Power Supply Noob

LiamSki

Junior Member
Jun 18, 2009
5
0
0
Hi Everyone
Right, i have read many forums/articles/stickies ^ on power supplies, but still havent got much of an idea if my new PSU will work with my system. I've also bought a new XFX 8800GTS GPU. (I havent installed either of these).

This is the PSU i've bought:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=223827
From what i can gather the 12V rails are the important ones. On the box it says:+12V1 16A. +12V2 20A. +12V3 16A. So it has 3 rails?
My computer is fairly standard (Asus P5N-MX MBD, CD/DVD drive, 3GB RAM, Internet connector thing, 22inch monitor and now the graphics card).
From the link's FAQs, you can see that the PSU has the 'usual' connectors, and when i bought it i thought it had a pci-e connector, but it doesnt. It has an adapter from a 4-pin molex to the 6-pin pci-e. Will this power my graphics card?
Also there are like 4 4-pin molex wires coming out of the unit, does it matter which one i choose as the one to connect to the adapter.
So the +12v1 etc thing i mentioned... Does it mean some of the wires come from v1, some from v2, and some from v3. If so, there is only a max of 20A on the v2 rail, whereas my graphics card says that nvidia recommend '400W supply (with 12V current rating of 26A)'.
Also ^^, in the graphics card box, it says that 'XFX does not support the use of two 4-pin to one 6-pin power cable converter for these graphics cards. They are only designed to work with high performance power supplies using 6-pin PCI-e cables'. So from the sound of that i need to get another PSU, but other people have said that it works fine... based on this
http://answers.yahoo.com/quest...=20070816083455AAk4htd
Is it worth ?risking? it, just to see if it works like the man on Yahoo. Im so confused, would someone (johnnyguru :) ) be able to explain in simpletons terms, or just say if it will or wont work.
Thanks ever so much.
 

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
i dont know that name and it looks like a crap PSU to me, i would buy a 400-500W quality PSU if going with a single card or 600-700W is going CF/SLI. Stick to name brands like Corsair, OCZ, Antec, Seasonic, PC P&C.
 

LiamSki

Junior Member
Jun 18, 2009
5
0
0
Well, ok, i dont see how you can say the PSU is rubbish. I dont really want to spend £80 or more on a PSU, and i bought this from a shop so can easily return it, if it doesnt work, and i think it has a 12 month guarentee. I should give it go first don't you think?
 

HOOfan 1

Platinum Member
Sep 2, 2007
2,337
15
81
Originally posted by: LiamSki
Well, ok, i dont see how you can say the PSU is rubbish. I dont really want to spend £80 or more on a PSU, and i bought this from a shop so can easily return it, if it doesnt work, and i think it has a 12 month guarentee. I should give it go first don't you think?

You just bought this PSU and it doesn't have a PCI-E connector?

That is one reason to call it junk.

If you still have the option to return it, you should. It would be kind of stupid to buy a brand new PSU without a PCI-E connector, when you need a PCI-E connector.
Sounds like either you did not buy the one you linked to, or the site has its information wrong.
 

LiamSki

Junior Member
Jun 18, 2009
5
0
0
Hi
thanks to both replies. The PSU doesnt have a pci-e connector, but a 4-pin molex to 6-pin pci-e adapter, and says it will work with high graphics cards.So the site had the wrong info sort of. So i will give it a try. I asked the question on yahoo answers, and it seems that others think it will work. Thanks again

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/qu...=20090618030335AANKEj8
 

yh125d

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2006
6,886
0
76
Its alphabetical. On the list of avatars African American comes first. To change it go to "profile" on the top right and look for the author icon drop down list


The reason we always recommend to buy a quality PSU is because, well, most PSU's (particularly cheap ones with high wattages) are cheaply made, poorly performing, and have a much higher rate of failure. And not just the type of failure where it breaks and you have to buy a new one, the kind where it explodes and takes another component or two with it. I think it would be prudent to spend another £15-25 or so on a higher quality psu
 

LiamSki

Junior Member
Jun 18, 2009
5
0
0
ok thanks for that, i'll change it to look a bit more like myself. Anyway i've put in the new PSU and GPU, and they are working fine, at the moment ^^ . This PSU was recommended by the store manager of the shop itself, so i doubt he was trying to con me, if so i'll be taking the melted ruins of my computer corpse right back to him. I hopefully wont start to smell burning anytime soon lol, its going well so far. Anyway, Thanks for the comments, they have been of great help.
 

dualsmp

Golden Member
Aug 16, 2003
1,627
45
91
HEC makes some ok equipment but it's not top drawer by any means. Their green earth line looks to be better quality and have proper connectors from the looks of it, so your local store might carry that line of PSU's.

http://www.compucase-hec.co.uk/psu_green_earth.htm

Actually some of the fans I pulled out my Antec PSU were made by HEC or were at least HEC branded.