Buying a new power supply

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Ok, so I was thinking my bloody sound problem link comes from the power supply since the thing is 5 years old, and when I unpluged one of the cards in a PCI slot, the sound was tuned down a little bit (but still annoying). So my question is; how the hell can I determine the Voltage and Amperage I need without frying the bloody computer but without having the sound problem?

 

There are calculators on the net but for an average gaming pc whit a medium GPU and a one or two pci slots used a 380/450 is enough in most cases. Whit high end GPU you go to 500 whit crossfire or sli to 600 or higher. Always go for one whit a 80 plus label. Some of the next gen ones even have 80plus bronze, silver or gold labels.

I do not get the voltages and amperes question. A Powers supply unit gives out several different currents beside the 12 volt. Cheaper ones have more power on the less used voltages making them less powerfull at the vital 12 volt lines but cheaper to make. That or a fault might be the reason of the sound it makes.

Top brands: Seasonic, Zalman, Antec, Coolermaster, Be quit, Tagan.

 

Corsairs are good too, and OCZ aren't bad, either. If you're buying only the PSU, I recommend skipping a round of beer or a cinema trip and putting that money in getting a one notch higher wattage PSU or a better brand of the same wattage. But I wouldn't be quick to blame stuff on the PSU unless it's really low power for your PC.

 

I agree, use one of the web calculators.

As for brands, I am sympathetic towards OCZ. Generally, take care your power supply is of the plug-in type. Iirc OCZ's PSUs do have that. The idea is that it allows you to plug in the cables as needed. Make sure it that has enough connectors for all the devices you want to run (graphics cards in particular). This type of PSU is also easier to mount in your case, and you won't have the traditional 'cable salad'.

I am happy with my PSU, a Thermaltake Toughpower 700W. It does not have this feature, but it is quiet (140mm fan) and efficient (iirc 85%). The reason I wrote the above is that I bought it with the thought in mind to, at some later time, run two ATI 4870s in it. Well, I don't have enough power connectors for that, so this ain't gonna happen with this PSU. Well, worse things have happened.

 

Another thing to consider are the voltage rails. A 500W PSU divides that 500W between several different rails....so if you have *everything* connected to a single rail, you're going to overload that rail while the others are wasted. This severely reduces the lifespan of a PSU. Always remember to give each power hungry component (like a high end GPU) its own rail (i.e. don't plug in 2 Molex to 6-pin PCIe connectors on the same rail).

Also, PSUs get hot and need to breathe...if the internal heatsinks, coils, caps, etc. are chocked with dust, the fan inside isn't going to help much, so take a bottle of "caned air" to it regularly.

 

Even a vacuum cleaner goes a long way.

BTW, thanks for the tip about the rails. Didn't think of that. Most of the new PSU's have a 6-pin rail right there without needing a converter, but this isn't true about the old ones. I may have one such in the house.

 

As far as brands go - FSP Group, Nexus, Antec. Get 80plus.

500w/450w should suffice - list your components and we have plenty more of knowledge. Or use one of them web-based calculators.

 

If you live state side and their is an Office Max in your area you can pick up a 500W Antec Basiq for around $50; this is a good buy because it typically sells for $65 online.

 

Wow...Office Max had a deal? Never thought I'd see thet day. Felix lives in Canada though, so that's not much help to him...

 

Yeah I was surprised too. He may want to review newegg or tigerdirect. Hopefully one of them can ship locally to him.

 

I'll pretend to know what a " rail " is or " Molex 6-pin". Seriously, what?

 

Here:

PSU Rail

Molex (male) connector

Molex (female) connector

Molex to 6-Pin PCIe connector


That should get you up to speed.