power supply recommendations

  • Thread starter Thread starter montage
  • Start date Start date
montage

montage

New member
It's looking like I'll have to get a new power supply for the PC. (Pent4, 2 harddrives, 1DVD). So far I'm looking at an Ultra 600w (up from a cheap 250w). The one thing I'd really like to find out is do they all share the same physical dimensions? Any other recommendations and things to consider would be helpful as well.
Thanks
 
600w is probably too much for your setup. 400w would do. Go as noiseless as you can, you'll not regret it. Buy brand name. Any standard ATX powersuppy should fit your box without problems.
 
All ATX power supplies are the exact same size and vary from 1,000 watts down. I've built over a hundred PCs dating back about 18 years and I have had only one power supply fail. I rarely use the good stuff in the boxes I build... my customers are too cheap.

Because of SLI and SATA drives things have gotten quite a bit more confusing and you really need to pay attention to what you need and what the power supply provides. If you are going to have four SATA drives, well, you damn well better have four SATA power connectors (though in the interest of complete disclosure some SATA drives come with a conventional power supply connector in addition to the SATA connector... the last WD I bought did that). Likewise SLI support.

Modular power supplies (you only plug in the power connectors you need) are cool, but don't go and dismiss a power supply because it's old school.

Generally speaking, given what you are going to be running, a 400 watt supply should be fine... though if you want to error on the side of caution go with a 480 or 500 watt.

A lot of manufacturers try hard to make their supply's quiet, but don't go and dismiss the importance of a case in making a quiet power supply a reality. The high end Lian Li cases and the Antec P180 compartmentalize the power supply to keep it cooler and quieter.

Luck.
 
I've built over a hundred PCs dating back about 18 years and I have had only one power supply fail.
Click to expand...

Your lucky. I replace power supplies in the machines at work all the time. The Antecs are the worst POS supplies in the world. I would say out of 60 workstations that were installed in 2002 70% have had their PSU's fail by now.

I have been running a seasonic 600w in my production machine and it's wonderfully quiet and stable. Look for something that is backed up by a solid warrenty, dont buy cheap
 
Thanks for the responses and links so far. The one thing frustrating so far are reading reviews; some praise a model's quietness and yet others damn them for noise. I don't expect it to be silent by any means, I can live with a little bit o' noise, I just don't want an airplane idling in my left ear.
Again, thanks for your thoughts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top