've been the kind to buy a PSU that "fits" my machine. Problem I've found is, when upgrading to new hardware(like new video cards), I've found that I've also had to upgrade my PSU as well. Years ago I had a 8800GT so I bought a 520w PSU. I ended up upgrading the video card a year and a half later and got a 4870HD. My 520w was a cheap one, so I also bought a 600w PSU to make sure my computer would be fine as I added extra fans and HDs after that. Problem with that was, a year and a half later I just upgraded to a GTX 570, and while my current PSU runs it, it's just slightly under the recommended PSU requirements for the 12v rail. I can't overclock the card at all without getting restarts, and my PSU is running hotter than I've ever seen it.
I just bought a 1,000w PSU, 80 Certified, that was on sale on Newegg for $150(Modular too!) to finally stop this nonsense. I probably wouldn't have had to buy a new one now if I had went a little overkill after my cheap 520w. Instead of just buying a good quality 600w, I should have bought an excellent quality 750w+ with a lot of juice on the 12v rails, which would have probably saved me money(and not had to order extra parts).
I'm not saying go all out on your PSU, but I'd buy one that could handle some future upgrades, like new video cards.