Help w/ Buying a Power Supply

[ginakra]

Hello

I need to buy a new power supply for my husband's computer, and I'm not sure what to get. We'd need a 350w - 400w, but do I just buy any Enermax, Antec, etc? I mean, do I need to know anything except "I want a 350w Antec." and go buy it at newegg, or is there some other spec I need to know?

I picked out all the components for the computer over a year ago, and the PS came with the case, so I don't know anything about replacing a PS I don't wanna miss anything when I go to buy one.

The innards are:

ASUS P4P800-E DELUXE Socket 478 Intel 865PE ATX Intel Motherboard ATI RADEON 9800PRO 128M DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card
Intel Pentium 4 2.8C Northwood 800MHz FSB Socket 478
Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS

Also, there's a lot of brands out there, and I know everyone has their favorites, but is there any certain brand I should definitely steer clear of?

Any guidance is welcome,
Gina

 

[Rob423]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153006



try out this thermaltake, reviews are excellent and so is the service and price from NEWEGG!!

 

[Coyote]

I like Enermax and Fortron. I'd prolly get a Fortron if buying now.

Since he's got a 9800pro card in there, which requires a power connector, get at least 18 amps on the 12v rail.

 

[ginakra]

Crap. I just went out to Circuit City (hubs can't turn on his computer=grumpy) and picked up an Antec 400w Smartpower 2. This has got max 14A on the +12v1, max 15A on the +12V2.

Is this not enough? His old one is:

+3.3V, 28A
+5V, 38A
+12V, 17A
-12V, 0.8A
-5V, 0.5A
+5Bsb, 2A

Brand APower. Never heard of them, is a 500w ps, I asked for them to put in a higher one when I dropped off the components because a 300w was in the case.

The new Antec is (maxmums):

+5, 28A
+12V1, 14A
+12V2, 15A
+3.3, 30A
-12V, .03A
+5Vsb, 2A

This is greek to me. 8O :tongue:

Do I gotta go back to the store? lol

 

[fishmahn]

That's perfect - since it has 2 12v lines it's normal that its not 18 each. They'll share the load fine.

Mike.

 

[ginakra]

Hm, looking at the differences in the Amps, obviously the 500w has a bit more. Do you guys think the 430 will be enough, or should I go get another 500w? Along with the hardware in the first post, he just has a normal DVD-RW drive, DVD-ROM drive and floppy drive and a western Digital 120GB. He plays alot of games, right now he's playing Call of Duty 2. There's a small amount of lights in the case. The computer has been *very* stable with the 500w.

Also, on a scale of 1-10, how difficult is replacing a power supply? Should I attempt this myself or take it to the Mom&Pop?

I've replaced hard drives, DVD-RW drives, memory sticks, etc, but never a power supply. What is the potential of frying everything? lol.

 

[fishmahn]

The 430 is probably able to provide as much or more stable power than the old 500w did since it came with a case - usually case-supplied PSUs are cruddy. There's nothing significant on that system and it doens't look like you're an overclocker, so I'd think the 430 would be fine.

Since you've screwed/unscrewed things and hooked/unhooked power leads, that's all that you'll do to replace the PSU (just unplugging everything in the case at once...), you should be fine.

Mike.