Absolutely the least expensive reliable 120mm PSU?

[superstition]

Opinions?

It doesn't have to be whisper quiet or really efficient. It's to replace a very loud 250 watt supply on an old minitower Dell P4 system my niece uses rather infrequently.

I found a Sparkle 400PN for a very low price with a 120mm fan. It's rated at 400 watts, but doesn't have a lot of amps as I recall. I understand that P4 systems need most of the amps on the 5V rail, right? I've also heard that Dell systems require proprietary PSUs. Is that true?

 

[dawp]

i know some older ones are propriatary tho i'm mot sure about the P4 ones. I seem to recall it was in the P3 era and earlier.

Corsair makes some nice PSUs but that one may be a little more than you want to spend.


you might also check jonnyguru's site for some reviews.

 

[texascrazy88s]

i have a xfinity pos, i hv to replace it with a antec 700watt, best choice at a realistic price on microcenter.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: texascrazy88s
i have a xfinity pos, i hv to replace it with a antec 700watt, best choice at a realistic price on microcenter.

There is no Antec 700W.

 

[Quiksilver]

How's about this FSP one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817104045

or for a little more this silverstone psu that is prolly based on the same thing just with higher quality standards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817256019

 

[superstition]

The Sparkle I linked to is made by FSP as far as I know. So it looks like it's a better deal.

 

[Underclocked]

If it's a Dell, which Dell? Makes a difference both in compatibility and in fit to the case. Some Dell cases will not accept a standard ATX power supply due to either the fit of psu in the back of the case (most Dell PSUs don't have switches so you would either need to remove the switch or cut the case) and it could be proprietary depending upon how old it is. Most are not.

Why is the 120mm fan important?

 

[Jhhnn]

Early Athlon boards needed a lot of current on the 5v rail, not p4's.

At some point, Dell went away from proprietary pinouts to standard atx configuration on most machines. As Underclocked points out, there are a lot of possibilities, so you really need to know the model#, and preferably the make/model of the psu, which is usually on the label. Wouldn't hurt to compare the plugs and wire color codes to the atx spec, either.

These guys have served me well in the past- I have no affiliation with them whatsoever, other than as an occasional customer-

http://www.power-on.com/

If they call for a standard psu for the machine in question, then you can easily go with something in the 250-300W range. The Sparkle would do in those circumstances, but it's a lot more psu than you need. This Inwin, for example, isn't crap-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817103149