New PSU - Suggestions please.... 1

Well, I finally broke down myself (in US) and got a big power supply - Thermaltake 560 Watt. It is extremely quiet, and runs great. I got it at . If nothing else, you could check there for reviews on various power supplies, and find a good one. As far as the throughput, I'd definitely suggest getting at least a 400Watt PSU. If you plan on any future upgrades of future technologies, it'd not be a bad idea to go ahead and good 500+ Watt PSU. I had a Skyhawk 400Watt PSU that died on me before I got my current one, and Wow! what a difference in sound and stabiity..

Anyway, I don't know about the power supply differences in requirements betw the US and UK, but I'd definitely suggest getting at least 400Watts nowadays if you intend on having a desktop with any kind of upgrades.

Stephen
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6 KJV

Getting a cheap 300 watt PSU to replace the existing 250 watt unit may be similar to 'going from the frying pan into the fire' as the former may have even less punch that the latter.
Recommend getting a good quality unit, like Antec or Enermax.

Also, make sure that the CPU and system temperatures are not excessive, all connections are secure, all cards and memory are fully seated, use only Default settings in BIOS, RAM modules are from the same manuf., and check the memory with Memtest-86.

Ok Thanks. It turns out ebuyer got 70 more of them in stock yesterday (the 400W ones), and I was looking for any "brand" PSUs, but they all seem to be at least £30 (for the 400W ones).

Should I just go with the "generic" one, is it worth it (it has good reviews and a warrantee)? Has anyone had any experience with "cheap" PSUs? Is there a difference? Are they reliable?

I'll throw in my 2 cents; PSU wattage ratings are probably the most misleading numbers you will find in the computer industry... Most manufactures now list their PSU's based on maximum peak wattage, which if you read the specs on the label, most can't even achieve that number anyways. Then there are a few companies who list their PSU's based on maximum sustainable wattage (which is a much more valuable number, but using a lower number to describe their hardware hurts their marketting). Then on top of that all, the wattages are different for a 220V input than a 110V input, but the label does not say that either.

Yeah, I hate PSU shopping...

The differences between the cheap PSU's and the expensive PSU's seem to come down to, how well they handle large power surges. A good quality PSU will not be affected by a surge, probably just cut off power to the computer. A poor or generic power supply will probably stop working (though they do a good job at not damaging other components).

Last time I researched a new PSU, I picked up a 400W Raidmax and the thing is good quality at a lower price, I'm happy with it.

Buying a cheap generic brand is a 'hit or miss' situation.
And quality is, well quality.
Your choice.

Definitely - you get what you pay for with quality/name brand PSU's just like any other product. With cheap ones/Generic, it may do okay, then again it might not. I thought I was getting a good one with the Skyhawk PSU, and it blew out a transistor on me after about 1 or 1 1/2 years use - not very reliable in my opinion.

Stephen
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6 KJV

It's not like me to recommend anything less than main branded PSU's like: Zalman, Enermax, Antec, etc but I have a feeling that with DragonQ0105 we are talking about a tight budget.
To be honest, although not in the same quality bracket as the above mentioned, we have had very reliable results from Qtech products.
The new 400watt Big fan is proving to be very reliable at around £20, see Ebay buy it now:


Very quiet and reliable at a very affordable cost.
With 2 years warranty so the manufacturer has confidence that I can also back up with my own experiences of there product range.
Martin

Start by questioning and soon you will be answering.
So please take but remember to return and give when you can.

check the power on the 5/12v line, it should be something like 30/20a (not much below that).

I use either PC Power & Cooling or an Antec True Power...In my current system I am using the Antec True Power 550 and have not had any problems..