Imput on Power Supplys

[bubba100]

Looking for advise in replacing a power supply.

I have an older eMachine T3990. I added a second 80gig hard drive and CD drive. Currently it has 512meg of RAM. Use it mostly to covert my vinyl records to CD and to copy the iPod. Or convert 35mm slides to digital images. Have experienced recently it just shutting down and rebooting in the middle of something. Researching, it appears the power supply was marginal to start. Using the online “compute the power consumption of your machine” its needs should never top 500 watts.

Is there a brand to stay away from? Can you suggest two or three options. I don’t want to go on the cheap, but also don’t want to spent more on a power supply than the rest of the computer is worth.

As this machine is several years old I was also considering replacing the case fan and CPU cooling fan.


Thanks.

 

[cdogg]

The biggest power hungry device in the PC is usually the video card. If you are using an integrated GPU on the motherboard, or if it's a low-end card, then I wouldn't worry too much about the power rating. Because this PC is several years old, I'm sure it's not an issue.

Here's an article that might help:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-radeon-power,2122.html

A good website to start looking:

http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.aspx?Category=32&name=Power-Supplies

The cheap Antec 380W for $40 is probably all you'll need.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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[edfair]

I've generally taken the route of replacing the case at the time the power supply needs replacing on the machines with the little (as in physical size) power supplies. You end up with a more robust power supply and better airflow for a tradeoff of stuff not fitting exactly right.

 

[SimonDavies]

I would have a look at the likes of Corsair or Coolermaster.
The more expensive Enermax are good but as mentioned, costly.

It's always worth spending that little extra on psu and it never hurts in future proofing your PSU.

Simon

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[cdogg]

Simon,
Yes, normally I too recommend getting a solid power supply. When money is a factor and the value of the PC is very low due to being outdated, I start leaning towards the cheaper end.

It is true that many are burned by cheap power supplies, but Antec (a good brand) and cheap models from other manufacturers are not necessarily cheap quality. They are still backed up by warranties. The price tag doesn't always tell the whole story.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[bubba100]

Thanks to all for the input.

 

[goombawaho]

Antec Basiq - good manufacturer and a reasonable price for a power supply. And YES - Emachines are notorious for power supplies killing off motherboards, so I wouldn't fool around if you even suspect it's the power supply. REPLACE IT ASAP.

 

[KbrooksATC]

You might look at PC-Power and Cooling, they are known for really high quality PSU's but tend to be really expensive. Their prices are getting much more competitive though.

In your case you probably only need like a 350-500watt PSU, PC Power and Cooling has a 500watt Silencer for $80. Which is not much more than Antec or Corsair.

Another really good and really inexpensive alternative would be Rosewill. Rosewill PSU's are getting some killer customer reviews at places like Newegg and Tigerdirect. I have used Rosewill in several builds I have done for customers and have not had any problems reported so far. A 500watt Rosewill runs about $40.00 USD at Newegg.

Kelly Brooks
ATC "Advanced Technology Contracting"


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[ANFPS26]

I read the customer reviews at New Egg and other sites on their experiences with power supplies and there seems to be an unacceptable failure rate among most manufacturers. Antec seems to be making some poor power supplies recently and they used to be one of the best brands. It looks like it's a crap shoot when you buy any brand anymore. Can't anyone make a decent power supply that doesn't arrive DOA or fail after an hour's use?

Jim

 

[kmcferrin]

I tend not to read the customer reviews at NewEgg that much anymore. In a fair number of reviews the person leaving the review probably isn't technically inclined enough to understand what they're doing, but still think of themselves as an expert. On top of that, people are much more likely to post a review if they have a bad experience than they are to post a review if they have a positive experience. Many sites (including NewEgg) allow you to review products even if you haven't bought them from that site. That just leaves the door open for a bit of fanboy posturing. Then when you consider that a number of people don't give full marks for a product because of some design decision (i.e., "it would be better if the cables were longer" types of reviews) you've got a lot of room for variation.

Usually I check two things. First, I look to see how many reviews are posted. If there's not at least 20-30 reviews then there's not really enough data from which to draw a reasonable conclusion. Secondly, if there are at least 20-30 reviews I look at the percentage that have either 4 or 5 eggs for it. If it's 75% or better (and most of the stuff I look at is more like 85%) then I feel pretty confident that it's a good product.

The problem with reading all of the reviews (or even a significant sampling) is that the negative reviews tend to be more memorable than the positive reviews. Even if the negative reviews make up less than 5% of the total reviews, your impression of the product will be significantly skewed by reading bad reviews.

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[paparazi]

I'm with edfair on this one, eMachines not only have weak power supplies but the cases themselves are small and poorly vented. Kill two birds with one stone, buy a case with new PSU combined, See:
Coolermaster

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146338

Martin

On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep

 

[goombawaho]

Wow - still discussing this?? You should have already been done with this by now. The clock is ticking until your power supply implodes and takes your motherboard with it.

 

[kjv1611]

Well, bubba100 hasn't replied back in quite some time.

Either he fixed it, moved on, and didn't post back, or...

The PC he was typing from was the old eMachine, and it's now a doorstop...



--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[bubba100]

Have been busy lately. Went to the local geek wish store, yes could have gotten everything from the internet but I still like to “kick the tires”. Picked up an Antec Basiq 500 watt, a spray can of air and a new case fan.
The 500 watt had several connections not needed so it was overkill, but that is fine. The old case fan didn’t make noise but the new one has a lower draw rating and higher cfm. The canned air was to clean ALL the dust out of the inside. There was more fuzz around the CPU heat sink than found on many cats.
I would like to report it runs blazing fast, but in truth it runs. Just as it should. I can now feel air from the case and power supply fans so maybe the motherboard won’t get fried.

Thanks to all for the input.

 

[kjv1611]

Thanks for the update!

I can totally understand about the being busy part.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me