Power Supplies. Does Brand Name Matter??

[SDsucka]

Subject and question are one in the same. Your opinions/experiences are appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Biggs]

Let me put it this way, brand names will give you peace of mind.

 

[MCS]

Like everything, you get what you pay for.

 

[Moonbeam]

For example, imagine what it would cost to but Hoover dam.

 

[Insane3D]

"For example, imagine what it would cost to but Hoover dam."

Free shipping???

Seriously though, a cheap, high wattage power supply can be easily outperformed by a lower wattage, high quality power supply. If you think about it, the PS supplies the juice to everything in your system, why not spend the few extra $$$ for a high quality piece you will never have to worry about?

 

[damocles]

Yes and no. Some times a generic no name brand may actually be a rebadged 'brand name' or simply be good enough to do the job. Generally when you buy brandnames you can have a bit more confidence in the product and know that you will get backup if necessary. A friend of mine sells Tbird systems with no name PSUs. He said he is going to use named brand PSUs from now on because he is having some problems. 95% of the PSUs he sells are fine, but the 5% (or whatever it is) are giving him a real headache.

As someone above said, you get a bit more piece of mind with a quality PSU. Like a good case, it is something you can take with you through several upgrades, and is pretty inexpensive in the scheme of things.

 

[madthumbs]

My first two power supplies were cheap. One of them being a CompUSA brand. The first one kept causing my Athlon to black screen of death. This was no surprise since it made the fans change speeds (I could hear them doing it) while the Athlon was still running fine. My second one 300W(CompUSA)that they told me I would need with a Voodoo 5 smoldered for a week and then died. I opened it up to find a resistor totally melted and charred. Nice smell it made in my apt. Would you believe that CompUSA being over 80 miles away wouldn't work out a deal with me on the phone! Anyway, quality is the only way to go. Make sure what your connecting all those expensive components to.

 

[Gunbuster]

have you ever looked at a Emachine power sup.? Yes brand matters

 

[thermite88]

It does matter. No all the 300W ATX power supplies are created equal.

At computer shows, I have found no-name 300W PS that had lower current rating than typical 250W PS.

I have had good experience with Enermax and Sparkle. They are top quality in the consumer sector. You will have to pay 4-5 times more for mission critical application power supplies if you want more quality.

For lower cost units, I found the Antec and CompUSA 300W to be very reliable. They are indentical part for part exception the thermostatic controlled fan. Antec uses sleeve bearing fan with temperature sensing, and CompUSA uses ball bearing fan with no thermostat. The heatsink and hardware parts are small to keep the cost low, but the design and construction quality are there.

No hardware is perfect, the above mentioned vendor provide reasonable support for their parts if you need RMA.

 

[jd in IL]

CompUSA PS's reliable? Mined died after a month and a half. Go for Enermax, you won't be sorry. I replaced the PS in my Aopen HX08 with the Enermax, Aopen went in the CompUSA case. The Enermax made the Aopen 300W look generic by comparison.

 

[DaddyG]

I have to agree with Insane3D. Flakey power supplies can be the most difficult things to trouble shoot. Theres no doubt, that some generics are good. Some of them are excess production from name brand companies, others are simply garbage. Over-current and over voltage protection are often non existent in generics. CSA and UL labels are frequently 'fake' they are never certified.

 

[SDsucka]

thanks everyone for the info. By the way, what are symptoms that suggest a poor quality power supply (besides it just dying on you) ?

 

[Mem]

Yes & no,if you go to AMD recommended PSU list you will see some brands you probably never heard of,however it does not mean they are bad or poor quality since to get on the recommended list they must be decent & be able to supply the Athlons with enough power,I use a Macron 300w PSU(AMD approved),which I`ve never heard of, but is working great,I would stay with well known or AMD approved brands,that way you can`t go far wrong.

 

[Lvis]

I've had good luck with generics... but I've yet to build an athlon based system. I've never had a generic that didn't screw up am radio reception in the house though. It's better to go name brand.

 

[jamarno]

I've found little relationship between brand, price, and quality, but I look for solder lugs with wires that have been wrapped around them, not just stuck through the holes, and for ball bearing fans. Of course you want UL and CSA approval, but CE approval is a joke and doesn't even require submission of a test sample. You also want the standby voltage to be rated for at least 1.5 amps, as anything under 1.0 amp may not provide enough standby power.