Does having plenty of power help to smooth out issues with generic PSU's?

[BlueWeasel]

It's time once again to upgrade my brother/parent's system and I have picked up the following from the FS/FT forum:

ECS K7S5A v3.1 MB
XP 2000+ (no plans to overclock)
256mb PC2100 x 2

Additional components (already in old system):
30gb Maxtor 7200rpm drive
16x DVD drive
24x CDRW drive
GF3 Ti200 64mb
56k modem
SB AudioPCI sound card (may use onboard audio)

I have heard that this particular ECS board has issues with the power supply in general. However, most of the posted problems I have seen appear to stem from low-watt PSU's with XP systems.

I have yet to get a PSU, but was planning on picking up a generic 400W unit from a local store. I have this exact same PSU in my system (Epox 8RDA, XP 2000+ not overclocked, 2 HDs, 2 optical drives, numerous fans, etc.), and its been perfect for months.

Will having the 400W in a typical, non-overclocked system possibly help to smooth out the PSU issues? Or does it just go back to the quality of the PSU (ie, using name brand units -- Antec, Enermax, etc.)?

The fact that the 400W PSU has worked great in my system makes me think it would be fine in the new system.

 

[Belegost]

I would recommend a quality power supply, I've been using the K7S5A for over a year now, with various power supplies and loads, and the important factors are Combined 3.3V and 5V output, and ripple.

This board works best with PSUs that have greater than 180W combined output on the 3.3V and 5V lines. Also, the power regulation circuitry is a bit poor on this board, and cheap power supplies with high ripple, especially on the 3.3V, tend to cause instability.

It's easy enough to determine which power supplies meet the TCO, however, PSU manufacturers don't list ripple in the specs, and I don't know of any place that has tested many units, so I can only recommend that you choose a manufacturer known for using quality components, Antec, Enlight, Enermax, Sparkle, etc.

I myself run a 300W Enlight, with:
XP1600+ OC'd to 1575
256MB Corsair PC3200
Radeon 8500DV
WD 1200JB
16x DVD-ROM, 16xCD-RW
on-board sound and lan.

It runs 24/7 and I only reboot when I'm messing around with my hardware again.

 

[ElFenix]

bah, i've got a k7s5a and and xp2000+ and a gf256 running fine on an enlight-branded 250. people have been scared silly by amd and ati's 300 watt PS recommendation that everyone is running around with "do ya think the antec 450 watt can support my run of the mill computer?" type questions.

 

[Corporate Thug]

high wattage does not compensate for it not being name brand. it doesnt matter if it's 300W or 550W because when it shorts, it's gonna kill the mobo and cpu regardless of the wattage. simply put, wattage does not make up for lack of quality