Need Power Supply Recommendation

[MisterPinchy]

Hello All,

In need of help for a decent power supply recommendation, least expensive as possible. Here's the story first;

Gotta put together an upgrade for good 'ol Mom. Her current rig has started flaking lately. Had been running perfectly since 2002, but suddenly it's started freezing randomly in Windows XP Home, no matter what she's doing, playing a video, typing in MSWord, typing an email, totally random in any application.

Have to restart the machine to get going again. Can't ctrl-alt-del or anything. All power lights still on, fans still spinning. Also sometimes, but not always, it won't come out of standy if it's been idle for a while.

I replaced RAM with two good tested modules, still freezes. Could be power supply going out (ColorsIt 480W), maybe hard drive, not sure at this point. I'm going to reinstall Windows to see if that works, but if not, probably a hardware problem, so I'll just upgrade her components if that's the case since they're pretty old.

Current rig has:
Motherboard: Abit KG7
CPU: Athlon XP 1700+ Palomino
Video: GeForce2 MX-400
HD: Seagate 60GB 7200rpm IDE
RAM: 2 x 256KB Kingston KVR266X64C25
Sound: SB Live! PCI
Network (DSL): USR 56K modem

I Put together these parts so far, but need an inexpensive PS recommendation since I'm not sure what PS is needed for this build.

Board: Biostar Tforce TF520-A2
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16813138082

Processor: Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16819103749

RAM: A-DATA Extreme Edition 2x1GB DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16820211174

Hard Drive: WD Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16822136075

Video: Giving her an ATI x800xl I have.

CDRW: Using her current Samsung IDE


Thanks for any and all power supply recommendations. She uses the PC for general web surfing, email, Office suite use. Minimal, if any, gaming.

 

[MarcVenice]

Antec earthwatts 380-430w, if you shop around at newegg or clubit you should be able to find one for 30-40$. And it should last several years. Wouldn't buy anything cheaper.

 

[oynaz]

Check the old rig for malware. It defenitely shows the symptoms.

Java, many Norton programs, Panda Antivirus and iTunes/Quicktime can cause this as well.

 

[MisterPinchy]

Thanks Marc, for that recommendation.

oynaz, definitely things I should check. That's why I'm just going to reformat the drive and do a fresh install of Windows.

I assume that after I do this, and before I install any additional software beyond Office, it still freezes, it must be hardware related, right?

 

[MarcVenice]

Probably so. Weird how it just freezes, not even a bsod. She's in for a new rig anyways though

 

[Bonesdad]

agreed, Earthwatts is the way to go...find one with rebate...have seen the 380W for 29.99 AR

 

[Zepper]

Welcome to the AT forums.

If you find an Antec SU-380 on eBay or elsewhere, it is about the same as the Earthwatts 380 mentioned above and works great. Contact Dazed and Confused here. I traded a couple of them to him and he may want to part with one. Here's his PrivateMail link.
I had been able to pick some up for a song on eBay, but they are getting scarce now (some of the eBay stores have some at a price above list, $45. +sh from the Antec Parts store). I guess the word has gotten out as to how good they are. There are two models of that, one has the letters HT in a box. The HT ones have very long mobo cables (ATX/P4-12V) the non-HT ver. has short mobo cables at around 12". Perfect for most mid-tower and smaller cases that can hold a standard ATX size PSU - I'm using one here.

Hard to beat some of those EarthWatts deals if you can find one. An SU or EA-380 or 430 would work fine for 90+% of all system builds - Seasonic OEMs both of them.

See the link in my sig below if you want more PSU at a decent price...

.bh.