When selecting a Power Supply....

Razorbacx · Post by **Razorbacx** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:50 am

regardless of manufacturer or personal preferences what are the key items that I need to be looking for when making that purchase decision? Obviously, I'm not interested in a $20.00 PSU for the mere fact that it outputs 1000W and then fries my system, however I am interested in quality over quantity. It has been recommeded in previous postings to purchase a 450W PSU to replace my 380W CoolerMaster Extreme Power PSU, but everyone has a different brand that they prefer and it makes it difficult for the novice to make a decision. With there being so many different brands out there, Antec, Enermax, OCZ, Thermaltake, Sky Hawk, Logisys, Vantec and CoolMax to name a few sharing almost identical specifications I cannot make an informed decision. So, if some of you experts out there would please list the things that I should be looking for in a PSU I would be greatly appreciative. Please keep in mind that money is everything and that purchasing the $450.00 PC Power & Cooling PSU is simply out of my budget range. I need a deal, it's that simple. The following is a listing of my current rig to help you out in making the right recommendations:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice Core
Abit AV8 mobo
Leadtek 6800 GT Video Card (AGP) - Leadtek Winfast A400 GT TDH
Western Digital 80GB HD (7200 rpm)
BenQ DVD-RW Optical Drive
Not including the CPU cooler fan I have two other fans running in my rig
Win XP Pro

The video card requires a min of 350W PSU and the mfg recommends that it does not share power with any other device. My current config has the DVD drive, Hard Drive and Video Card all running off of one 12v cable and I would assusme that this is not optimal, because it is a 4 pin connector that provides power to the card I believe that I need a PSU that has two separate 12v cables. Am I correct to assume this?

As always your opinions are well repsected and much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Razorbacx

Post by **FZ1** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:11 am

Fogey · Post by **Fogey** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:03 pm

All of my Power supplies I build with are all from PC Power and Cooling. I just got a 510 SLI Power Supply. It was on sale for $197.00. Never had a problem with any of them. If quality is your # 1 item, they are tough to beat.

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/ ... how=T51SLI

Any decent Power Supply will have several 12 volt lines. They just don't want you putting splitters on the one feeding the graphics card.
Side note: I'm not an expert, just an old Fogey!

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:26 pm

that is a very good question you are asking. I my self am a novie when it comes to PSUs. I have always been told the heavier the better. I really never follwed that philosophy though. LOL I too will be curious of what people will have to say.

I have been looking at the new Hyper Type-R 580w. Everyone says it has good "rails" something else i have been itching to know.

Post by **FZ1** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:50 pm

Fogey wrote:All of my Power supplies I build with are all from PC Power and Cooling. I just got a 510 SLI Power Supply. It was on sale for $197.00. Never had a problem with any of them. If quality is your # 1 item, they are tough to beat.

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/ ... how=T51SLI

Any decent Power Supply will have several 12 volt lines. They just don't want you putting splitters on the one feeding the graphics card.
Side note: I'm not an expert, just an old Fogey!

IF you are runing SLI this is one of the best you can get (I just got one) but they are pricey!

Sovereign · Post by **Sovereign** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 5:37 pm

Get good, strong amps on the 12v rail (if you want the PSU to last so that you can use it when you eventually go PCI-E and SLI/CrossFire). Make sure to check review sites if you have doubts. http://www.hardforum.com has a huge guide to buying PSUs in their Power Supply forum...try that. I'm not going to copy it over here out of respect for [H]

SAMSAMHA · Post by **SAMSAMHA** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:04 pm

i always liked antec, seasonics, enermax psu, as they provide good strong power and reliable.

what you should look for psu besides good brand is enough voltage for each rail. Specifically the 12v rails, if you can look for minimum 25amp (30 or more if you plan to go for sli). Also, look for min of 400-450wattage.

Laxergreg · Post by **Laxergreg** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:30 am

I've had good experiences with Thermaltake as a brand. I have a 480W power supply from them and a cpu heatsink, both have worked great ever since I've had them. I haven't gotten to play with an SLI system yet, but I'd definitely say you're gonna need a very solid PS to run 2 video cards with stability.

Zelig · Post by **Zelig** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:25 pm

SAMSAMHA wrote:i always liked antec, seasonics, enermax psu, as they provide good strong power and reliable.

what you should look for psu besides good brand is enough voltage for each rail. Specifically the 12v rails, if you can look for minimum 25amp (30 or more if you plan to go for sli). Also, look for min of 400-450wattage.

Yup, some good advice in this thread. Seasonic, Fortron and Sparkle all make quality PSUs which are less pricey than a lot of other brands.

I'd stay away from Thermaltake for power supplies , have seen some shoddy PSUs from them.

kojak71 · Post by **kojak71** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:42 pm

I can understand your frustation, marketing tends to focus on one thing and one thing only, POWER! Too often this is done by some dubious mathematics. So when you get recommendations from VGA manufacturers they take into consideration the very fuzzy definitions used by PSU manufacturers. Really what you should be focusing on is current not power, and that means reading the breakdown by voltage rail. Things have been complicated here as well, because of the introduction of dual 12V rails and how they are implemented (i.e. are they properly seperate rails). If not then you need to know what the combined 12 rail maximum current is.

The good news is, a lot of the recommendations on this thread have taken all the hard-work of determining what PSU does what. The Enermax PSU are extremely good, but my nod goes to the Seasonic S12 range because they are extremely efficient (over 80% at all ratings) and arguably the quietest fan cooled PSU out there. With PSU's you get what you pay for.