Upgrading PSU - Should I bother?

[Cybercat]

Is there really much point in upgrading my power supply? I was thinking about it. Right now I've got a Thermaltake 420W (20-pin), and this is the system it powers:

DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D (chipset volts etc at stock)
Athlon 64 3000+ @ 2.6GHz w/1.62v VCore
1GB (2x512) PC3200 Geil Value @ PC3500 w/2.7v VDIMM
Leadtek GeForce 6600 @ 580/740 w/1.51v VGPU and 3.4v VDDR
Audigy 2 Value
52x32x52x CR-RW
16x DVD-ROM
120GB hard drive (molex, not SATA)
3 92mm case fans
3 80mm case fans (one of which is connected to mobo)
other fans connected to motherboard: NF4 chipset fan, graphics card fan (70mm), CPU fan (80mm), aforementioned 80mm case fan
and of course the two fans in the PSU itself

I realize this is probably a heavy load on such a budget power supply, but it's been holding up OK so far.

While I know Windows voltage monitors are never accurate, I'll just mention anyway that my 12v rail is reported at 11.71v idle, 11.51v load. Not very good obviously.

I do plan on upgrading my graphics card eventually, to something with at least 16 pipes (new cards might be out by the time I've got the necessary funds). Don't know if my power supply will be able to handle that or not.

Anyway, I've been thinking of buying a Enermax 485W Noisetaker, the one with Active PFC. Looks like a pretty highend model, maybe slightly more stable than the Antec NeoPower 480W for the same price, though the modular lines would be a nice feature to have.

I've been thinking about it though, and would I really notice anything? I mean I could spend over $100 for this new power supply, but once it's in my case, I'm worried it will be like I purchased nothing. I will have bought a box of air basically - how nice. Sure my rails will be more stable, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'll be able to overclock my CPU, RAM, or graphics card more, or that my computer will be more responsive, or run cooler, etc. Basically I might have bragging rights, and that's it. I mean if it does have the potental to allow me to increase overclocks on some of those major components, then great, I'm all for it then.

Advice is appreciated.

[Squid_Spit]

High quality psu's will allow a higher oc and improve performance. I say its worth it, i think the TT will be a bottleneck once you upgrade your gfx card.

[Jamo]

i'd say yes an upgrade is worth it, a friend of mine has the enermax 485w, very stable and a good quality PSU, he runs an ultra -D, 3500+ and X850XT, i myself have a tagan 480w and havnt experienced any problems

[Necromonger]

You might want to read the thread below about using a 20 pin PSU!

Quote : “A 20 Pin PSU Can Kill Your RAM on DFI NF4”

AndyOCZ @ OCZ Technology posted this thread over @ DFI street.

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10785

[Cybercat]

lol, well I don't have it set at 5v, or anywhere near 3.1v VDIMM.

[Scrufdog]

upgrade PLEASE

you'll thank yourself later...when you dont have any problems with anything that might develope

[vaio]

An upgrade would buy a little peace of mind and the knowledge that your rig can handle any (near) future upgrades.

[Cybercat]

Over $100 for a little peace of mind? You know I could just meditate or something and get plenty of peace of mind. :p:

[vaio]

Well a GPU upgrade is only gonna put added strain on the current supply :D

A new psu is cheaper than a blown rig :)

[Cybercat]

I suppose. To be honest I already know for sure I want a new power supply, I guess the only reason I'm hesitant is because I'm impatient about upgrading my graphics card. For me, that's much more exciting, heh. Part of me was wanting to save the money I have until I could upgrade that, then get a new PSU later, but I guess it would be a better idea to do get the latter thing first. Get it out of the way, so I don't have to worry about it.

Thanks for the advice everyone.