Power Supplies; Too much power?

kyrzon · Dec 28, 2007

I recently had a crisis occur and my power supply kicked the bucket

. So after purchasing a new one (which was rated 200w higher) at 550 watts, I hooked everything up, and turned on my system. Upon turning it on, my video card promptly killed itself, thus presenting a new crisis and a question; Is there such a thing as too much power? I want to make sure that I don't buy another card and have it fry too

blackersabbath · Dec 28, 2007

I'm thinking that when your old PSU died that it took the graphics card with it or the new PSU is bad. What is the new PSU? Welcome to the Forums!!!

Hazaro · Dec 28, 2007

Your PSU only supplies as much power as your computer needs.

old PSU probably messed up some of your system.

kyrzon · Dec 28, 2007

blackersabbath said:
I'm thinking that when your old PSU died that it took the graphics card with it or the new PSU is bad. What is the new PSU? Welcome to the Forums!!!

IDK if it actually killed it before it died or when I installed the new one, but I watched one of the chips on the card ignite and smolder before I could unplug the unit.

NEW PSU details:
Ultra / X-Connect / 500-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Fan / MS-Blue / UV Clear Sides / Modular Power Supply

kyrzon · Dec 28, 2007

For great justice, bump up every zig.

mbentley · Dec 28, 2007

kyrzon said:
For great justice, bump up every zig.

??

Oklahoma Wolf · Dec 28, 2007

The X-Connect can't have been very new - it's been discontinued. And for good reason - some of them or possibly most of them were OEM Youngyear, which is not known for quality (think Aspire and Apevia).

While it's not clear which unit fried the video card, I'd still retire the Ultra and grab a Corsair HX520 or Ultra X3 600W (if you want a good modular and still prefer Ultra).

Sam__ · Dec 28, 2007

Oklahoma Wolf said:
The X-Connect can't have been very new - it's been discontinued. And for good reason - some of them or possibly most of them were OEM Youngyear, which is not known for quality (think Aspire and Apevia).

While it's not clear which unit fried the video card, I'd still retire the Ultra and grab a Corsair HX520 or Ultra X3 600W (if you want a good modular and still prefer Ultra).

yeah... +1 for the Corsair HX 520

jintatsu · Dec 28, 2007

Sam__ said:
yeah... +1 for the Corsair HX 520

make it +2..

Hazaro · Dec 28, 2007

+1 for any Corsair unit...

JamesXP · Dec 28, 2007

You can get too much power, For example a 1000w psu only using 300w isn't efficient, but this isn't your problem..

kyrzon · Dec 28, 2007

Oklahoma Wolf said:
The X-Connect can't have been very new - it's been discontinued. And for good reason - some of them or possibly most of them were OEM Youngyear, which is not known for quality (think Aspire and Apevia).

While it's not clear which unit fried the video card, I'd still retire the Ultra and grab a Corsair HX520 or Ultra X3 600W (if you want a good modular and still prefer Ultra).

I'm actually not very hardware savvy, and I was just looking for something to keep my baby running, do you guys have any recommendations for price and performance?

RollingThunder · Dec 28, 2007

kyrzon said:
I'm actually not very hardware savvy, and I was just looking for something to keep my baby running, do you guys have any recommendations for price and performance?

We need to know what it's going to power. After learning that, the rest is easy!

Hazaro · Dec 28, 2007

JamesXP said:
You can get too much power, For example a 1000w psu only using 300w isn't efficient, but this isn't your problem..

The only thing it's going to hurt is your wallet.

ALiEN2953 · Dec 28, 2007

another plus for the HX520.

ps always read a review before you buy anything!!!

Moto7451 · Dec 29, 2007

kyrzon said:
I'm actually not very hardware savvy, and I was just looking for something to keep my baby running, do you guys have any recommendations for price and performance?

Fortron Source units are good. I've used them in every budget build I've made for people. Not sure how they overclock since I've never overclocked a customer's PC. I've used Rosewill PSUs in the past and they're not bad most of the time. A couple are lousy but for the most part they're pretty good entry level options.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182075

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182075

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

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

All fairly good options for a mid ranged rig.

Aphex_Tom_9 · Dec 29, 2007

kyrzon said:
For great justice, bump up every zig.

ALL YOUR THREAD ARE BELONG TO ME!
lol, i'm surprised no one else caught the all-you-base ref...
anyway, ultra is pretty much crap.
+1 for Fortron PSU's, they handle overclocking just fine BTW.
-1 for Rosewill, I've had one and it died after a year.
good luck

Ben333 · Dec 29, 2007

JamesXP said:
You can get too much power, For example a 1000w psu only using 300w isn't efficient, but this isn't your problem..

Actually that makes sense but it isn't true. On the side of you PSU it says the minimum power it will make per rail. For example if you have a min of 1A on the 12V rail that means using it or not it will make enough for one amp. So a system that draws 200w on a 300w psu or on a 1000w psu will both be as efficent as each other. Thats also why running two systems off one PSU dose not save much power at all, only whats lost from converting AC to DC. Anyway while a 1kw unit costs more than a 500w unit the difference in the power bill shold be little to none

Hazaro · Dec 29, 2007

ben333 said:
Actually that makes sense but it isn't true. On the side of you PSU it says the minimum power it will make per rail. For example if you have a min of 1A on the 12V rail that means using it or not it will make enough for one amp. So a system that draws 200w on a 300w psu or on a 1000w psu will both be as efficent as each other. Thats also why running two systems off one PSU dose not save much power at all, only whats lost from converting AC to DC. Anyway while a 1kw unit costs more than a 500w unit the difference in the power bill shold be little to none

I think he's talking about the AC to DC %.

Like say 70% vs. 80% Most PSU's like around middle to 75% of their rated max load to pump out nice numbers.

Power Supplies; Too much power?

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