My friend is getting a new computer put together and i had a question about the power supply. He's got an AMD Xp1800, 256mb of ram, a 64mb video card, 2 cd drives and two hard drives. I'm assuming that his current 250 Watt PS isn't going to cut it? Will a 300 Watt be ok?

Also, what if we just install 1 HD and 1 Cd to get the system up and running, and then add a bigger PS and the other components later?

thanks.

I've run that much hardware on a 200 watt PSU. Don't wory about it; he'll be fine.

Ge t a good power supply.
Athlons are notorious for liking power,
and if you're gonna do lots of processor intensive stuff,
like encoding mp3's all day, you wnat good power.
Plus if you buy a good power supply, it's quiet.....
cheapo's are LOUD.
I've got an ennermax in my machine Athlon XP 1600,
adjustable speed fans, nice feature.

cool. thanks guys.