Is it ok to get a cheap PSU?

[math20]

I am thinking about getting a 8800gts/e4300/ds3 computer with some great advice from AnotherGuy but a $100 PSU really blows my budget.

I will be doing a decent amount of overclocking, does this make an impact on what PSU I should buy?

So basically, are there any sub $50 power supplies you would recommend or all they all crap?

 

[secretanchitman]

fortron makes some good psus for that price (400W/450W).

i would personally spend a bit more though.

 

[IGBT]

..I'v used cheap generic psu's and ended up changing them out due to failures. One failure was so bad it smoked out and stunk up the back of the house when the thing burned out.

 

[996GT2]

A Fortron 450W should be able to handle the parts you suggested. I have been running the system in my sig on a 400W Fortron for about a year now with absolutely no problems. However, if you can spare a bit more cash, I would advise you to get a better PSU, such as a Seasonic, Enermax, or FSP Epsilon.

 

[math20]

What do you guys think of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811209030 ?

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: math20
What do you guys think of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811209030 ?

Power supplies that cost $50 are usually not great. But there are some that are pretty good.

Power supplies that come with $50 cases are almost universally terrible.

 

[996GT2]

The PSU in that case is most likely a very low-grade model...definitely not recommended ESPECIALLY if you plan to OC.

This Corsair 520W for $80 is a very nice deal
http://www.buy.com/prod/Corsair_HX520W_..._Power_Supply/q/loc/101/203270716.html

If you don't want to pay that much...this FSP AX-500 is a nice unit for $66
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104037

Finally, if you are extremely strapped for cash, this Sparkle 400W unit (basically identical to the FSP 450W model) is probably the minimum you will need to safely power the parts in your post. At $45, it's not at all expensive for a decent PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103013

 

[math20]

Thank you for the tip! Could you recommend a decent case also? It needs to be cheap though, I didn't think I would have to spend more than $50 on a case/psu combo before I started getting advice from this forum

 

[996GT2]

This Cooler Master case is pretty nice for $30...dual 120mm fans, side vent, lots of bays, front USB/audio...and made by CM too, so it should be a quality product.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119115

 

[lyssword]

Yeah, buy a case without powersupply, then buy a powersupply for $40, should be better than a case with ps included (unless it's antec sonata/p180, they are not that bad)

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: math20
What do you guys think of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811209030 ?

17A on the 12v rail=250-300w PSU a 480W should have way more than that..basicly the 12v rail is the most important for newer PC's, as it's used by the video card, hard drives, and CPU..17A is way too weak, and that PSU is junk.

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: math20
I am thinking about getting a 8800gts/e4300/ds3 computer with some great advice from AnotherGuy but a $100 PSU really blows my budget.

I will be doing a decent amount of overclocking, does this make an impact on what PSU I should buy?

So basically, are there any sub $50 power supplies you would recommend or all they all crap?

I kept trying to tell AnotherGuy not to list $100 PSUs on that thread. The $45 FSP or Sparkle is the way to go.

 

[The-Noid]

At least if your power supply explodes the worst thing that can happy is your house will burn down.

Buy the Corsair you will not be sorry. If you skimp now you will just pay more later...

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
At least if your power supply explodes the worst thing that can happy is your house will burn down.

Buy the Corsair you will not be sorry. If you skimp now you will just pay more later...

LOL.

Are you saying the FSP and Sparkle are skimping?

If it was anyone else, I'd throw links and links at you, about FSP quality and about matching the power draw of your system to the output of your PSU, since most PSUs run at low efficiency if they're at <60% of their max output. But you, Yoxxy, I'll listen to...
[EDIT spelling]

 

[The-Noid]

I am saying that <500w on a C2D with any 8800 series is skimping. If you overclock the system even a bit you are going to be running close to 100% output while playing a game.

2W an IC for high-perf ram == 32 x 2 == 64w
8800 Series OC == 140-185w
E6600 @ 3.0 ghz == 120w
965NB == 50w
+ fans and garbage == 50w more

There you go.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
At least if your power supply explodes the worst thing that can happy is your house will burn down.

Buy the Corsair you will not be sorry. If you skimp now you will just pay more later...

Even if his PSU did fail, it most likely would not explode and burst into flames...most likely it would just cause system instability and eventual failure.

To math: if you cannot afford to spend the extra $40, you *should* be ok. I know of a guy who's been running an X1950Pro, OC'd 3200+, and 3 HDDs in RAID-5 on a single 450W XClio. He hasn't had any issues in the almost 2 years that he has had that computer. So the truth is...you will probably be OK with a 500W FSP (preferred) or 400W Sparkle (acceptable). Just don't expect to be able to overclock your CPU to its absolute limits or to be able to have a lot of room for future expansion.

 

[The-Noid]

2W an IC for high-perf ram == 32 x 2 == 64w (2 gigs is 8 IC's each side, double sided)
8800 Series OC == 140-185w
E6600 @ 3.2 ghz == 120w
965NB == 50w
+ fans, hard drives, other garbage == 50-100w more

There you go.

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
2W an IC for high-perf ram == 32 x 2 == 64w (2 gigs is 8 IC's each side, double sided)
8800 Series OC == 140-185w
E6600 @ 3.2 ghz == 120w
965NB == 50w
+ fans, hard drives, other garbage == 50-100w more

There you go.

Man, you're going to make me get out my calculator and add it up myself? jk

So I don't know what to do with these links:
AT measured power consumption of 8800 GTX
Thread about not needing too much power

 

[The-Noid]

A.) You need to find how much is available on the rails of the psu.
B.) The CPU/Ram are not overclocked.
C.) Higher FSB = Higher NB Draw.
D.) At stock you probably only need 400w. As soon as you overclock ram/cpu you are toast.

TBH the other thing is if you can't cash out an extra 20-40$ you picked the wrong hobby.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: magreen

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
2W an IC for high-perf ram == 32 x 2 == 64w (2 gigs is 8 IC's each side, double sided)
8800 Series OC == 140-185w
E6600 @ 3.2 ghz == 120w
965NB == 50w
+ fans, hard drives, other garbage == 50-100w more

There you go.

Man, you're going to make me get out my calculator and add it up myself? jk

So I don't know what to do with these links:
AT measured power consumption of 8800 GTX
Thread about not needing too much power

Yea that's what I was trying to say...a 500W+ high quality PSU is preferred for enhanced system stability and expansion capability in the long run, but it's not an absolute necessity if the OP doesn't want to cash out the extra $40 or so.


Oh, and the bit about overclocking:

My CPU is at 2.8 GHz (1.375V, but mobo has a bit of vCore drop)
My Graphics card is at 600/1600 vs the stock 560/1400
Granted, a 7600 GT and 3500+ AM2 are by no means serious power hogs, but my entire system's been running fine off a 400W FSP for a year now.

Another POV: One of my friends is running an OC'd E6300, X1900AIW, dual HDDs, and 2 GB RAM off a FSP 450W...hasn't had any issues with PSU stability in the 6 months since he got the computer.

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
A.) You need to find how much is available on the rails of the psu.
B.) The CPU/Ram are not overclocked.
C.) Higher FSB = Higher NB Draw.
D.) At stock you probably only need 400w. As soon as you overclock ram/cpu you are toast.

I hear those points. But the thing about the FSP/Sparkle 450W/400W PSU is it has +18A+18A on its 12V rails. A lot of companies would have named it a 550W PSU... it seems like marketing. It's hard to know what the max output of a given PSU actually is.

TBH the other thing is if you can't cash out an extra 20-40$ you picked the wrong hobby.

 

[richardrds]

Here is a very nice Power supply for the price (44 + 8 shipping = $52)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104953

FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN, RoHS, 12cm FAN, version 2.2, 2 SATA, 20+ 4 pin, PCI Express, 400W Power Supply - Retail

Has all the connectors you could need:
1 x Main connector (20+4 pin)
1 x 12V (P4)
6 x peripheral
2 x SATA
1 x Floppy
1 x PCI-E

It has dual +12V rails ( +12V1@18A and +12V2@16A) that can produce a combined 300W on the +12V rails, which is 25A of +12V power. Very nice for an affordable 400W Power Supply.

This should be enough +12V Power for any PC with up to a 8800GTS.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think the above Power Supply would probably be OK with most 8800GTX rigs, but Nvidia recommends a minimum +12V@28A, so to play it safe, for $12 more, I would buy the 450W model ( +12V1@18A and +12V2@18A) that can produce a combined 340W on the +12V rails, which is 28.33A of +12V power.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104954

 

[Diogenes2]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
.
C.) Higher FSB = Higher NB Draw.

Simply not true ..

Increasing frequency does not draw more power ..

 

[PingSpike]

Most people tend of over-recommend on the power supply these days...and video cards list requirements based on sh|tty overrated PSUs that a lot of people use.

You've got some quality components there, so do yourself a favor and buy a solid PSU. That doesn't mean you need a $120 600watt one...but it does mean the one that comes with a cheapo case shouldn't be considered. The fortron people are recommending is pretty good (I have one myself)...but for an extra $20 there are some more robust units available.

 

[f4phantom2500]

i read a review of the FAR ultra v 500w psu that shows up at fry's website sometimes, they put it in an x2 4400 rig with an 8800gtx and ran it at load for awhile, it didn't crash. i have one of those in my rig now, and bought a second one in february which i'm planning on using in my next rig (month or so), no problems for me so far and i've been running this one since december in various rigs as i've upgraded (gone through a few major upgrades since december), and now it's powering an overclocked (and overvolted by 10%) x2 3800 (939) with an x1900gt (overvolted, overclocked), 2 ide hard drives, an ide dvd burner, etc etc.