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psu advice

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flaSh1018

Registered
Joined
Jul 2, 2005
im looking for a decent sub-$50 psu, any suggestions? i see alot of good psu's mentioned on these forums, but they are all pretty expensive, as in more than $70, but is it worth it for me? i don't plan on overclocking..

the system it would potentially be for is an amd athlon 3500+, and most likely the video card will be an ati radeon x800xl

also, what specifications should i look out for when i choose a psu?

for example, is this a quality psu? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153006#DetailSpecs

thanks! :)
 
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from personal experience i wouldnt go with thermaltake and alot of people here will recommend AGAINST a thermaltake product, PSU or not.

i hear raidmax or coolmax, or enermax i cant remember the exact name right now, but you should find it on newegg.....
 
Okay, first of all, don't get the 3500+ - it isn't necessary as you only get a multiplier of 11 compared to the 10 of the 3200+ when both can pretty much reach the same speed. You are kinda in a weird place (ocforums) and don't play on overclocking, but besides that you still need a good psu for your system (one that will cost more than $50). The power supply is arguably the MOST important piece of equipment in your pc, and getting a cheap one is like putting bottom shelf transmission fluid or something else like that and risking your entire system (as if it fails it can destroy your entire computer). Lesson to be learned: don't get a cheap power supply, they are an investment for your pc.

For a cheap solution look at the Fortron (FSP Group) AX-500, it is a 460W power supply that should be able to power your computer quite well, it can be bought for about $72 from ewiz.com
 
Stick with the top brands, such as: Fortron, PCP&C, Antec, Enermax, OCZ, sparkle, and a few others. Make sure there are enough amps on the 12V rail. Older models lack enough amps on the 12V, but have enough on the other rails.

The board loves Fortron, the AX-500 is the latest, but is a little out of your budget. This one isn't though if you don't include shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954
 
the one you pointed out Bios24 doesn't look too bad, although I am guessing that is isn't 450W either (as the AX500 is really 460W).
 
If you're going to buy such high end parts why would you skimp on the powersupply? You're just shooting yourself in the foot because a bad powersupply tends to take other things with it when it dies. Get a 3200+ and get a good powersupply like the ax-500.
 
how likely is it that a $50 psu (from one of the brands u guys mention) would die anyway?

take for example, would the fortron bios24 picked be that much worse than the fortron ax-500? and yes, i realize its only a $20 difference, but it adds up you know.. :)

btw, i choose to post on this board because the people seem pretty knowledgeable..

thanks
 
flaSh1018 said:
take for example, would the fortron bios24 picked be that much worse than the fortron ax-500? and yes, i realize its only a $20 difference, but it adds up you know.. :)

At the moment, my theory is that the AX450-PN is the older Blue Storm 400w with a PCI-E connector. Certainly, it is no 450w unit - their own spec sheet disproves that. They're playing the same marketing game they are with the 460w unit (AX500-A), except on these the 12v rails are specified at their peak levels.

Should be a good unit as long as one bears in mind the specs from the FSP400-60THN, but overclocking may suffer. ATM, I would not buy the AX400-PN or AX450-PN myself - I don't want Fortron to keep up this kind of marketing, so I won't buy the models that use it.

The AX500-A is different in that they don't rate them using peak numbers - they're on the label, but the real 12v output is there too for all to see (15A+15A).
 
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