What should I look at when choosing a power supply?

[Inspector Jihad]

Cause i know there's more to it than wattage

 

[imported_Kensai]

Ampage, the number of rails. The number of connectors, etc. etc.

 

[maluckey]

Ripple, hold time, onder/overvolt protection, MTBF and short protection are some good consideration factors.. Next review how the company rates it's PSU.

Then look for a PSU model that is rated enough for your needs.

That being said, there are a few popular name brand companies that are less than honest about ratings for their units. there are a few companies outrighly deceiving their customers.

 

[biostud]

noise levels, generally those with 120mm fans makes less noise, Seasonic being the best.

 

[imported_rod]

The amperage on the +12V rail(s) is the most important factor. But I think everything has already been covered by the other posts.

RoD

 

[Inspector Jihad]

^^but what kind of amperage?

 

[Cheezeit]

sould be at least 24 amps if one rail, 15 amps on each if two

 

[Inspector Jihad]

you mean 24 amps on the 12v rail but if its dual rails then 15 will do?

 

[Whipped]

Can you give us some input as far as what you system is going to consist of? For example, how many optical drives are you going to have? Are you going to overclock the processor? What is your budget?

 

[Inspector Jihad]

^sorry, my budget for the case is like 100 to 110...not much more...my system is gonna have 1 dvd-rw, 1 hd as of rite now, but i mite add one later. a 3000+ venice that i mite overclock later. a 6600gt.

 

[Algere]

High efficiency

Means less electricity wasted & heat produced during the AC to DC conversion, ergo lower fan RPMs needed to keep a PSU cool, & in turn a quieter operating PSU. Seasonic happens to score very high in this area.