I belive I'm having problems with the computer I'm building. All I have in it right now are the video card and a CD-RW drive. The machine starts up fine without a cd in the drive, but if I put a cd in the drive, it just starts spinning up the drive and then resets. I've tried other drives and the same thing happens. It also goes into a reset cycle when I hook up all of the drives I have for the machine at the same time(2 cd-roms and a hard drive). It boots fine with the hard drive alone though. I'm pretty sure the problem is my power supply. I used the one that came with my case, but it's a measly 250 watts. Considering that the completed machine will have 2 cd-roms and 2 or 3 hard drives, and 3-4 PCI cards, how big of a power supply should I go with ? Also, I'm wondering if I should get an additional heatsink to blow out of the back of the case. I saw my processor was running at about 120 F, and that was with the sides off. How hot is ok ?

Choosing The Right Power Supply, courtesy jam. ____________________________ The greatest risk is not taking one

Thanks Sabertooth, but I didn't write the article, I only posted it...lol ...my lifestyle determines my deathstyle...

Try this link. I found it useful http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/