Antec SmartPower 2.0 450W- ticking time bomb?

[Twigger]

Hi all,

I recently upgraded from an AMD Opteron 165 (95W) to an Intel i5-750 (also 95W), and was thinking it may be time for a PSU upgrade. My Antec SmartPower 2.0 450W is almost 5 years old, and I read a couple of old posts on this forum describing this PSU as a "ticking time bomb." I don't plan on going crossfire any time (ever), so the current specs will remain unchanged for a long time to come.

So... Suggestions? The OCZ Fatal1ty 550W is at a decent price (<$50 shipped) at the egg. Was also considering the Antec EA650 and the Corsair 650TX, but those take a bit more coin.

Thanks for your help!

 

[VirtualLarry]

I vote for the EA650, although it only has one 6-pin PCI-E and one 6+2-pin PCI-E power connector. So if you are going to crossfire two modern cards, you will need a PCI-E splitter or two. (I have the EA650 powering FOUR 9600GSO 96SP cards in my F@H box. It has 300W on the PCI-E rails.)

 

[Christoph Katzer]

Hey, write the Antec support, they might replace this unit for free!

 

[Twigger]

Thanks for your input.

Just to clarify: My current Antec PSU is still working, although SpeedFan* reports my 12V voltage at only 9.86V, so I'm thinking the SmartPower may need to go. So, with my current specs (i5-750, 1 HDD, 1 DVD-RW, 1 ATI HD4850), do you think I need a bigger PSU? If so, which one?

* Is there a better program to use for reporting voltages? I don't really want to buy a DMM....

The OCZ Fatal1ty 550W deal I mentioned above isn't such a hot deal anymore as Newegg changed shipping from free to $6.

Thanks!

 

[-Slacker-]

I think Antec basiq power's are decent psu's that are very decently priced.