CHEAP PSU's RULE~!

Heres my theory look at the forums and how many people have problem with these name brand PSUS' i have 2 cheapo brand psu's that never give me a problem. Save your money and spend it on other stuff
just my 2 cents ( after posting this watch my PSU burst into flames hehe)

You have been out in the sun too long,

If you got a "cheapo" PSU and it worked, you are lucky. Most of them will give you all kinds of trouble.

GF4's like very stable and high 3.3V lines. I doubt a "cheapo" could handle it.

Keep saying that, and your luck will run out. I can't tell you how bad it hurts after a cheap PSU toast your mobo and CPU.

I agree. You may have got lucky the first time. Insufficent PSU may result in death of other stuff. It may overvolt or may not even provide enough voltage. Why not save yourself some hassle and do it once and right?

No they don't. I am now hunting for four PSUs because of my expierence with cheapo PSUs, they hurt a LOT.

I'm a fan of cheap stuff too....but I do exercise some caution!!
Only cheap psu I've found that is any good is the CompUsa 300w.

I have an Enermax in my "nice" pc though. Sometimes you do get what you pay for, after all.

I have had wonderful success with the generic 420W unit that came in my SX1040 knockoff as well as the generic 400W unit I picked up at a computer show. I make sure to check the rail ratings though - I generally dont go off the watts rating.

But yeah, in general, brand name PSU's might be a safer bet.

I have a generic 400 watt psu and i'm happy with it. I don't have an Athalon on it but it runs my P3 500 and 4 case fans plus the other normal stuff and my volt readings are always within a fraction of perfect. Been running for about a year now.
I will try out an Antec when I build my new system if I can get a good price.
Maybe it's luck but I'm happy.

I admit it! I have run a few cheapo power suppplies.

The downside is they can cause instability, shorter
component life, data corruption, memory failures,
the list goes on and on. If I buy a cheapo, I always
make sure I know what I am getting.

I personally would prefer an enermax, sparkle, antec,
or the King PCP&C.

YMAN said:

or the King PCP&C.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah! At least once a week someone asks, whats the best PSU? I respond, PC Power & Cooling. They see the price and say forget it! I don't get the logic. People spend over $400 on video cards like every year and $200 is too much for the most important component in a system. Anyway, I got mine from a guy here for $150 used, for a week. I have never experience a better PSU and have used them all.

wow this generated a lot of response

Cheap PSU's = Russian Roulette.

You can cheat it a few times maybe, but it'll catch up!

When I was buying a few extra parts for my system, I realized I'd have enought parts for a third system. I had a 300w PSU at home, an Eagle PSU, with DEER on the side. It was pretty light. Cheep design...came with the case I bought for my cousins system. Got a deal on the case and put in an Enermax.

Anyway, I figured "Well, I can assemble a third system, but I guess I need a PSU".

Well, I could've used the Eagle. But I'm not! I bought a 350w Sparkle. I've jsut had too many bad experiences iwth cheap units. That Eagle psu will come in handy if I ever decide to build a low end Intel system, such as a PIII or Celeron. I wouldn't trust it on an Athlon system.

Cheap PSU's belong in old cheap systems. At work, I don't mind replacing PSU's in K62 systems with generic 300w units. Never had a problem, and probably won't. Heck, most of these were running the cheesiest 230-250w PSU's when I got here!

But for my system, which I've put alot of money and time into, I'm not gonna skimp too much on the PSU.

Computers are like a big chain. If you have a weak link, that chain will break. The PSU is a pretty big link!

Mike

There is segment inbetween the chepo and the nice.
It's usually called crappo.
I have a crappo supply and it's just fine.
That means, it has a name, but no-one has ever heard of it.
Lets say a cheapo costs 25$ (400w), then the crappo costs 45$ and the nice costs 150$.
Since they are better than the chepo mostly, the crappo is in my opinion the best choice.
But if you like burning money, go right ahead, thats what pays their sallarys.

edit: oh!

I'm sure there are some nice cheap psus out there but my experience with them have been horrible. Luckely my motherboard didnt go with the psu but could have easily. When I opened the dead psu there was a nice chunk of the pcb that was nice and black. Also I no longer have random lockup and my system is now 100% stable, just for a side not I wasnt overclocking with that cheap psu and it was rated for 300watts, more than enuff for a 700mhz duron,2 cdrom drives and a 5400rpm harddrive.

Just keep an eye on it, and like I said before there are still some good buys, not all quality things come expensive, I just havent been able to find them

i have a L&C 350watts pretty cheap came with my case and it works great. No problems here, its running all the stuff i posted down there

I have a few L&C 400w supplies, On one, the switching unit
is making a horrible noise, I think its time for a new one.

On the second one I am closely monitoring it for stability
problems on a 1.4Ghz T-Bird.

i read on the review somewhere the L&C 350 works the best i assume. L&C are powmaxes or whatever brand they are correct?

I thought Powmaxes were made by leadman.

I have 3 cheapo PSU's just sitting and collecting dust. I won't use any of them. I've had too many not being able to turn a system on unless you keep hitting the reset button. If its light and has only a back fan on it then it's not going to perform up to standards. I have been buying TTGI PSU's with 2 fans. Their not that expensive and I have had no problems with them. I will probably take the fans out of the cheapies and use them for something else.

I aggree, Cheapo PSU's Rule! i got my 350 for $24 shipped with Tax! its great, the 5+ is awesome and havent had a single problem yet! not it on it now so i cant check the 5+. my main rig is awaiting a new MB, but i wll never have bought a name-brand and never will. first PS i got was a DEER, works great, 2nd was this 400w i got form someone on the forums, that crapped out, but I think it was my fault CHEAPO PSUS FOREVER!!