PSU Recommendation Please

[fightcancer]

Hi. I'm looking for a PSU to replace my existing 300W supply. Actually, the existing one is fine, but the fan is going out on it and I don't know how to replace the fan.

Anyway, any recommendations for a high-value PSU (low price) would be appreciated.

TIA,

 

[raildogg]

For the price, nothing can match this. It has amazing rails and great efficiency.

link

this is the retailed version of almost the same product
link

 

[fightcancer]

thanks for the suggestion.

what are rails? can I find out what PSU's have good rails by looking at the item descriptions on NewEgg?

Thanks again for the suggestion.

 

[raildogg]

hi, first find a reputable company ... Fortron, Sparkle, Seasonic, Enermax, Antec and a few others. then look at the output, rails. some power supplies have dual 12v rails, which I recommend.

you need good amps. that is more important than wattage. that is why 250W Fortrons can run a 6800GT while 400W units from other companies cannot.

for example, the first link I showed you has 36A combined on 12v. the second one has 34. That is more than enough for any high end system at that price.

the second link is a retail version, it comes with a book and the product box. i would suggest you get that, it is only a few dollars more

 

[WobbleWobble]

Rails are the 3.3V, 5V and 12V values (or 12V1 and 12V2) that are given. Each one of those rails has an amperage rating and of course, higher is better. As raildogg said, this is better than looking at the total number of watts a PSU claims to have.

Fortron/Sparkle is probably your best bang for the buck for a quality unit.

 

[Ricemarine]

You can buy my aspire 500w for $43 shipped 😉

 

[munchow2]

Ugh amperage, wattage, and voltage are improper terms! They should be current, power, and electrical potential energy difference respectively!

Anyways, going back on track, aside from the obvious (20+A on a 12V rail), you should also look into a name brand since they are reliable and are generally more efficient. I agree that Fortron seems to be quite popular although your problem is actually stemming from the PSU fan. You could just open up your PSU using a simple screwdriver, measure how large the fan is and just replace it with a quieter one from Stealth or Zalman. It could just be that the fan is dusty, in which case you just wipe it.

 

[lxskllr]

I had a psu fan get iffy once. I just ziptied a case fan to the outside of the psu blowing out, it worked fine.

 

[KoolDrew]

Again, I agree with raildogg's recommendations.