What makes one power supply better than another?

Gaard

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
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I'm assuming name brands are better, but what makes them better?

My main concern in a power supply is noise. What is wrong with my thinking that I could save some $$ by just buying a generic unit and swapping fans with a better (Panaflo) one? But I'm thinking that there must be some other difference besides the fan.

Would this solve any problems I'd run into with a generic unit...Let's say that if I was going to buy a name brand unit I was going to opt for a 300watt. Now would going for a 350watt generic unit (which would be cheaper than a 300watt name brand) ensure against any problems?

Then there's product life. Do name brand units last longer?

As you can probably tell I'm a cheap bastard. :)
 

grunjee

Senior member
Jun 18, 2001
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In my experience with PSU's, you generally get what you pay for.

Your psu really is a critical part of your system... your computer can only be as good as your psu is. If you get a cheap one that gives out unclean power, you can run into problems. Or if it is underpowered or can't deliver when your comp is running at load, you'll get crashes and reboots.

It all depends on what you're doing. If your computer isn't loaded much, you can get by with a cheapie. But if it's under load and you value what you're doing, you really want a quality (name-brand) psu. If you overclock at all, a crappy psu will severly limit your OC ability. My OC for example -- there's no way I could get it with a cheap-ass psu.

It's also good to look to the future. Get a good psu now and most likely you can use it for years.

Yeah, you can do fan mods... that's easy. You can reduce the noise that way but it won't make much of a differnce in terms of the psu's performance.

Name brand units will definitely last longer.

I have used both cheapies and good ones. Yeah, I've always hated paying good $$$ for the higher-end psu's... but in the end it's worth it.

 

PowerMac4Ever

Banned
Dec 9, 2000
5,246
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Originally posted by: 7757524
What is wrong with my thinking that I could save some $$ by just buying a generic unit and swapping fans with a better (Panaflo) one?

this guide explains it all. link
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I recommend checking out AMD's recommended power supply list. Even if you have a P4 setup, AMD has a really good resource for quality PSUs.