Suggestions for PSUs on a college student's budget

[ianandris]

So, my computer has been having random instability issues when playing certain graphically intesive games (Far Cry, Civ 4, no probs with HL2, surprisingly..). I've tried your standard solutions (patches, updated vid drivers, etc), but, after reading tons of posts junk, I figure it has to be the power supply. Nothing else makes sense. The thing is, I'm not sure which power supply I should get, how much wattage would be sufficient, etc. I'm on a pretty tight budget (poor college student), so I'd like to stay within 50 dollars. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. So far, these are looking most promising :http://www.buildtoorderservers.com/ProductCart/pc/viewCat_P.asp?idCategory=76
but I don't know if they'd work with my motherboard. They seem to be specific to P4s. Anyways, I appreciate your consideration.

[Know Nuttin]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954

I'd recommend you get that. It will work fine.

[ianandris]

would a 400w power supply work? Do I need the extra 50 watts?

[ckj]

At stock, as long as it's name brand. The thing about powersupplies is wattage just isn't that important. What's really important is the amperage on the rails (you want lots on the 12v) and name brand. The fortron Know Nuttin linked is a great name brand with the all the amperage you need on the dual 12v rails.

If the 450w is still over budget, I'd look into http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103516. That's the minimum I would reccomend, since I'm sure you still want a quality supply in your system. Anything else may work fine, but then again, it may not.

[R4z0r4mu5 Pr|m3]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104953

400w fortron $39.99 shipped free

[Oklahoma Wolf]

would a 400w power supply work? Do I need the extra 50 watts?

Actually that one is a 400w PSU - the model number is marketing influenced ;)

Nitpicking aside, you usually can find this and the AX400-PN 350w unit for cheaper - just look for the ATX400-PN/PA and ATX350-PN/PA. The difference between the PN and PA versions is the fan - PA is 80mm and PN is 120mm.

And welcome to the forums!