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Does the psu really matter?

Lean L

Lean L

Diamond Member
I've been doing some reading on power supplies lately. There seems to be a religious backing behind the importance of a great psu. Now that I think about it though, I have used many many power supplies in both prebuilt computers and ones that I've build myself. My Raidmax, which is supposed to be utter shit has never given me problems in the five years that I used it. I've built a computer for someone using a cheap dynapower that cost less than $20 and it's chugging along 24/7 without problems for the past three years. Now I'm using yet another crap Ultra power supply. Its rails aren't exactly steady but somehow I doubt it'll cause issues. Thoughts?
 
Because if it does cause an issue, your entire computer can potentially be up in smoke. Generally you'll fry at least something $100+ - mobo, video card, HDD...
 
Well, if you don't feel like a cheap-ass for buying crappy things then keep rollin'. You know how many cases of PBR you can buy for the cost of a X-650? YEAHhhhhhhh...
 
ChaiBabbaChai said:
Well, if you don't feel like a cheap-ass for buying crappy things then keep rollin'. You know how many cases of PBR you can buy for the cost of a X-650? YEAHhhhhhhh...
Click to expand...

why would I feel like a cheap ass for buying something that works as it should? I've yet to have a psu fail on me... knock on wood. My attitude towards non server computers is to buy mid range parts as 99.99% of the time, in two years I would be disappointed by the depreciation anyways.

It's all economics here... You'd have a hard time using a 5yr old pc regardless of how cutting edge it was at the time it was built, so any psu that can last +- 5 years is sufficient. Some ppl argue that you can take the psu... the effort it takes to salvage an old pc for parts isn't worth the extra money you'd save by keeping the psu... plus the old pc is now harder to repurpose/sell.

Plus, pretty much every prebuilt compu out there has a subpar psu, they work flawlessly.
 
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Painman said:
I'd rather drink PBR than use a crappy PSU.

Besides, hey, the more you drink, the better they taste...
Click to expand...

I dunno...regardless of the amount of PBR someone bongs down my gullet, I probably still wouldn't be able to stand the taste of a crappy PSU... 😉

Back on topic...dropped a brand new Ultra (free AR!) into a machine I built for my sister a little over two years ago. It lasted about 20 months. My wife's machine has gone thru two crappy PSUs over the last four years (she hates spending money). On the other hand, my deprecated Fortron 450 is still going strong after five years (it goes to my nephew...with the machine...this xmas). And my Sparkle 350 mATX has been running my MCE machine 24/7 for almost five years now.
 
to see if there was an actual reason why ppl promote really expensive power supplies besides knowing that they own one. Does it actually cause problems?
 
Based on your replies, it looks like the only answer you're willing to accept is that PS quality really doesn't matter.
Am I reading you wrong?

For the record "Expensive" doesn't necessarily = "Quality"
 
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it's like asking anyone about their beliefs... I have an idea of the possible responses but maybe there's something I'm not seeing

ie. exceptionally high failure rates or related
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
80 bucks

For a ~$1000 build, I don't find that unreasonable. It's 1/8 of total cost.

Building a budget box? 100 bucks for enclosure plus power.

There's no good reason to buy crap when half decent (or even pretty good) is reasonably priced.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
Good luck! If your running a low power celeron you could probably run the system off a hampster and a wheel. Try putting any of your crap PSU in any of my systems and you would probably get to watch a fireworks display.

You even said your rails arent exactly steady. Think that is good for your components? What about if you had a bit of a power surge in your home? Think that ultra would keep on chugging? Why risk all of your components and stability to save just a few $'s. Very few.
 
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