Dying power supply I need advice!

[franchise]

I've had an Ultra X-finity 600w PSU for 3 years now, it has served me well but i'm afraid i've pushed it too far and its starting to go on the fritz.


when i bought the PSU I had an Asus P5ND32-SLI Plus, Pentium D 940, 2 x 1GB ddr2 800mhz ram 2x 250GB WD SATA II hard drives and a 7900GT 256MB. All in an old blue Chieftec case with a bunch of blue LED 80mm fans

The 600W was plenty of power and it did the job.

this past christmas I got a nice load of upgrades,

out with the Pentium 940 -> in with the Q6600
out with the 7900gt -> in with 2 x XFX alpha dog 8800GT 512mb (G92) in SLI
Added 2 x 2GB DDR2 800MHZ
Added 2 x 1TB Hitachi SATA II 32mb buffer
3.5" multi cardreader
moved it all to a new Antec 900 case

What I need to know is have I really pushed the power consumption too far and burnt it out, or is the PSU possibly just dying of age now that it is 3 years old?
selecting a new one I'm having trouble deciding on what to get and how many watts I really need
I'm having conflicting answers when i enter my data into various PSU calculators, one told me i only need 431w another told me I need 800w?

the CPU swap shouldnt change since the 940 and the Q6600 both are TDP 95watts
the original psu was rated for SLI, when i bought it i planned on adding a second 7900gt later
anyone know the wattage difference that a 7900gt to a 8800gt would be?
when that PSU was SLI certified 3 years ago there were no such things as 3way SLI and the 8'series didnt exist yet, so maybe the test standards were lower than today?
the ram maybe added 10w a stick (correct me if im way off on that)?
does HDD capacity matter for wattage? the platter density is higher so there should actually be less arms in the HDDs
the card reader is a glorified USB device so what can that add? 5-15w
the case change takes me from all 80mm fans to a bunch of 120mm fans and that monster 250mm fan on top, do bigger fans draw alot more power?

what should I look for to replace my dying PSU, don't just shout brand names, tell me what actually matters or paste links. almost all brands make good PSUs and cheap crap PSUs.
single/dual/triple/quad 12v rails,
highest combined 12v Amps?
highest amps per rail?
I'm also looking for something that is pretty quiet, and with an antec 900 in SLI should I avoid top of PSU fans? will the bottom GPU fight for air with the PSU fan if i do?
I'm also trying to stay under $100, is that reasonable to get a good PSU that will last me and be reasonably quiet?

Ok sorry for all the rambling, now i'll let someone else write something...

 

[theAnimal]

What I need to know is have I really pushed the power consumption too far and burnt it out, or is the PSU possibly just dying of age now that it is 3 years old?

I would say you're pushing it due to a combination of age and heat (your PSU is likely rated at 25C and will not be able to provide the rated power at higher temps).

the CPU swap shouldnt change since the 940 and the Q6600 both are TDP 95watts

The TDP only gives a rough estimate of the power consumption.

anyone know the wattage difference that a 7900gt to a 8800gt would be?

30-40W

when that PSU was SLI certified 3 years ago there were no such things as 3way SLI and the 8'series didnt exist yet, so maybe the test standards were lower than today?

SLI certified does not mean it will run any 2 cards, but it should be able to handle any cards for which it has the proper PCIe connectors.

does HDD capacity matter for wattage? the platter density is higher so there should actually be less arms in the HDDs

The number and physical size of the platters, as well as rotational speed would matter most.

the case change takes me from all 80mm fans to a bunch of 120mm fans and that monster 250mm fan on top, do bigger fans draw alot more power?

Shouldn't make much difference since they run at lower RPM.

what should I look for to replace my dying PSU, don't just shout brand names, tell me what actually matters or paste links. almost all brands make good PSUs and cheap crap PSUs.
single/dual/triple/quad 12v rails,
highest combined 12v Amps?
highest amps per rail?

The main things to look for are quality (based on proper reviews), a large percentage of the total power available on the 12V rails, and necessary PCIe connectors.

I'm also looking for something that is pretty quiet, and with an antec 900 in SLI should I avoid top of PSU fans? will the bottom GPU fight for air with the PSU fan if i do?

Those top of PSU fans are usually bottom of PSU fans, and with a properly designed case there would be an intake below the PSU. In the 900, you will be taking air from the inside of the case regardless of the placement of the fan in the PSU.

I'm also trying to stay under $100, is that reasonable to get a good PSU that will last me and be reasonably quiet?

I would recommend Corsair VX550, BFG LS-550, Seasonic S12II or M12II 500.

 

[franchise]

Thanks alot Theanimal, I appreciate you reading all that.

alot of what you responded with was along the lines i was already thinking, but its good to get a second opinion.

While the corsair,BFG, and Seasonic are all good quality in my mind and seem to be in the price range im looking for, they are 500-550w rated?

I know that a 550 constant can actually be much more power than a 600w+ peak but should I go with something as low as 550? I usually try as a rule to always go bigger than I need for future use.

I've heard good things about corsair's VX series, what can be said of their others? HX, TX...

I'm actually finding a few Corsair TX750 supplys on sale under $100 Is it worth it or should I stick to VX

 

[JohnnyLucky]

There are technical reviews of Corsair HX, TX, and VX power supplies over at jonnyguru.com:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Review_Cat&recatnum=13

 

[franchise]

Thanks, I think i'd feel most comfortable going for at least 700w, and in my price range(i said <$100 but i'll sit right around $100 for nice quality) i'm looking at the Corsair TX750w as my favorite, but i'm also considering PC power and cooling Silencer 750watt redpower, i've heard good things about the brand, and they are well priced.

I have a black component/blue LED theme going in my case and both of these PSU's kinda 'f up all of my colors the PC p&C is bright Red and the Corsair has bright orange Lettering down the side

I'm seeing a few other power supplys OCZ GameXtreme 700/850w and Coolmax whatever they call it that suite my colors, but I fear coolmax is the same company as Raidmax/Diablotek(which is a piece of crap I'll never buy again) And I really don't know all that much about OCZ pSUs

I'm not sure that my color scheme is worth sacrificing quality

 

[JohnnyLucky]

I never though I would see the day that a color scheme would influence a power supply purchase.

If you would like basic black, then you have another option. The Antec Truepower New 750 watt power supply is a very good psu and it is partially modular. Here is a link to the technical review over at jonnyguru.com:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=140

 

[franchise]

eh well i don't think its going to stop me from getting the corsair TX750 but when you have an all black case, 2 gfx cards with black XFX metal rails facing out and every fan in the machine is a blue LED fan, I can't just throw in a giant bright red brick next to the windowed side like the PC power and cooling silencer 750, I notice they do offer a black and a copper version though. The antec looks nice, but i can't find it for sale in any of the more reputable sellers? can't get an idea on price

 

[JohnnyLucky]

You're right. Wound up using Google to find prices and vendors:

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=Antec+Truepower+New+750&scoring=r

EDIT - OK! There we go - sorted byt relevance.

 

[DaveF1953]

Just change supplies before you run into real trouble

 

[wuzy]

Describe the symptoms you're experiencing which you think is from a dying PSU.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

DaveF1953 & wuzy - This thread is just about a month old. The original poster is long gone.

 

[franchise]

c'mon I'm still around,

hahahaha I've been busy installing my Corsair 750tx and cutting holes in my 900
oh but i think Wuzy was onto something asking my symptoms I may not have have a dying PSU, because i'm still having occasional problems. It doesnt seem to be as bad but occasionally my computer won't start, all my lights and fans come on, but no monitor signal, no laserlight on the mouse(usb) and no num/key/scroll lock button lights working on the keyboard(also USB)

On the corsair- A+ i love it its sooo much quieter than the ultra x finity, that old psu was louder than my dehumidifier on high.

on my computer problem- ???? repeated powering on/off eventually gets it to start and all is well. It seems that once it does start it can stay on for days no problem. the problem usually happens before i get to the splash screen and sometimes during it. I first noticed the problem about a month after upgrading so that made me think of the psu then i ran the numbers and it looked like i was pushing it. the PSU must have been running near max and running at full fan speed hence the noise level being just short of a jet taking off.

The PSU swap seems to have reduced the frequency of my problems, but they arent gone. Before the swap i had BSOD periodically when gaming on top of the booting issue.

I'm thinking Mobo next? I'm eyeing an XFX 750i if i can't find a different fix soon

 

[wuzy]

That's because I already knew your PSU was fine and have personally never seen a PSU causing BSOD in all those years. Usually when I PSU goes off, they go off big.

on my computer problem- ???? repeated powering on/off eventually gets it to start and all is well. It seems that once it does start it can stay on for days no problem. the problem usually happens before i get to the splash screen and sometimes during it. I first noticed the problem about a month after upgrading so that made me think of the psu then i ran the numbers and it looked like i was pushing it. the PSU must have been running near max and running at full fan speed hence the noise level being just short of a jet taking off.

Never seen faulty RAM doing that, but I have seen motherboards with exact symptoms as yours. In my case the P5K-E I have here only likes to cold boot and have also seen an abit IP35 Pro doing that as well. Co-incidentally both those boards have been used for sub-zero benchmarking.... *shrugs*

If you're considering replacing the motherboard, do yourself a favor and steer clear from nVidia chipsets except 790i (which uses DDR3). Good P45 boards like Gigabyte EP45-UD3P(favored by most tweakers atm) are cheap to buy now.

 

[franchise]

Wuzy, thanks, but no thanks on the P45, unless you can show me one that can do SLI with the 2 8800gt's that I already have. I'm not interested in DDR3 I already have 6GB of ddr2 that I'm happy with. In troubleshooting i've swapped Ram, HDD, gfx cards, optical drives and now i've replaced the PSU, It sorta only leaves the Q6600 or the Asus mobo. I was already hunching that it was the mobo so I guess thats all thats left. Unusually after i swapped PSUs I stopped getting BSOD. i know its weird but i havent had one since.

I've always thought of Asus as one of the best mobo manufacturers, until I bought one I got the P5N32- SLI Deluxe in the Summer of 2006, it died in dec 2007 after 2 months of crappy tech support and the worst RMA process I've ever dealt with they sent me a remanufactured replacement. It was DOA, then 2 more months went by before they got me another board, this time it was a new P5N32-E SLI plus. I've had it since spring 2008. I was happy they gave me the "plus" model because it had added support for the Q6600, but now it seems its failing just in time to run my 3 year warranty out. I understand your concern for the chipsets, and I would probably blame my chipset for the crummy quality, but i wouldnt diss on all nvidia chipsets, I blame asus for doing the screwy hodge podge of nforce and 650i they frankenstiened together to make their P5n32 sli series. It isnt a true "nvidia" reference chipset and I think asus didnt do a good job on quality control when they created it. Its funny that the $40 PCchips board from my first computer I built in 2003 is still running 6 years and 3 asus boards later. I guess asus reeled me in with their expansive features...

I've been waiting for years for intel to start making SLI capable boards I hate to be a fanboy, but I will NEVER buy another ATI card they do not mix well with architecture programs and 3dsmax drivers in their defense I was happy with the ATI i had for gaming and multimedia, but I wouldnt touch it with a 10 foot pole when its time to do CAD, so SLI is my preference I don't want to start a flame war, its just not suitable for what I need a computer to do.

damn i wrote alot, sorry guys i'm too wordy here