Is my old PSU gonna be enough for an upgrade?

[dclive]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
He has been saying the same thing before he started working for BFG, so stuff your lame ass accusations of him being a BFG puppet.

Nobody is accusing him of anything (save marketing for his job - and his hobby too!), and your attack just now is uncalled for. When someone has a professional interest it is appropriate to post that, and he makes no effort to hide it, so what's the problem? Edit a few minutes later: Let me remind you that you brought this up - if you elevate someone else to a position of authority, it is fully appropriate to document their position professionally and personally as it relates to that authority. If you didn't want to discuss it, you shouldn't have raised it.

If you want to tell him his numbers are wrong, you go get the real numbers, but right now, his numbers are far more accurate and credible then your 'seemingly' high return-fail rate. Besides, why would he recommend a antec ea 380-430w, you call that a enthusiast PSU? Come on man, give me a break.

An enthusiasts PSU is essentially a non-OEM one, yes.

 

[MarcVenice]

The product marketing manager for BFG, with a purpose of evangelizing and selling (marketing) power supplies, largely to the enthusiast community.

You know very well what you said, implied and insinuated with that. And if he has been saying the same thing BEFORE he became a so called BFG puppet, then you'd have a hard time proving it's just marketing, and not well ment advise to protect people.

You're definition of a enthusiast PSU needs work.

I'm pretty much done arguing though. We'll have to agree on disagreeing. Btw, you're entitled to your opinion, and I might be a mod, but I'm also a regular poster, which is what I have been in this thread. A good discussion is never a bad thing, keeps me on my toes, and I'm always very critical before I assume anything. Oh, and because I didn't use any examples of bad psu's that I've had, or have seen happen and helped people with, doesn't mean I don't have any.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
<Posted by dclive->The product marketing manager for BFG, with a purpose of evangelizing and selling (marketing) power supplies, largely to the enthusiast community.

MV posted->You know very well what you said, implied and insinuated with that. And if he has been saying the same thing BEFORE he became a so called BFG puppet, then you'd have a hard time proving it's just marketing, and not well ment advise to protect people.

Again, you raised the topic, and then asked 'who else', so I replied with who he was. If you want to read something else into it, that's up to you. Again, if you raise someone else as an expert, it is fully appropriate to detail personal and professional ties and interests; that's simply fact.

You used the word "so called BFG puppet" as if someone here (besides you) wrote that he was a BFG puppet. Can you find that quote anywhere in this discussion? If not, either retire the term or agree that you came up with it, please.

You're definition of a enthusiast PSU needs work.

I realize I'm in the enthusiasts part of AT that deals with nothing but PSUs, but except for the enthusiasts community, I don't think Joe Average Dell User is out shopping for PSUs. If he needs one, he's likely just going to have a Dell tech put an OEM PSU in there. It's the enthusiasts that even show up here, so yes, I think a non-OEM PSU is essentially an enthusiast PSU.

I'm pretty much done arguing though. We'll have to agree on disagreeing. Btw, you're entitled to your opinion, and I might be a mod, but I'm also a regular poster, which is what I have been in this thread. A good discussion is never a bad thing, keeps me on my toes, and I'm always very critical before I assume anything. Oh, and because I didn't use any examples of bad psu's that I've had, or have seen happen and helped people with, doesn't mean I don't have any.

OK.

 

[Zap]

To anyone who knows... does the CompUSA PSU have 20 pin or 24 pin for the motherboard plug?

Originally posted by: dclive
Sorry; I'm cheap, and I don't like spending money unless I must. In this case, I don't think there's a case to do so yet.

It's not your money. It's ChaoticMonk's money, and I think we've already scared him away.

Originally posted by: dclive
I'm not interested in the BRAND. I'm interested in the UNIT.

The BRAND is important, because it is a known fact that every UNIT made by that BRAND does not live up to what that BRAND claims on the UNITs label.

Originally posted by: dclive
The product marketing manager for BFG, with a purpose of evangelizing and selling (marketing) power supplies, largely to the enthusiast community.

The most recent PSU I've seen JonnyGURU recommend was... giving a :thumbsup: to a Corsair 550W (in another thread today) for an 8800GT SLI rig. I don't think that's trying to upsell PSUs and definately not trying to pimp his own employer.

dclive, maybe an analogy will help. Let's say that you need a pickup truck to haul your boat to the lake. You have your choice of a cheap truck that has 300 horsepower, but only 100 pounds/feet of torque. There's a more expensive truck that has 250 horsepower, but 300 pounds per feet of torque. What you don't know is that the more expensive truck got that power using regular unleaded, while the cheaper truck got that power using racing fuel, and with a heavier duty clutch/radiator/transmission, none of which come with it and of course the manufacturer of the cheaper truck doesn't tell anyone. Now, which truck would you get?

The really knowledgeable consumer would get the more expensive truck because (s)he would know that it is the real deal and that the cheaper truck can't really put out the power it claims.

The somewhat knowledgeable consumer would also get the more expensive truck, but for another reason, because (s)he knows that pulling heavy trailers requires a lot of torque, and that the cheaper truck does not have adequate torque.

With the CompUSA power supply, the really knowledgeable consumer knows that it comes out of the same factory in China that makes Powmax units, and thus is to be avoided. The somewhat knowledgeable consumer knows that it doesn't put out sufficient +12v for current hardware, and thus is to be avoided.

In US court, people testifying are asked to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Now, some people find that silly and redundant, but there actually is meaning behind the three "truths." Tell the truth. Basically don't tell a lie. Tell the whole truth. Basically don't avoid telling something that might support the truth. Tell nothing but the truth. Basically don't tell the truth on what you were asked, but then lie about something else to mislead.

WTF does this all have to do with power supplies? Well, the CompUSA power supply label is not telling the whole truth. It avoids mentioning information about how it got those rated numbers.

So, what does this have to do with whether this exact unit can run a quadcore with a midrange video card? Uh, probably not much. However, when you buy something, don't you expect to get what you are told you are buying? If you see two different 12-packs of soda, you would expect 12 cans in each, right? Well, what if the cheaper 12-pack only had half-filled cans?

As for why it isn't in headline news... News exists to make money. They make money by how many eyes/ears they can pull to them. What pulls more eyes/ears? A PSU sold by a now defunct company has a misleading label... made in China? Lead in toys made in China? Arsenic in food made in China? The second touches the heartstrings of everyone ("OMG it's harming childred. CHILDREN!"). The third can affect everyone. The first? I suppose if there's nothing else newsworthy, then someone might report it. However, with wars, elections, Olympics going on, I don't think we'd see anything like this anytime soon.

dclive, I have an offer for you. Would you like to go in ½ with me on an Antec Earthwatts 380W power supply? The reason for it would be to GIVE it to ChaoticMonk, in return for his CompUSA power supply. Then, someone with the proper equipment can test that CompUSA unit to see if it can put out the power it claims on the label, at normal operating conditions and staying within ATX specifications.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Zap
The BRAND is important, because it is a known fact that every UNIT made by that BRAND does not live up to what that BRAND claims on the UNITs label.

*Every* unit? In any case, we aren't talking about the label. We're talking about whether it will work with the scenario the OP posted about.

The most recent PSU I've seen JonnyGURU recommend was... giving a :thumbsup: to a Corsair 550W (in another thread today) for an 8800GT SLI rig. I don't think that's trying to upsell PSUs and definately not trying to pimp his own employer.

I don't suggest he's trying to pimp (!?) anything (in fact, it's only others that have suggested anything aside from my post on -factual content- of what his job is), but I do think it's important that someone's job, if he's raised as an expert, be mentioned.

The really knowledgeable consumer would get the more expensive truck because (s)he would know that it is the real deal and that the cheaper truck can't really put out the power it claims.

The somewhat knowledgeable consumer would also get the more expensive truck, but for another reason, because (s)he knows that pulling heavy trailers requires a lot of torque, and that the cheaper truck does not have adequate torque.

With the CompUSA power supply, the really knowledgeable consumer knows that it comes out of the same factory in China that makes Powmax units, and thus is to be avoided. The somewhat knowledgeable consumer knows that it doesn't put out sufficient +12v for current hardware, and thus is to be avoided.

The only question is can it do the job the OP needs. In this case, it appears the answer is "Yes", and no one, aside from a few thrilling analogies like this one and heart surgery, has suggested otherwise with any facts & reasons.

In US court, people testifying are asked to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Now, some people find that silly and redundant, but there actually is meaning behind the three "truths." Tell the truth. Basically don't tell a lie. Tell the whole truth. Basically don't avoid telling something that might support the truth. Tell nothing but the truth. Basically don't tell the truth on what you were asked, but then lie about something else to mislead.

WTF does this all have to do with power supplies? Well, the CompUSA power supply label is not telling the whole truth. It avoids mentioning information about how it got those rated numbers.

But does that have anything to do with the OP's stated requirement? If we posit that his new system takes about the same amount of power as his old one (P4s were very high energy requiring, especially towards the end, and C2D's require a lot less) then what is his risk?

So, what does this have to do with whether this exact unit can run a quadcore with a midrange video card? Uh, probably not much. However, when you buy something, don't you expect to get what you are told you are buying? If you see two different 12-packs of soda, you would expect 12 cans in each, right? Well, what if the cheaper 12-pack only had half-filled cans?

As for why it isn't in headline news... News exists to make money. They make money by how many eyes/ears they can pull to them. What pulls more eyes/ears? A PSU sold by a now defunct company has a misleading label... made in China? Lead in toys made in China? Arsenic in food made in China? The second touches the heartstrings of everyone ("OMG it's harming childred. CHILDREN!"). The third can affect everyone. The first? I suppose if there's nothing else newsworthy, then someone might report it. However, with wars, elections, Olympics going on, I don't think we'd see anything like this anytime soon.

You talk about a lot of things, but not the OP's requirement.

dclive, I have an offer for you. Would you like to go in ½ with me on an Antec Earthwatts 380W power supply? The reason for it would be to GIVE it to ChaoticMonk, in return for his CompUSA power supply. Then, someone with the proper equipment can test that CompUSA unit to see if it can put out the power it claims on the label, at normal operating conditions and staying within ATX specifications.

....which has absolutely nothing to do with what he asked. He's not asking if it can do a good test run on JG's testbench. He's asking if (given that it ran his old hardware just fine) it will run his new hardware too. And so far nobody's said it can't with reasoning and facts. Yes, there might be a slight risk since the PSU isn't a brand name (but he's been "dealing" with that risk ever since he bought it, so there's no new additional risk) but it will run the equipment, as long as we're OK with positing that his new hardware and old hardware require roughly similar power, and historically for C2Ds that is a pretty good position.

 

[HOOfan 1]

Originally posted by: Zap

.
maybe an analogy will help. Let's say that you need a pickup truck to haul your boat to the lake. You have your choice of a cheap truck that has 300 horsepower, but only 100 pounds/feet of torque. There's a more expensive truck that has 250 horsepower, but 300 pounds per feet of torque. What you don't know is that the more expensive truck got that power using regular unleaded, while the cheaper truck got that power using racing fuel, and with a heavier duty clutch/radiator/transmission, none of which come with it and of course the manufacturer of the cheaper truck doesn't tell anyone. Now, which truck would you get?

.

He didn't like my bungee jumping analysis....said it didn't relate to computers

Bungee jumping relates to everything...

Anyway, sure bungee jumping is playing with your life, whereas using a bad PSU is toying with your computer...but really after buying all of these expensive parts($130 Motherboard and $270 CPU), is it really that much of an economic burden to go out and buy an $80 PSU?

Also I can't remember if someone pointed this out earlier in the thread...I think someone did, but I want to address it again...um...your DDR400 RAM won't work in that new motherboard.

 

[Zap]

ChaoticMonk if you dare venture back in here, I think you can now make your decision. Let me summarize:

Don't upgrade
Votes: X
Reasons: Because it costs money and your PSU should be able to initially power on your system.

Upgrade
Votes: XXXXXXXXX
Reasons: Because ancillary evidence indicates that long-term (longer than a couple months?) viability is suspect.

So, make your choice. Let us know in 3 months how it worked out. If fine, then dclive can tell us "I told you so." If something dies, then send an invoice to dclive.

dclive is giving me flashbacks of Lithan

 

[HOOfan 1]

Originally posted by: Zap


dclive is giving me flashbacks of Lithan

or Taltamir

 

[jonnyGURU]

Wow... This thread has done NOTHING but degrade and it's all dclive's fault! Fascinating.

The Leadman PSU's in the review are not IDENTICAL to the OP's PSU, but they are indicitive of it's quality. As you can see, those two units couldn't even do half of their rated wattage. You can believe me or not when I say that the CompUSA PSU's quality is similar.

I've been a member of this forum since 1999 and have been reviewing PSU's since 2005. I've only worked for BFG for six months and you have the BALLS to imply I'm a shill? I didn't tell the OP to buy a BFG PSU. I'm not even telling him to buy a BIG PSU. He can go out and buy a 300W PSU for all I care as long as it's a quality unit. And that's not benefiting me any... that benefits the OP, and that's why we're here. That's certainly not why you're here. "Screw it... go ahead, you'll be fine. It might blow up, it might take out half of your hardware... but odds are with you, so go ahead." I really have to wonder what your agenda is.

You certainly have some nerve dclive. You need to take the tin foil hat off. Because you seem to think that everyone here has some sort of commercial agenda or something that makes us all have to tell people to spend more money than they need to. Just like people that buy insurance, pay their taxes, drive a nicer car, etc. Do me a favor and go back into your cabin and start writing your next manifesto.