[Flaapy]

It'll be in a pc with a 650-watt power supply, but it will be sharing the load with a 9800GT video card.
 
Can I handle the STX, or should I upgrade?

 

[usf09]

I run an nvidia GTX 285 and an Essence STX along with an OC'ed i7, 6GB OC'ed RAM, 6 fans, 2 hard drives (750 + 2TB) on a PC Power & Cooling 750W PSU. I've had no problems, I think you'll be perfectly fine with a 650W PSU and a 9800 GT.

 

[Flaapy]

Thanks man.

 

[Dalamar]

Should be fine, even if it were a 500w psu. Just as long as it's a quality psu from a reputable maker. PC&P (OCZ), Seasonic, Corsair, etc.
 
Crappy makers list maximum peak power output to make it seem better than it is, good makers list output that can be sustained.

 

[Flaapy]

I got a Corsair 650-TX. 

 

[Dalamar]

That psu should be fine even with two of those cards.

 

[beeman458]

Definitely upgrade your power supply.  Below is the power supply that I replace my stock 500w power supply with and yes, it made a noticeable difference.
 
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4558896&csid=ITD&body=REVIEWS#tabs
 
Another power supply getting good reviews at the link provided below.  If I had known about the below power supply unit, I would have bought it instead of the above unit when I was upgrading my power supply.  Live and learn as they say.  I don't think there's enough of a difference between the two units to make another change.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087
 
A web site who likes to test the bejeezus out of power supplies.
 
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/11/24/ultra_x4_850w_1050w_power_supplies_review/
 
Make note of what happens to the 12v signal when you go much above fifty percent of capacity as the more you stress your power supply, the more ripple effect you get in your power signal.  To me, power supplies and the quality of their output really doesn't come into consideration until you start adding a high end sound card into the equation.
 
FWIW, I'm running an ASUS MoBo, AMD Phenom II 965 quad core, 8 gigs of memory, Win 7, two 1T HDD's, two smaller 160gb HDD's for basic system programs, an ASUS GT 240 graphics card, ASUS Xonar STX sound card and a Blu-Ray DVD burner so I can surf the web, listen to music and maybe someday, get back into processing photos.
 

 
For just day-to-day on board sound card stuff, the stock power supply was fine but for a stand alone sound card such as the ASUS STX, the power supply was a bottle neck as the Xonar wants it's own 12v Molex supply.  Also to be considered, these are modular power supplies in that you can custom up your power plugs to suit your tastes.  All the power lines are sheathed and you no longer have that mess of cables going everywhere in the form of a "HUGE AZZZZZ" electrical pony tail coming out the back of the power supply.  Having these modular cables that are sheathed, helps reduce internal EMI, which for a sound card situation, is a good thing.
 
Hope the above helps.

 

[Dalamar]

Just ignore beeman, he's full of placebo and completely ignores measurements and blind tests. We've already went over this. :rolleyes:

 

[beeman458]

Yes and you're jealous that I'm fat, sassy and happy and you're not.
 

 

[wadec22]

your psu is fine.