Using a 250W power supply in a new build?

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My recent success in fixing a computer that'd been given to me (by replacing the motherboard...for FORTY DOLLARS!) has me in "build...BUILD!! !" mode again.

My first (re)build was of an old Gateway that wouldn't boot any more, and I replaced almost everything, including the power supply. To this day I don't know what the problem had been. For all I know it might have been the power supply, but I never threw that away.

I'm looking at it and wondering if it could still be used in a new build. The old system had been for IDE/PATA drives, but a "molex to SATA" adapter is cheap enough. (I've seen them in a 5 pack for about $8 on Amazon.) Problem is, that old supply only put out 250 watts. What are the chances I could use it to power a newer motherboard and drives (hard drive and optical)?

I hate to throw the thing away...IF it's still working. Still, with power output only half of the supplies I've used in the three builds I've done, it seems iffy.

Anyone with more experience building computers care to comment?

I'd be aiming for a real simple build. No graphics card. Just a motherboard with...oh, what is it called? Embedded graphics? (See? I'm still such a newbie.)

Mother board, hard drive, optical drive, and a wireless card. That's all the supply would be powering. Think 250 Watts would be enough?

That depends. What type of a CPU are you going for? What model is the power supply in question? How old is the power supply? 250W is not a lot for a modern system, but if you're using a low TDP CPU and onboard graphics, you could probably get away with it.

Since I got the motherboard for only $40 and the thing is running great, I'm thinking of getting another from the same eBay seller. (The power supply has the correct connectors for it. Only the drives may need an adapter, tho' I've got a couple old IDE/PATA hard drives I could use.)

It's got an 1155 Intel socket, and I'd even be willing to go as low as an i3, just to make it work. (Are there any other 1155 processors that are lower in speed and would still be tolerable in a machine being used today?)

The power supply itself came from a Gateway tower, as mentioned, so finding an actual brand name on it might be difficult. I'll take a look and hope the print's large enough to be read...

Trying an old power supply on a new motherboard *could* be okay as an initial test before purchasing a new power supply, but I would say downgrading the CPU to possibly match an old power supply while planning to try to keep it there is not prudent. I know all about "build...BUILD!! !" mode and only have old stuff, but I still never scrimp on power supplies.

Well, to be honest, it's this power supply that's triggering the desire to make "just one more computer". The motherboard had awful BIOS on it. The thing couldn't recognize a hard drive larger than 127 gigs. It had a Pentium 4 processor, which is sort of usable now, but not preferable.

I figured either the processor, the motherboard, or the power supply went. (Wouldn't boot any more, so I replaced all three. Just LOOKS like the same computer now.)

The motherboard and processor, I've got no interest in re-using them. But if the power supply still works (and I don't know it does), that's what got me thinking to build again. But 250 watts...

Watch. I'll get one of those $40 motherboards, hook it up to the old power supply and an old hard drive, hook up a monitor and so on, and it'll turn out the power supply is junk and I just wasted $40 unless I want to buy another power supply. (I already spotted a $23 case...heh heh heh.)

I should have thrown away all the old parts six months ago.

^throwing away computer parts is almost never worth it unless they're broken

I tend to agree, but the size of my accumulation of old stuff does occasionally compel me to cull! Right now I am looking for a Socket 775 motherboard or two so I can make use of some old processors and cards I have sitting here, but those are actually my backups for some of my still-working machines.