Power Supply Unit

Does lousy PSU blows up the pc and kills hardware components or all PSU is the same :confused:

?

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New type of post: one char post :)
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What exactly is the problem? You say your hardware gets fuxored?
Couldn't this be due to to high voltages(overclocking)?
I don't know if you hardware can get f***** up because there's something wrong with the PSU? Probably it can, other members know certainly more...

A single word answer is "yes",

You have raised a very good point here, as a lot of people don't pay sufficient attention to their choice of case/power supply. They seem to think that this is an area where they can save money?

There is an old saying that "there is no such thing as a cheap fire extinguisher", well your power supply is the same.......................you are trusting upwards of $1,000 worth of equipment to that single component.............

A faulty power supply can trash your MoBo, processor, memory, HDDs, DVD, CD and so on. It is an area where false economy MUST be avoided!

You must also make sure that you have adequate power. I go for 500w these days, and would not look at anything less than 350w.

As for the case, "looking cool" is NOT what you want................BEING cool is the answer :)

It should have plenty of room, not only for upgrades but also to allow good ventilation. I generally go for a case fan, and exhaust fan at the rear sucking out. I then have a side fan sucking cooler air onto the processor, and front fans cooling the hard drives (these come as special mounting assemblies, and are only around $15). You will be surprised how hot a 7200Rpm drive can get, and heat kills them.

I would also recommend investing in a surge protection block, particularly one that includes equipment insurance in the price :D Remember the problem begins at the wall, not the PSU.

EDIT: Look at the power supply, it should as a very MINIMUM have a sticker on it saying that it is approved for the type of processor you want to use. Then check out the MoBo and processor suppliers' sites to see what they recommend.

I hope that this advice helps

Cheers

nihil - If a PSU is rated as approved for a motherboard and CPU, could you explain how it might trash a motherboard or other hardware?

I was under the impression that if a PSU wasn't large enough for a systems power needs, the system would either experience frequent crashes or a peripheral couldn't/wouldn't operate correctly or at all. Like if someone decided to add a DVD drive to a system that was already near its maximum power limits, without ensuring the PSU could handle the added load or upgrading it.

Thanks.

V.

OK vvirtho, I will give it my best shot.........you ask another good question by the way :)

You are quite correct in suggesting that you might see erratic performance from the components because they are not getting all the juice that they want.

With less well made PSUs you might also induce failures in the PSU itself due to the fact that you are overloading it?

When the PSU is damaged it is a "maverick" or "loose cannon" and it can do all sorts of damage?

This is more likely to happen with cheaper, that is, lower quality items......you can always get a bargain....like if all you need is 300w, you could probably get a top of the range one half price these days? So you need to look at "list" price as well as actual price ;)

Better quality (and more expensive) kit is more likely to have built in safeguards. I personally like AMD processors (not exclusively) but I am well aware that it is a hell of a lot easier to fry an AMD than it is a Pentium, the Pentium tends to shut down first?

Also "rated" by whom? by the MoBo/Processor supplier, or by the case/PSU supplier............as in "given a lot of luck and a strong tailwind this might just fly"

Hope that this explains my view?

Cheers

nihil -
Thanks for the additional info. I suppose I wasn't real clear on things because I'm one of those people with champagne tastes and a beer budget. I also prefer to check out hardware before I buy it and tend to 'research' things to death. AMD is my processor of choice as well, so I too like to keep 'em cool. So far my AMD systems are running cooler than the Intel ones . . . so I must be doing something right (knock on wood) AND have been able to keep the costs down. Do you have a preferred PSU manufacturer?

Thanks again for the insight.

V.

Hi vvirtho,

I am afraid that I cannot really help you there, as we live some 8,000 miles apart. I would say go to the US website of the Processor and motherboard and see what they recommend.

Another ploy is to look at the specs, insides of good quality complete case units and see what they use? Also, do a google search for the product and see if there are a lot of "hate" sites. I remember doing that for "Packard Bell" a few years back....there were thousands of them!

A good rule of thumb that I always use when I am not sure about any item is pick the one that gives the longest warranty :) At least it shows that the manufacturer has confidence?

I also think that the less confident you are in something the more redundancy (excess capacity) you should try to build in? That way you will usually be putting less strain on it.

And remember......you can always drink champagne out of a beer bottle :D

Cheers

here's my list of recommended PSU makers.. I'll let you look them up online..

Antec ( TruePower series )
enermax
Levicom


It's best to have the best when it comes to power. Many of those cheap ones are just that, cheap. The amount of switcher noise from a power supply that doesn't have proper regulation or filtering WILL degrade the components it feeds..

I took a look around google and found a review that includes my three choices above..
Take a look, then you decide what's best for your components and your finances.. :D
http://www.nordichardware.com/reviews/PSU/2003/roundup/