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Suggestion needed

Forum CPU & Components : Power Supplies, PC Cases & Case Mods - Suggestion needed

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Hi all, my current PSU is slowly dying. It gets hoter and louder everyday. It's a crappy generic PSU that came with the case. Anyway, I'm considering changing it but I'm not sure what kind of power I need to make sure I don't overload the new one.

Here's my specs:
Nf7 mobo
Athlon XP 3200+
2x512 DDR 400 PC3200
1x 40 Gb Maxtor 7200
1x DVD Burner
4x case fans
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
Creative Audigy 2
Nothing overclocked

Thanks.

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Antec, Enermax, PC Power & Cooling or Fortron/Sparkle.

I'd go 400w or more.

Reply to etp777

Thanks. Also I wanted to know if it's possible that my bad PSU harmed some parts. I've been using my current PSU for a while now and 2 weeks ago it started to emit some strange sounds whenever the graphic card showed some complex 3D scenes. (Especially a big city in Sim City 4)

What could happen to my computer parts if I keep on using the PSU for a long time? (which I'm not gonna do) My system is stable for now.

Thanks again.

Reply to Vachu

A crappy PSU can definitely damage parts when it finally dies. It's unlikely it'll damage parts before then, unless voltages are way off.

I would suggest replacing it asap. The fortron/sparkle 350s are very cheap, and others aren't much more(well, you can spend almost $200 on a top of the line PC Power & cooling, but you don't need that much.

Reply to etp777

So are you suggesting that I shouldn't be using my computer as long as I don't get my new PSU? My system is stable for now so is it possible that my parts are damaged but still running? Because when I'm only browsing in Windows it doesn't make any strange sounds.

Thanks.

Reply to Vachu

It is possible to fry out other components when ps goes south. I would replace it with Antec True 480 watt, about $90, or equivalent, asap.
Plus, when it fries, could smoke and cause a fire, then you would be puterless till replacement.

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Reply to RichPLS

Quote :

Plus, when it fries, could smoke and cause a fire, then you would be puterless till replacement.

Someone needs to come up with a Jeff Foxworthy "redneck style" jokes for geeks.

You might be a true geek if.... you have a fire in your house and your main concern is how long you will be without a computer.

Sadly in a fire, I think I would grab my computer on the way out (Assuming it wasn't the fire)!

My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>
Overclocking Results: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc2.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc2.html</A>

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