Power Supply

[imported_alp]

My computer has been freezing a lot, especially at boot up, but my voltages seem to be all within the specified 5%. However, my power supply is a generic (EYE-T) 450w that came with the case, so i am rather suspicious of it.

Anyway, if it IS the power supply, would I be best (thinking price-wise too) to replace it with:

Thermaltake Butterfly 480w: £53
Thermaltake Xaser 560w: £69
Antec TruePower 480w: £73
Antec NeoPower 480w: £93
OCZ PowerStream 520w: £103

Remembering, I don't want to have to spend money I don't need to, so don't recommend the OCZ simply because it's the best.

My system is an a64 3000+ with two optical drives, two hard drives, 1gb ram and 4 case fans. However, I also am thinking about PSU upgrade as I am thinking of upgrading my graphics card to either a 6800, 6800gt or x800pro (if they drop below gt in price, as seems likely) later this year.

 

[CraigRT]

out of all those power supplies, if you just want one that works, I'd go with the TruePower 480... if you want one that looks cool as well, get the NeoPower... I wouldn't buy a Thermaltake to be honest.. and you probably don't need the OCZ.

 

[imported_alp]

nah, i don't really care about the looks of the power supply, in fact I don't like the idea of the butterfly in that sense, as any lights that aren't blue wouldn't go in my case well

 

[gf4200isdabest]

How often does the freezing happen? Without any other factors, it's just as likely to be something else causing the problem. Do you have a friend who could lend you his PSU to try in your comp?

 

[imported_alp]

nope, all my friends have pretty generic psu's of 350w or less (already thought of that). It's not been that often over the past week, but was really bad before that. Other things I have considered are bad mains power (I live in an old house with questionable wiring) and shorts from something on the motherboard touching the case, but I have checked for this and found nothing.

 

[gf4200isdabest]

For one, your computer does not use 350W of power. Search for a previous thread that I started on the topic. Even while gaming, it uses about 1/3 of that; as far as generic PSU's go, they are hit or miss. The fact that it's no name does not mean it's necessarily unsuitable. If it's that sporadic, it's going to be pretty difficult to isolate the problem. However, I wouldn't be so quick as to jump the gun in attributing these problems to the PSU. Out of all likely suspects (PSU, mobo, cpu, ram, vid card, hard drive), my experience tells me that PSU's are the most reliable of the lot.

 

[imported_alp]

hmm... i guess... it's just the hard drive part that makes me suspicious...

 

[imported_alp]

sorry if bumping is frowned upon/banned in this forum, but i can find no reference to this in the rules or anywhere else i've looked. can anyone add anything here? (about either question)

 

[Lonyo]

Personally I'm getting a new PSU, and it's going to be this one:
Enermax 420w Noisetaker
Cheapest price I've found (£62 inc delivery), and it seems like it should be good (high 12v rails).
My comp freezes/reboots sometimes, and I think voltages are off, but I only have a 300w PSU, and according to one calc, I need 300w of power (which doesn't take into account efficiency I don't think).

 

[gf4200isdabest]

Lonyo, those calculators are nowhere close to accurate. I dare you to take an ampmeter and find a computer that uses 300W at any moment. I shudder to think how much stuff you'd need on there to load it up that much...

 

[imported_alp]

where did you find that? I can't seem to find enermax psus ANYWHERE (well, in the UK...) other than 350w ones. Even so, it would feel like a downgrade from my current 450w (which it isn't i know, but psychologically, putting your wattage DOWN... )

 

[sao123]

Go Check your power requirements
Then take the rating you recieve and divide by .70 and then multiply by .90, that is the wattage of the power supply you should buy.

I suggest depending on your needs... Antec has great power supplies, especially the, 430Truepower, the 480w True Blue, or the 550w TrueControl.
OCZ has a new line of powersupplies, also in the 430 - 520 range that are supposed to be excellent.

As for where to get them, Xoxide.com has the best selection and very good prices, or ZipZoomFly.com has free 2 day shipping on most everything.

Edit:
Also, be sure you are not buying a falsely rated power supply...heres how to double check...

To keep this as simple as possible, what determines the quality of your Power Supply (PSU) is its continuous maximum output. Even though the PSU might be advertised as a 430 watt, in most cases this is not its actual true output in a real world situation. To check your PSU you need to do the following:

Look for the label that is attached to your Power Supply
Write down the following information from that label
12V - _ _ amps
5V - _ _ amps
3.3V - _ _ amps
What does the above have to do with Watts? Volts x Amps = Watts

Once you have the information, you need to complete some basic calculations listed below:

3.3V x _ _ amps = _ _ Watts
5.0V x _ _ amps = _ _ _ Watts
12.0V x _ _ amps = _ _ _ Watts

Now all three totaled comes to _ _ _ Watts (which might = your advertised Watts). What most people do not know is that with the majority of Power Supplies, you cannot have the maximum of the 3.3V rail and 5.0V rail Amps listed above flowing at same time. Only 2/3 can be used in an accurate calculation. So in reality you will be reduced to:

{Combined 3.3V & 5.0V} _ _W + _ _ _W x 2/3 = _ _ _ watts
Now add in the 12v = _ _ _ watts
Adding these all together now gives you _ _ _ Watts
So your Power Supply should really be rated as a _ _ _ Watt Power Supply

 

[sao123]

Loyno... the /.7 *.9 is the efficiency(70%) + number of devices in use at moderate to heavy load(90%) in use at one time calculation.

 

[imported_alp]

i am in the UK, so i can't use those shops. I also found a 550w fortron for £88. Are Fortron PSU's any good? By the looks of things it has dual 12v lines, also.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: alp
i am in the UK, so i can't use those shops. I also found a 550w fortron for £88. Are Fortron PSU's any good? By the looks of things it has dual 12v lines, also.

[Enermax Noisetaker 470w IN THE UK]http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=6712&GroupID=9[/l] £68
[420w for £57]http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=6711&GroupID=9[/l]

Just ordered the 420w myself.

 

[amol]

hmm, anyone know of any good 'relatively silent or quiet' PSUs at about 500W (560 max?) i'm running 4 hard drives . . .

 

[imported_alp]

thanks! that enermax is a good price too. but is that store any good? do you have any experience with them? (let me know how your order goes)

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: Amol
hmm, anyone know of any good 'relatively silent or quiet' PSUs at about 500W (560 max?) i'm running 4 hard drives . . .

I just ordered this enermax. You can adjust the fan on it.

 

[Gamingphreek]

ALP why dont you look at the 420Watt OVZ or the 470WAtt OCZ. I would get that or any Enermax or Antec PSU. Thermalitake, i would stay away from them as they have recently opted for Flashiness over quality. Thermaltakes are flashy and noisy and dont performa as well as the OCZ Antec and Enermax PSUs.

Personally i would get the OCZ 420 then the Antec 420 then the Enermax 420

For more juice the same order. But keep in mind the Neermax has some more features than the Antec does owever the OCZ is the best of the bunch in all categories (not biased just based on reviews even AT switched to them).

-Kevin

 

[imported_alp]

ok, but so far i am leaning towards enermax or antec. the reason i never looked at the ocz 470w is that it's only £10 cheaper than the 520w ocz. noise i can live with, can anyone else comment on the performance/stability of tt's, though i am avoiding them i guess.

also, the crashing has got worse recently. can anyone confirm/deny that it's the psu at fault? i also have generic ram but it's memtest stable so i kind of doubt that. just seems weird that my voltages are all pretty ok.

 

[Gamingphreek]

ry site that has reviewed the OCZ powersupplies calls them top notch. Yeah they have a price tag but still, a 420OCZ is an equivelent of like a 470Antec or Enermax. Also the OCZ's allow you to adjust the rails so if one is to high or too low all you do i turn a little screw. They also are extremely quiet from what i here. I personally would go with the OCZ, but all of em are excellent.

-Kevin

 

[imported_alp]

so you think a 420w ocz would power my system even if i upgraded to an x800 pro or 6800 nu or gt?

(the 420w ocz is similar price to 480w antec true (not neo) power, and slightly more than the 470w enermax)

 

[Gamingphreek]

Hell yeah!!! More than powerful enough. If you have the money go for the 470 watter but the 420 has plenty of power for those. Probably enough to SLI em together also.

-Kevin

 

[imported_alp]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Enermax_111.html

wow! lots more enermax arrived at a store i actually trust (the best in the UK imo, though the choice isn't exactly newegg-like). Noisetakers are back, and what the hell are those red things?!

 

[imported_alp]

reviving this old ish thread with some new info about my problem...

i now doubt it's a power supply issue. it (the freezing) seemed to go away after service pack 2 was installed, and seems to happen less recently. It happened very little in nearly two weeks, but has happened at least 4 times today. This made me think it was a virus. Of the two other computers in the house, one has the exact same problem (p4 1.7ghz, 256mb sdram, gf2mx400 etc. system) but the other does not (old p3 600mhz 128mb ram onboard).