Should I spend a few bucks?

[PWatterson]

My back-up rig consisting of:

AMD Athlon 1800XP
Some Gigabyte mobo
512mb ram
One hard drive
Two opticals
Four fans

is currently being powered by a 300w Bestec PSU (15 amps on +12v rail). Here (http://www.power-on.com/atx12vhp300bt.html) is the link to a similar one. Mine I guess is virtually the same except it has no SATA and is only 20 pin. Anyway, I got this thing from a friends old Emachines computer for a Delta fan. :D It works okay at the moment, but I would hate for it to go in the near future. Should I look for a cheap Antec/Sparkle/Fortron etc. to replace it, or is this Bestec thingie actually a good PSU?

[silent bob]

I would venture a guess in saying yes get a cheapo antec , but definately look for one that has teh 20+4 and maybe a vid card 6pin connector for future upgrade atleast its one component you dont have to rebuy .

[Oklahoma Wolf]

is this Bestec thingie actually a good PSU?

Let's put it this way... their competition includes Deer and Powmax. Utter junk - see if you can find a cheap single 12v FSP/Sparkle 300W for that rig instead. The old FSP300-60PN 120mm fan unit would do nicely. Try not to go with a dual 12v unit unless the board has a 12v connector for the CPU.

[Super Nade]

I have yet to see e-machines use a decent PSU. Dell's do use quality units. My lab has a few SPI, Delta and LiteON units in Dells.

[PWatterson]

So, would this unit be my best bet?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103485

* I notice there is the ATX 2.0 version of this unit, but it has dual +12v rails. The cost is nearly identical, so which one is best for me?

OR could I save a few bucks by going with this PSU?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103484

Edit: Perhaps a stupid question, but is there any disadvantage to powering a hard drive with a SATA adapter (molex -> SATA)?

[Oklahoma Wolf]

So, would this unit be my best bet?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103485

* I notice there is the ATX 2.0 version of this unit, but it has dual +12v rails. The cost is nearly identical, so which one is best for me?

Yep. Unless the motherboard has that 12v connector, you're better off with this one instead of the ATX 2.0 units. This one is also a little better built than that PowerQ model.

Unless the hard drive requires the 3.3v line, I don't see why it can't use a Molex to SATA adaptor.