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Budget System PSU help.

A

afoygel

Member
I'm building a budget system (around $70) and I'm almost disturbed by the ammounts of money people are throwing at PSU's and cases. I don't think my PSU should cost as much as my CPU, but maybe I am missing something?

What's the lowdown on PSU's? And don't just tell me that unless I get a $100 Anter or OCZ all my system components will get fried. I ran my old pc on a cheap codegen for 4 years without any problems, so back up what you have to say.
 
Firstly, I hope you don't mean $70 for the whole system. For that price, you'd get a slow Pentium 3...and only by salvaging most of your parts from a junkyard. In that case, YES any old working PSU will do.

The reason people spend $70 or more on a quality PSU is simple: they want to protect their expensive components. People can easily spend $1000 or more on computer parts so a quality PSU only makes sense. Obviously you're not that kind of guy, so it makes sense for you not to buy a "$100 Anter". But ask yourself this: if you had a $90000 Porsche, would you fill it up with anything but premium grade gas?
 
Look at Fortron/Seasonic/Enermax IMO for "best bang for your buck" psu's. They each have several under $70 that are in the 400W range. What kind of system you hooking up too? Specs would help. 🙂
 
Just buy the X-Connect 500W from outpost for $25 AR. Enjoy your money savings while people flame you. That's what I did.
 
$70 can get you a very nice Forton or Seasonic, both of which make some the best PSUs you can buy regardless of price.
 
the PSU is the life blood of the system.. its what powers everything.. a cheap PSU will eaither A) lead t unstable operation or B) fail befor it should.
Invest in a quality PSU... there is a reason there are tons of 10 page threads about which PSU is best... its a very important thing...
Seasonic, Antec, Tagan are the best you'd want to choose from.... and Enermax if you wanted too
 
sorry, i meant $700 for the everything. woooops.

already got 1gb ram for $85
80gb sata drive for $55
still haven't ordered:
3000+ cpu with fan - $135-145
nf4 motherboard $110
I will also be carrying over my beige liteon dvd drive

so that leaves me with a little over $300 for a graphics card (hopefully prices will drive within a week or two) and a psu+case. i can get a psu case combo for about $60 and put the rest toward a nice graphics card. i can also pull the psu out of that and get a thermaltake 430w psu for around 45. beyond that, buying an expensive psu, and a separate case will cost push me way over budget. has anyone ever had any problems with generic psu's? i had a generic psu for my last built and I had no problems with it, except the fan has gotten real noisy after 4 years. any feedback would appreciated.
 
$700...thats better!

generic psu's shouldn't cause the death of your system (but make sure you have a surge protector). basically it's hit or miss. cheap psu's have less accurate/stable rails, which translates to system instability. this won't always happen, but a good quality psu will definitely give you peace of mind.

if you're on a strict budget, go ahead and buy a good video card and a cheap case/generic PSU. a few months down the road when you've saved up more money or when a good deal comes along, buy a better PSU. you can survive the short term.
 
thanks for the encouragement glorygunk. it's just frustrating because there doesn't seem to be a middle ground in this market.
 
Originally posted by: afoygel
thanks for the encouragement glorygunk. it's just frustrating because there doesn't seem to be a middle ground in this market.
Click to expand...

Sure there is.

400 watt Forton Source for $40.00, you won't find a better PSU for the money.
 
The XClio 400 or 450 are very good PSUs for the money, but you can get good ones in the budget lines from Fortron/Sparkle too. Many adequate PSUs available for around $50 or less. But the PSU is the cornerstone of a stable system - so don't skimp on it. I'd say the Antec SLK3000-B case (I think it is still under $50 from Amazon or Provantage) with either an XClio or the Forton linked above would make an excellent foundation. The antec SLK3800-B (which is the 3000 with a good Antec PSU) is another good option. Also take a look at the Evercase 42x2 series cases w/ one of the above PSUs or the Athenatech A600 series which come with a good PSU from Sparkle's budget line.

. I see the Ultra X-Connect's price is now homing in on its true value ($25.) - good luck on collecting those Tiger Direct rebates... 😉

.bh.
 
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