decent dirt cheap psu that don't die for 1 year?

[Xellos2099]

Anyone here know of any dirt vheap power supples that can output 200-300 watts and won't fail for one year? As to why I want that, well, the old psu in my parent's computer is giving them cold boot issue sometime and it annoy the hell out of them as to what don't know how to fix it. Anyway, the psu that was in was a 550 watt Maddog psu. Due to their constant nagging, I put in a raidmax 420 watts psu that can with my O2 case. However, a bigger proboem appeared... the psu would actually cause the computer to freeze and lock up when it either sleep or screensaver is on and it happened twice today already. What are my option, anf I want to keep this as cheap as possible since it is an aging athlon 2500xp and not really worth putting much extra money in it.

 

[Zepper]

The motherboard they are using will dictate which PSU will work best with that system. Does their mobo have the P4-12V connector (4-pin square) to power the CPU? If not, then you will need a PSU with a stiff 5V rail and really cheap PSUs probably won't cut it. Many newer PSUs have shifted most of the total power to the 12V rails leaving the 5V kind of skimpy. Here is one that has the oomph to drive an old-style Athlon mobo that powers the CPU from the 5V rail: http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=PS-SP400PF and this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817182009 and this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817159044. What you're looking for is at least 40 real Amps on the +5V rail which is generally found in ATX12V v. 1.x PSUs with a single 12V rail.

If yours is one of the few Socket-A boards that has the P4-12V connector then just about any decent PSU should work with it, so I'm guessing that your mobo lacks that connector.

You might be able to go on eBay and find a decent used one for peanuts as they aren't that popular any more.

.bh.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

We've had good luck with these Logisys PSU's the last 2 years that we've been using them at the shop. We've gone thru over 50 of the 480w ones this year alone without a single DOA or customer coming back with problems related to them.

We use the Logisys PSU's in systems ranging from old PIII Omnitech machines to newer Gateway/Dell systems with C2D's and dual core A64's and have no problem running OCCT for a few hours without issues before the customer picks the machine up.

 

[Zepper]

It looks like those Logisys PSUs are really 350 to 380 W PSUs - not enough amps on the +5 for the OP's system. I guess they are going like the old audio biz with their Peak Music Power Output ratings... :roll:

.bh.

 

[BladeVenom]

the psu would actually cause the computer to freeze and lock up when it either sleep or screensaver is on and it happened twice today already.

That doesn't sound like the fault of the power supply.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Originally posted by: Zepper
It looks like those Logisys PSUs are really 350 to 380 W PSUs - not enough amps on the +5 for the OP's system. I guess they are going like the old audio biz with their Peak Music Power Output ratings... :roll:

.bh.

Thats funny :/ The 480w version I linkified worked fine on a few Athlon X2 machines we used them in. And also worked fine in a C2D E6300 machine we used one in.

Considering we use at least one of those PSU's a week I probably have a better idea of what they're capable of than you, and trust me, it'll work just fine on the cheap.

 

[Zepper]

All the mobos you've mentioned drive the CPU from the +12V rail, the OP's most likely uses the +5V rail (as most Socket-A mobos do). I have the advantage of historical perspective having done PCs for 25 plus years and having gone thru at least ten different Sock-A mobos here myself - now using an Abit KW7 which is one of the few that has the P4-12V connector for powering the CPU off the 12V rail. And certain Sock-A mobos like the popular ECS K7S5A are REAL Amp suckers (see the intensive info section on those mobos on http://www.ocworkbench.com ) they must have really inefficient onboard regulators.

And BV might be correct in that there are several causes of lockups. Try reseating the RAM and/or CPU, but that may also be due to drawdown of the 3.3V rail by the heavy draw on the +5 rail. Generally you will see random rebooting instead of locking, but that's not always the case. Also check your mobo ATX power connector - on some of these Sock-A mobos, those can melt/burn due to bad contacts.

.bh.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Dazed and Confused

Originally posted by: Zepper
It looks like those Logisys PSUs are really 350 to 380 W PSUs - not enough amps on the +5 for the OP's system. I guess they are going like the old audio biz with their Peak Music Power Output ratings... :roll:

Thats funny :/ The 480w version I linkified worked fine on a few Athlon X2 machines we used them in. And also worked fine in a C2D E6300 machine we used one in.

It's not an issue of whether a PSU will power a system, as it likely would. Most people buy/recommend way more PSU than needed. Heck, most modern systems using integrated video probably do not use more than 200W of real power. The issue is that these Logisys PSUs claim more power than they can put out IRL.