$20 580w PSU? what the heck?

[Chronobodi]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709011&cm_re=psu-_-17-709-011-_-Product

why is this PSU 580w for so low a price?

 

[delluser1]

^+1

 

[saaiello]

Yea the problem is it might be 580 watts but all the power is in the wrong spot +3.3V@30A,+5V@36A,+12V@25A it only has 25 amps to the 12 volt and all modern computers need more 12 volt power. Back in the day the bulk of the system was powered by 3.3 and the 5 volt rails but its not the case any more.

 

[shovenose]

it will only last like a week and it cant power any good cpu or gpu!

 

[saaiello]

it will only last like a week and it cant power any good cpu or gpu!

I would be willing to say it would last quite some time if it wasn't stressed if it was only powering a system with say integrated graphics or a very low powered card it would probably be ok but you hook up a high end GPU to it yea it wont last a day.

 

[shovenose]

like a p4 or sthlon xp?

 

[FALC0N]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709011&cm_re=psu-_-17-709-011-_-Product

why is this PSU 580w for so low a price?

Because if you tested it, you would be lucky to get 300 watts out of it.

 

[saaiello]

like a p4 or sthlon xp?

For intel its more like the PIII days for AMD I cant remeber when they started useing 12 volt to power the CPU I think it was the Athlon XP.

 

[saaiello]

Because if you tested it, you would be lucky to get 300 watts out of it.

Well it depends on what volt you are testing like I said before the power is all in the wrong place so it might actually be able to produce that wattage just not where its needed and that is why it is so cheap because it is useless with modern computers.

 

[FALC0N]

Well it depends on what volt you are testing like I said before the power is all in the wrong place so it might actually be able to produce that wattage just not where its needed and that is why it is so cheap because it is useless with modern computers.

Its 20 bucks. You really think it can kick out 580 watts on ANY rail? I'm not betting my money on it.

 

[shovenose]

sorry i pretty much agree with the above post

 

[saaiello]

Its 20 bucks. You really think it can kick out 580 watts on ANY rail? I'm not betting my money on it.

No I wouldn't bet money on it or anything but it might be able to come close to it SunBeam usually aren't as bad as the others. Dont get me wrong they suck but that PSU is just made on an older style of PSU. I guess you forget or you just to young to know when computers barely used 12 volts for anything.

 

[shovenose]

since i started with copmuters they have always used 12v for everything. the few p3,2, and 1s i have dealt with i never looked at the power supplies

 

[JDFan]

since i started with copmuters they have always used 12v for everything. the few p3,2, and 1s i have dealt with i never looked at the power supplies

And they've probably had autodetect for the CPU timings and various voltages as well then instead of sets of jumper switches that had to be set for each component to get everything working.!! (Figure the older 20 pin MOBO connectors only had a single +12V line which is why they moved to the 24 pin connectors when the +12V usage increased.)

 

[shovenose]

i came across a dell xps d333 (333mhz p2) i put in a 450mhz p2, and it only showed up as a 300mhz. why? i got rid of it, i just dont get why!

 

[JDFan]

i came across a dell xps d333 (333mhz p2) i put in a 450mhz p2, and it only showed up as a 300mhz. why? i got rid of it, i just dont get why!

THere was probably a set of jumpers on the MOBO that needed to be setup to tell the MOBO what speed to run the CPU (older setups had to be manually adjusted each time you changed a part to tell the system what speed and voltage to supply to the various components and if the jumpers were set to run at 300mhz. it would run at 300mhz. no matter what CPU you put in it until you adjusted the setting (so it took a bit more knowledge to make adjustments and keep things running properly)

 

[exela]

It must be a crappy PSU witch would probably get burned in a few months

 

[logan the huge]

low? its probably over priced

+1.

No one should buy a PSU with fake regulatory approvals at any time for any price.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

That model is a very old design that I haven't seen in quite a while. It was designed years ago for much older systems that we do not normally see in this day and age. In fact it goes back to the days when the +12 volt rail did not power much of anything and there was no active PFC (that's why the red voltage selector is on the back of the unit). There's probably someone, somewhere who might want it as a replacement. I'm surprised that newegg has any in stock. Users usually have to go search vendors that specialize in older pc parts.

That model is in no way, shape, or form designed for modern systems. Don't even think about using it for a modern system. The power distribution is completely different than modern psu's and modern pc systems. In addition, it doesn't even have a PCI-e power cable and only one SATA power cable. On the other hand it does have a floppy disk power cable.

There is enough information in the product specifications, data label, and photos to clearly indicate it is not a modern power supply for modern systems.

 

[ronss]

i would not touch it with a 10 ft pole...efficiency is probably bad, rated at peak power more than likely...its cheap because its a skelton unit,,they get the price down by not including parts that you see in higher priced psu,s units

 

[saaiello]

That model is a very old design that I haven't seen in quite a while. It was designed years ago for much older systems that we do not normally see in this day and age. In fact it goes back to the days when the +12 volt rail did not power much of anything and there was no active PFC (that's why the red voltage selector is on the back of the unit). There's probably someone, somewhere who might want it as a replacement. I'm surprised that newegg has any in stock. Users usually have to go search vendors that specialize in older pc parts.

That model is in no way, shape, or form designed for modern systems. Don't even think about using it for a modern system. The power distribution is completely different than modern psu's and modern pc systems. In addition, it doesn't even have a PCI-e power cable and only one SATA power cable. On the other hand it does have a floppy disk power cable.

There is enough information in the product specifications, data label, and photos to clearly indicate it is not a modern power supply for modern systems.

That is what I was trying to tell them Johonny they thanks for backing me up on that.

 

[FALC0N]

I understood the design difference. I just don't trust $20 PSU of any stripe. Certainly not one that claims 580 watts. My experience suggests that more realistically rated units in that price range perform much better.

 

[FALC0N]

And they've probably had autodetect for the CPU timings and various voltages as well then instead of sets of jumper switches that had to be set for each component to get everything working.!! (Figure the older 20 pin MOBO connectors only had a single +12V line which is why they moved to the 24 pin connectors when the +12V usage increased.)

It was actually the other way around. 24 pin wasn't brought in because 12 volt usage increased. The extra 4 pins were part of the design change that led to the increase in 12v usage.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Falcon - Actually, really old components can be had for low prices at liquidators and jobbers. There's very little demand for them.

BTW - I haven't checked lately but the last time I looked the really old 286 cpu's (ancient history) could be had for $2.00 each but you had to buy them in lots of 144 cpu's.

 

[FALC0N]

This isn't some antiquated leftover JohnnyLucky. Take a closer look.

Its still listed on their site and its 24 pin, so it cant be that old. Its also claiming 25 amps on the 12 volt. Thats a lot for pre-ATX 2 unit.

This is classic cost cutting move. Take an old design, stick a 24 pin connector on it, overrate it, and call it a day.