Power Supplies

[Alexander]

Ok... In my ever industrious search for the best deal...

As some of you know, I'm doing a final priceout on a new PC. I always scr#w up the power supply and end up either with too little or a power supply that doesn't actually give the whattage that it claims.

I am currently looking at a 400w PSU made by POWMAX (This one is priced out at $18), but I don't know enough about PSU manufacturers.

With the buildout that I am working on.. Obviously I need the main atx power, but I have 5 (maybe 6) devices that will need large molex connectors but as far as I can tell, I won't need any of the smaller ones. (no floppy).

Current buildout specs:

Thermaltake Xaser II ( BLACK ), ATX Retail
400W Power Supply ????
Asus Motherboard Model# A7N8X Deluxe Retail
AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ Barton CPU- RETAIL
ATI RADEON 9600 PRO RETAIL
CORSAIR MEMORY 512MB (x2) PC2700 DDR - (1g kit)
WD "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB HARD DRIVE
Asus 52x/24x/52x CDRW
Sony Internal EIDE 16X DVD ROM
Thermaltake (BLUE) Cold Cathode Retail.
ROUND, 24-Inch, True ATA133/100 ( Yellow ) IDE Cable.
Logitec Mouse mx700
Logitec Keyboard
Windows XP

What do you guys know about the dependability of the POWMAX and the number of connectors that if offers?
Also is 400w gonna be enough?

If anyone knows of a better quality PSU that they trust and prices out below $20 let me know..

Alexander

 

[devlish96]

hey Alex,..one of the moderators gave a link to a site that computes PSU capacity/wattage calcutator..

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

IMO 400 watt PSU is enough,..but personally i want to have that extra headroom for future expansion. but with your current hardware and periphrals,..400 is good.

i'm a little concerned about the power supply that you're getting,..for a 400 watter,...its should costs no less than 40USD, IMO. the PSU quality is important, so i suggest that you get a more reliable one...probably an enermax psu.

i also read somewhere,..that to be sure youre getting 400 watt or more,..the psu should be heavy.

 

[devlish96]

alright,..just went searching for power max ,...theyre indeed priced around that value you mentioned and theyre recommended by AMD

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=587

 

[devlish96]

heres more..

http://www.upgradecenterinc.com/pow40powsupf.html

not sure about the quantity of plugs though.

 

[Alexander]

Yeah.. I kinda figured that it was a POS, but I had to ask.. lol... It's the one piece of the hardware that I know the least about. Unfortunately, It's also one of the most important.

The one that a friend of mine suggested was a Sparkle, but I just found one on newegg that is just a bit less expensive ($66.99) and it's from one of the top rated PSU manufacturers in that review from TomsHardware.com.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=N82E16817104974

As to the power needs, I did a worksheet that I got off of AMD's website today for the necessary wattage of a system. It shows this buildout at about 320w, so from that, do you REALLY think that I need a 450? I can tell you from my past upgrade experience.. I don't upgrade systems (usually don't have the cash available) I just wait until they are pretty much unusable and then get a completely new system so future changes aren't really a consideration.

Alexander

 

[DoZZ]

You may want to look at this Antec model.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=N82E16817103912

I use several TruePower 430watt's and they have been more
than enough.

 

[þÄ®âÐÖx]

In my experience, Enermax and Antec make excellent power supplies. Generally the price difference between a 350w and say a 450w is negligable, so always go a bit higher than you need to just to be on the safe side. Besides, you never know what kind of hardware you'll end up with in a few months' time, so why not get a quality PSU that leaves you plenty of room to work with.

 

[Alexander]

Ok.. I think I have nipped this one...

Fortron Source (Highly rated company per Tom's Hardware) 530w PSU. It's only $7 more than the 400w that I was looking at from the same company..

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=N82E16817104968

Thanks for all the help guys.. I believe that this one is a good deal for a nice overhead on wattage without killing me in the pocketbook..

Alexander

 

[Armand-[79th]]

Well. I've figured my system as between 234W - 349W so I'm glad I went for a nice Q-Tec 450W Dual Fan.

 

[Alexander]

Strangely enough, going through all this on power supplies made me think of my first "Dream" system......

386-33Mhz with 2 mg of ram and a 300mg hard drive (yes they made them that small)... lol..

The 530w that I'm looking at would power about 20 of those... lol..

Alexander the old