Please Help Pick a new PSU

[valpospe]

Hello folks, The world of the power supply is a little new to me, so any help would be appreicated, and thanks in advance.

Long story short, I have a HP a350y PC (I'd like to build my own next time, but she's been good to me for the past 18 months). I'm running a 2.6 P4(ht) and I have a feeling that I'm way underpowered with the standard 250W PSU.

Significant power Drawing components:
CDRW-DVD ROM combo
CD ROM
3.5 floppy
80 and 200 GB internals
1 GB RAM
ATI 9800 np
Creative audigy 2 ZS

I don't OC or anything.

So my questions are?

Are all ATX 12 powersupplies compatable? (ie will it fit? current dimensions are 5.9w-3.4h-5.5d)
How much power do I need? (I'm thinking no less than 350W)
Is PFC worth it?
And finally and most importantly any suggestions on a specific model?
(I don't need/want and blue LED etc)

Thanks for humoring me.

 

[Bozo Galora]

you dont really have much of a load there

a.) If it has been working fine for 18 mo. why worry about it?
b.) I assume you added the 200GB HDD, extra ram
c.) The PSU for these types are very carefully engineered to privide adequate power at the very lowest cost.

I dont buy prebuilts, but in earlier times Dell for sure and HP and Compac sometimes used proprietary PSU that had dif wiring specs for the ATX plug. So you would blow the mobo if you put in an aftermarket unit. I do not know about current practice, but its something to think about.

I just bought a Tagan 480 (from ajump.com) for a new build, 6 3/8" X 3 1/2" X 5 7/8"
Very impressed with the quality/packaging/manual. ($75 shipped free) - been having too much bad luck with Antecs lately.
The next step up would be the OCZ modstream 520W ($106 at newegg) which the AT reviewers seem to use.

Usually, if a PSU is inadequate, you might have trouble cold booting - you would need a restart, or vidcard probs.

 

[Culvin]

Edit: The 9800np is not a power hungry card. So if you're keeping your current setup without upgrades and not experiencing any problems, you can probably save yourself some time and cash and just keep what you have. Anyway...

Just so happens I recently replaced the psu in my a250y.

>> Are all ATX 12 powersupplies compatable? (ie will it fit? current dimensions are 5.9w-3.4h-5.5d)
Those are the dimensions of a standard ATX psu. A couple brands like OCZ are a little deeper, but most will have those exact dimensions.

>> How much power do I need? (I'm thinking no less than 350W)
350w is a good number and is what I bought. I'm planning on getting a new psu when I build my own next time around. If you plan on using the same psu, you'll want to look into 400w-500w+.

>> Is PFC worth it?
It's not worth basing your decision on. It's better than not having it... it's an environmental-friendly kind of thing.

>> And finally and most importantly any suggestions on a specific model?
Seasonic Silencer or PCP&C Silencer if you plan to go under 400w, Seasonic 12 if you plan on future proofing. These are quality, quiet, and efficient psu's.

>> Thanks for humoring me.
GL.

 

[TWills]

Actually, the p/s is one of the few parts I would consider buying locally, because I've seen that the quality is usually higher with the heavier ones. Heavier means more(or just bigger) capacitors, better power conditioning, and the like. As for your personal ps requirements, definitely don't go below 350w.

Unless you have a case from a computer manufacturer (i.e. dell, hp), you'll be lucky to find a ps that doesn't fit your case.

PFC: not sure about this

Some good brands: Antec, Allied, PC Power and Cooling

Some bad brands: Powmax, Sunlight(I think that's the name I can't be sure)

All in all, if you spend roughly $40-$50 then $10 on shipping you're on the right track.

 

[Tostada]

It doesn't really sound like there's any reason for you to get a new PSU other than the feeling that 250W isn't enough. I guarantee your system draws under 200W when it's totally stressed, so you really unless there's something wrong with your PSU you shouldn't need a new one.

The order I'd rank the good brands are:

1) SeaSonic
2) PCP&C
3) EnerMax
4) Forton
5) Antec

SeaSonics are quieter, more efficient and cheaper than PCP&C, but PCP&C has some ridiculously strong PSUs if you can actually justify getting a PSU strong enough to run 4 CPUs, 2 GF6800 Ultras and 10 hard drives.

EnerMax has been a good brand for a long time, but they have a smaller 2-fan design instead of using a single 120mm fan like most newer quieter high-quality PSUs.

Antec makes good PSUs, but there's nothing special about them. Most people get them because it's such a good deal to get an Antec case and an Antec PSU.

I think Fortron probably makes the highest quality cheap PSUs. The 300W Fortron is $31. It's very well made and has stronger rails than a lot of 400W PSUs. It has 14A on the 12V rail, and that system of yours shouldn't even be hitting 10A with the drives spinning up.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104937

PFC doesn't really do anything worthwhile. For residential use where you pay for your electricity by KWH, a PSU with PFC will actually cost you a tiny bit more money. Businesses pay for their power differently, and PFC reduces their electrical costs by basically cleaning up the way the PSU draws power (it makes things easier on the electric company). You shouldn't go out of your way to get a PSU with PFC, but expensive PSUs almost all have PFC. The fact that PFC actually reduces efficiency a little isn't much of an issue, because PSUs with PFC are usually the better, more efficient ones to begin with.

OCZ PSUs are decent, but I don't know where I'd rank them. They're pretty gimmicky.

 

[Zepper]

Yeah, a solid 250W unit should be enough. But if you really want a new one, then the XClio 400 or 450 are some of the best values around (made by Channel Well, same as Antec, most Enermax et al.). Newegg has been OOS on them for a while - I guess they have given up trying to estimate a due date as Newegg has dropped the listings. Perhaps the new line of XClio PSUs will be replacing so they have to create a new listing anyway. If that is the case, then the new models will have to be revetted before I could recommend them.

.bh.

 

[valpospe]

Thanks for all the input. It sounds like I'm making something out of nothing. I should probably leave well enough alone before I break something 🙂 Asus Probe and MBM say I'm alittle light on the voltage on my rails and you hear so much talk these days about MORE POWER-MORE POWER, but the system is pretty stable while playing games (SH3, COD, IL2 and the like). So maybe the software "probes" are a little off. At any rate, thanks again for your quick and helpful replys. Anandtech has a nice little community here.