Just before I buy a generic 520W PSU

[ytoledano]

I'm just about to buy a 520W PSU (holding credit card) for 36$ (shipping is 8.5$) for a P4 2.4 OC to 3.0 with 2HDs, burner and 4 case fans and I was wondering if it's adequate, or should I but the 550W one for 45$ or is it overkill and I should get the 480W one for 25$. I can also get a brand name Thermaltake 300W PSU for 45$ and for 53$ with "Power Factor Correction" (whatever that is), Antec 300W is 71$ and that seems to get expensive.
Which one should I take?

Got a nice overclocked overvolted system to keep you warm at night? That's great. Guess I'll have to settle for a woman...

 

[randy66]

are there any Fortron Source supplies avail.
cant beat them for power / price / Quality
you may want to consider their 350-400w units
probably just as good/better than tose listed

 

[JP5]

Those prices stink. I would get Antec, hope 300W is enough.

 

[HardWareBoss]

Antec sells the True Power 430W for $71 US.

 

[ytoledano]

That's a good deal but I don't live anywhere near the US.

Got a nice overclocked overvolted system to keep you warm at night? That's great. Guess I'll have to settle for a woman...

 

[afterdark]

You'll be fine with a generic power supply.

Even if it won't really be 520W it will still be enough for your purposes. I've never spend over 30 dollars on a power supply, even for extreme gaming systems.

On the computer I'm using now, I've got a Athlon 2800, two 7200RPM hard drives, two case fans, tons of lighting, a Radeon 9700 Pro, and CD-RW/DVD-ROM drives. I'm running it off a generic 400W power supply I got for 15 bucks.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by afterdark on 01/16/04 04:50 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[HardWareBoss]

How long do you think that will last?

 

[afterdark]

Well, one generic power supply in an old thunderbird system has lasted two years.

The one in this computer has been working for over a year.

And another one in a new box is a baby at only one month old.

I keep my computers on 24/7.

Trust me, paying for labels is stupid. Just get a generic power supply.

 

[HardWareBoss]

Wow that good. Have you tried Fortron?

 

[RobD]

Trust me, paying for labels is stupid. Just get a generic power supply

No, it's not stupid at all. Why would you think that? As for getting a generic, the problem there is that you don't know what you're getting. Could be made by anybody and have piss poor output. For a few extra $$$ he may as well get a Fortron, at least this way he's guaranteed that the PSU will deliver exactly what it's supposed to, unlike the vast majority of generics.

<font color=blue>"Look, I know it's old-fashioned, but I'm from the school that believes if God intended us to fly, he wouldn't have invented Spanish air traffic control" - Dave Lister</font color=blue>

 

[datarush]

It should matter just how important system reliability is. If its a home PC for browsing and some gaming, something like an Achieve, Raidmax or L&C PS is adequate. If its for an accounting business where failure costs $$$ then go with the odds and get an Antec True or a Fortron. Any PS can fail no matter what label is on it. I've had expensive PS fail. Typically the higher quality PS cool more efficiently and use quieter fans. I've yanked loud fans out of cheap power supplies and replaced them with temperature sensitive fans to quiet them down. I think the Fortrons with 120mm fans are the kewlest while the Antec Trues have fan speed control that can really quiet down a stock, not overclocked system.

 

[ironmike]

ytoledano you helped me out in the CPU section , i thought my cpu might be dead and you said to check the hard drive . After two hard drives ( weird both dead ) i tried the drive in my other machine . Yep you was right , it was the hard drive . Now it's my turn to help you . I listened to Crashman and bought a 530 fortron . I am in love with it , voltage don't vary , stays dead on . Overclocks like a champ . Try for a Fortron . Not that much more . Don't know where you live , and they make for other brands . Sparkle is one and Crash knows others . All the generics i had did not compare.

The man of steel said that

 

[ytoledano]

They don't offer Fortrons where I bought from and it's not worth buying it from Newegg, having it shipped to a relative at the States and then having my dad bring it in a month while the computer is at paper-weight status, so I just bought a 520W generic, which was really cheap, had 2 fans and now my voltages have improved a lot (before they were a lot below stock, now they're a bit higher). I thought this would help me keep my Vcore while under load over 1.44 which I feel is really low, but it didn't so I'm pretty sure it's either the mobo or I'm getting a bad reading. (Probably a bad reading because I don't think my P4 2.4 OC to 3.0 could stay stable while under load with only 1.44)

Got a nice overclocked overvolted system to keep you warm at night? That's great. Guess I'll have to settle for a woman...

 

[jammydodger]

I know my old motherboard (Abit SR7-8x) deliberatly lowered the voltage suplied to the CPU to 1.45v, I cant for the life of me tell you why though. That kinda overclock might be possible without a voltage increase, if it is you've got a great CPU there. My P4 2.4 wont do over 2.7!

[Insert witty comment here]

 

[ytoledano]

3000 MHZ isn't the limit of my processor but of my board which I understand has a problem going beyond 255 at 5:4 mode. I've already ordered 2*512 OCZ PC4200 RAM, can't wait for it to arrive, then I'll tell you how far I can go on low voltage (even Intel bumps up the 3.0 and 3.2GHZ processors' voltage to 1.550 from 1.525).

Got a nice overclocked overvolted system to keep you warm at night? That's great. Guess I'll have to settle for a woman...

 

[Johanthegnarler]

THis is an old post, but a problem that has occured in a family members computer shows how you have to be weary of a generic Powersupply.

2.6c running with vcore at 1.7 becuase at stock it can't put out 1.575.
So this thing is scoring 10k on benchmarks with a 9800pro, not to mention the readings are nonstop moving.
That is as well a 420W PS.
So, although you may get lucky it sucks being in his position specially becuase he's broke.
He now has a state of the art pentium system that is scoring lower than a 1800duron or even a 2.4b.

<A HREF="http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=610166081" target="_new">http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=610166081</A>
Figured i'd do it too..reality my ass.