145 watt too low for a power supply

[liteonrules]

ok, i just build my mother a AMD SEMPRON 2200,40GB,CD RW,DVD ROM and onboard everything else W/ 145 watt power supply. i believe that she will only use it to surf the web and maybe download music every once in awhile and possible use the cd burner and dvd a couple of times in a year. she will never use it for hard core games or anything that will use up power ..........but should i be afraid that this low wattage powersupply could cause blow out for the motherboard and powersupply?

[MonsterMan]

Quite possible.

Just get this.

They make great PSUs...

[jjones]

Check this website to calculate the power supply requirements:

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

With an AMD 2200 Sempron, 7200rpm IDE HD, CD-RW, DVD-ROM and 1 stick of DDR memory, it shows a recommended power supply of 172W. This doesn't include any video card or any add-on cards or USB devices attached.

[MonsterMan]

Always go bigger than you think you need. Running a PSU at/near it's max rating is hard on the PSU; kill it, you risk killing the rest of the pc.

[burninfool]

I wouldn't use anything less than a 300w PSU.

[liteonrules]

thanks guys, i went out and bought a 400 watt power supply for $18.00
i'd rather spend the 18.00 than lose what i put into it

[Bhairav]

thanks guys, i went out and bought a 400 watt power supply for $18.00
i'd rather spend the 18.00 than lose what i put into it

What kinda 400W PSU do you get for 18$? Get a name-brand PSU dude..

[LoneWolf]

thanks guys, i went out and bought a 400 watt power supply for $18.00
i'd rather spend the 18.00 than lose what i put into it

With an $18 power supply, you're about as equally likely to lose what you put into it.

I've rarely seen a quality power supply retail for less than $40, and I've never seen an $18 unit capable of delivering 400 watts, no matter what is on the label (note: you'll probably use no more than 200 for what you're doing, but still). And when cheapie units go, there's an even-money chance they'll take the system board with them.

[yamawho]

One way to evaluate a power supply is by it's weight.
More weight = better quality.
I use OCZ Powerstream 420 in 3 overclocked gaming rigs without issues.