Power Supply

[Aegis]

Ok I admit the people on this forum are quite convincing . So to prevent my new computer from an untimely end, I've decided to invest in a power supply. The ones I found:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817182024

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817182027

Based on my computer stats (http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=63488), which one should I get if I plan to overclock my Opteron to 2.4GHz?

Edited January 5, 2006 by Aegis

[nmX.Memnoch]

Neither. You shouldn't be looking at power supplies from anyone other than Antec, OCZ Technology, PC Power and Cooling or Thermaltake. Maybe even add Enermax to the list.

If you want to save yourself a little money and still get a quality power supply, look at this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817103937

[Vitalix]

I agree with Memnoch's list above. I also heard that Silverstone makes a good PSU, but have never owned one so can't say. One thing you may want to look for (mostly cosmetic) but if you have a window on your case, you probly want to get a PSU with braided lines (air flow and appearance), like this one. I have to admit, I was a little scared buying this PSU b/c it was under $100, but so far it's rocking my space-heater/Prescott 3.4GHz with two 250GB Seagates in a RAID1 and a X800XL AGP card. Runs Prime95 stable for 24+ hours and played through COD2, FEAR, and Far Cry (all at high settings) through a 5 hour marathon without a hiccup. No problems in 10 days at least. Fluctuation on rails is under 2% so far. It's branded TR, but it's really a Thermaltake. Got the Big Typhoon HSF on that rig, and let me tell, that thing is a MONSTER!

From experience, I can recommend without a doubt OCZ, Antec, and PC Power and Cooling (BIG bucks, really for high end CAD workstations and servers). I built a couple machines with this year with:

OCZ Powerstream 520W - AMD 4200+ X2, 7800GTX, two SATA drives RAID0 - rails solid

Antec Truepower 550W EPS - Dual xeon 3.0GHz @ 3.9GHz, Matrox RT200 + 256 Parhelia, 4 SATA drives in 2 arrays - rails solid

OCZ Powerstream 420W - AMD 3800+ X2, two 6600GTs, 2 SATA in RAID0 - rails solid.

I have PCP&C (850W) coming in for a workstation build (2 dual core opterons - not mine - I wish!), can't wait to check it out!

Edited January 5, 2006 by Vitalix

[jcarle]

I'd add Enermax to the list of reliable power supply makers. However, Enermax tends to be louder then Antec.

[Gouki]

Like posters above me have told you, I would also invest in a OCZ!

They are not too cheap, but eventually will pay up.

[nmX.Memnoch]

Agreed on both the Thermaltake and Enermax suggestions as well. I have a Dual PIII-S 1.4GHz system with 3 x 15K RPM SCSI drives and 3 x 7200RPM IDE drives with an Enermax 550W power supply. It's running without a problem.

To tell you what "cheap" PSUs can do...I have another system that's Dual Xeon 3.06GHz/1MB L3 running 8 x 7200RPM ATA100 drives, SCSI CD-ROM and SCSI tape drive. I originally picked up an Aspire 680W PSU trying to save a few bucks on an already expensive system. Turns out that PSU didn't have enough amperage to power up all of the drives, CPUs and addin cards at the same time. I found this out through some trial and error...disconnecting two of the hard drives would allow the system to boot just fine. I replaced the Aspire PSU with a Thermaltake 680W that has three 12V rails...voila! The system is now running perfectly.

Edited January 5, 2006 by nmX.Memnoch

[ripken204]

one of my friends just got the 500watt rosewill u posted, i told him to get the powerstream but hes on a vry tight budget.

definetly get the powerstream if you dont want any problems at all

[Aegis]

What does your friend think of it?

[ripken204]

well hes getting a new comp and everything should be getting to him tomorrow, so i cant say yet.

[Vitalix]

I know this sounds a little silly, but the good PSUs I have used have all been pretty heavy. All of the cheapies that come with most cases weigh about a pound. The Antecs, OCZs, Thermaltakes, etc all weight about 4-6 pounds.

I guess it's not a confirmation of quality, but that's one thing I have noticed about the higher end power supplies.

[jcarle]

I know this sounds a little silly, but the good PSUs I have used have all been pretty heavy. All of the cheapies that come with most cases weigh about a pound. The Antecs, OCZs, Thermaltakes, etc all weight about 4-6 pounds.

I guess it's not a confirmation of quality, but that's one thing I have noticed about the higher end power supplies.

Actually, it is. The heavier the power supply, the more components inside used to regulate power, and also, the better quality those components are. It's a very simple, unscientific way to know if a power supply is cheap or not. If it doesn't weight much, it ain't worth nothing.