Hi, I am thinking of upgrading my hard disk from 40GB to something like 120GB. I would like to know if using a higher capacity hard disk will consume more power from my power supply. I have a 300W power supply, and I think it is already quite loaded with the agp card and 1GB of RAM. I would like to know if putting in a higher capacity hard disk will require higher power requirements than my current 40GB hard disk. I have the older type pata type interface only. Thanks, Sarosh. Sarosh

no, you do not require higher power!

a larger drive shouldn't reqiore more power - my 160gb drive actually uses less than my old 40gb did.. if you're that close with your power supply, you should probably looking for a new one, rather than a hard drive. Abit NF7-S 2.0 Athlon XP 2600+ @ 2.3GHz 1GB Mushkin PC3200 Sapphire 9700pro 120GB WD 160GB Maxtor 40GB Maxtor VGA Silencer Zalman CNPS 7000B AlCu Aspire 550W

Hi Bronc, Thats good to know that. How did you exactly measure that your 160GB consumes less power than your 40GB HD. Anyway, its good to learn from you guys, I will be making the upgrade sometime soon. Thanks, Sarosh. Sarosh

I think the Power Supply is one of the most important components of your computer. It's attached to most of your other components. I've heard stories of the PSU blowing and taking out other components with it. Before considering upgrading other components, you should consider upgrading your PSU first. A higher-rated PSU won't use up more power...it only uses as much as the computer needs. Thus, with a higher-rated PSU, you give yourself the ability to upgrade without worries. Also, if it's a no-brand PSU, you might be taxing it too much. The voltage might not be clean, it might not provide dual 12v lines, etc. I think most guides/people recommend around 400W to be the minimum for a modern computer system. My 6600GT needs extra power, so it has to be attached to the PSU. I'd assume that your video card consumes a bit of power when in 3D mode (when you're playing games, etc). Are you replacing the hard drive, or are you going to keep both hard drives in the system? There are a few calculators on the web that'll let you calculate your PSU requirements. You just need to remember that a computer system is dynamic. In a worst case scenario, all the devices in your system draw their max power requirements (it'll only last a moment). For the most part, you won't be in the worst case scenario, which is why you can get by with a lower-rated PSU. Just don't do something that'll tax your PSU too far. By the way, you can always google for research...find the product specs for the hard drives that you're interested in, and see if you can find their power requirements.