Power supply questions

[Northwings]

Haha Alright I think I'm going with the OCZ modular one. Thanks so much for the help.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: John
Unfortunately your answer was very vague and wasn't even beneficial. NEF

It wasn't vague at all, and, if I understand correctly, you have agreed with what I said. Inflated wattage is just not that important. His question, should he go with 500W or 600W, ignores the fact that neither choice is wise--a fact which I pointed out in my initial post.

I build and repair system for a living, and I've used hundreds of generic $10 "480 watt" psu's (Echo Star, A Power) that work fine in a lot systems. Most of these el-cheapo psu's have weak rails and inflated wattages. Those companies are taking their measurements at a low temp, and when the temp increases the psu produces less power. For low end systems or run-of-the mill OEM builds they are fine. When you use the el-cheapo psu's in a build with cutting edge components you're bound to run into stability issues or a system that won't even POST.

I completely agree that you need a PSU that can pump enough power to the various components in a system. For "cutting-edge" systems with five or six drives and a power-guzzling graphics card, of course you'll need something better than your typical 350W bundled-with-case PSU. But there's a difference between "powerful" and "name-brand."

I'm not exactly saying you're wrong. It's just that I never hear any hard evidence to support your claims. I don't think it's a good idea to spend extra money on a component which might not benefit you at all. If you're afraid it will toast your CPU and/or motherboard, spend that money on a warranty, instead--something which has real, undeniable value.

A very large percentage of the people on this forum are enthusiasts and build their own systems. A quick view of your sig shows you to be in the minority.

Don't judge a book by it's cover. My first PC was a whitebox Pentium 133 MHz with 16 MB RAM, and although I didn't build it, I later dissected and toyed with its innards. So it was that I was able to build my second PC, a K6-2 500 MHz (overclocked to 550 MHz) with 128 MB RAM. I also built my third, an Athlon 950 with 512 MB. My fourth PC was my best overclocker, a P4 2.4B taken to 2.93 GHz on an MSI Neo-2 motherboard. I moved in with my fiance last year, though, and she owned this HP Pavilion. Since we don't need two PCs, I decided to sell my own, saving a few of its components (hard disk, RAM, etc.) for use in the Pavilion. I'm sure my next PC will be another custom build.

A psu is one of the most overlooked components since most people seem to think that as long as it powers up the system it must be ok. I've seen several el-cheapo psu's pop and take a few components with them. So if it makes you feel better by using a generic POS psu by all means continue doing so. However please keep in mind that most of your NF4 mainboards and SLI configs require a beefy +12v rail, and there is a slim chance that an el-cheapo psu is going to cut the mustard. As an example DFI will not support you on their Ultra/SLI mainboards unless you have a 24-pin 480w (or better) psu.

Sure, but how slim?

 

[BigCoolJesus]

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou

Originally posted by: John

I completely agree that you need a PSU that can pump enough power to the various components in a system. For "cutting-edge" systems with five or six drives and a power-guzzling graphics card, of course you'll need something better than your typical 350W bundled-with-case PSU. But there's a difference between "powerful" and "name-brand."

I'm not exactly saying you're wrong. It's just that I never hear any hard evidence to support your claims. I don't think it's a good idea to spend extra money on a component which might not benefit you at all. If you're afraid it will toast your CPU and/or motherboard, spend that money on a warranty, instead--something which has real, undeniable value.

Actually, using a no-name, rebrand, "comes with the case" PSU is always a bad idea, and should never, never be done. Not only can i guarantee that under a good load it will burn out within a year, but even on a low range system it could be the worst idea ever.
Just look at X-Connects, they sometimes fry computers, even though there meant to be high end psu's.
Ok, now look at low end psu's, $20 says they fry or "injure" computers a whole hell of a lot more

plus, there pieces of crap

 

[tdrez72]

Thanks for all of your help everyone...

I think I am going to go for the PC Power & Cooling: Turbo Cool 510 SLI PSU after some careful evaluation and recieving many people's opinions.

Thanks again