Increase power supply performance/power?

[Gnufsh]

I have a powersupply from a company called Vpower or something. Some sort of cheap 300W PS, and I'd like to know what I can do to get more out of it. Can I buy a dead PS from newegg.com (in the refurbished section), fix it up and rig it to work in tandem? What are my options?

 

[Dissolved]

u can get a aight 300watt psu for 35bucks new. theres no point in buying a trash one for 20 then trying to fix it. you cant be that cheap to not wanna spend 10 or so more dollars to buy something that will run gerintied for a year. IMHO (altho i cant spell

 

[Gnufsh]

It came with my case...

 

[RnPgrosz]

Newegg has some good enermax psus

 

[AarontheJC]

Like Hoot said, run to CompUSA and buy the Antec pp403x 400W. It's only $50 after rebate and is a great PSU. I bought one last night and my 5V bottoms out at 4.97. This is awesome! Most of the time, my readings are right on 5V. 245W max 3.3+5V. I highly recommend. Thanks much to hoot for the reference, I now have a PSU that will let me get way up without dropping because of Voltage issues. Check out Hoot's sticky at the top of this forum for more info. Hurry up if you're interested, though, this sale is over after tomorrow (Sat).

 

[stool]

u can get a aight 300watt psu for 35bucks new. theres no point in buying a trash one for 20 then trying to fix it. you cant be that cheap to not wanna spend 10 or so more dollars to buy something that will run gerintied for a year. IMHO (altho i cant spell

You ain't gonna get a great PSU for $35.00. You can get a functional one, that will maybe do what you need it to, but you are always better off going for quality over price any day.

 

[Hotsauce]

I've said it once, I'll say it again. Don't get cheap with the psu. I'm talkin from experience here. I bought a 400w psu, it was a name brand (a1electronicsinc) but it cost about $10-20 less than the enermax at that time.

If I would have bought the enermax instead I would have saved about $300-400 after replacing fried components. Get a psu that has an established rep.

 

[GigaFrog]

If you like to take risk (read previous posts) you can increase the power of your PSU by replacing the heatsink by a bigger one. Heat is one of the limiting factor. Put a stronger fan too (or water cool it!). But this is not really recommended.

If you want to get a refurbished one, and repair it yourself, read this manual first, it might help you.
PC Power Supply Repair

Yea, sometimes I am on a tight budget too.

There is 150VDC in a switching power supply, that may be lethal (DC is more dangerous than AC), so be carefull, and remember to leave time for the big capacitors to discharge.
Good luck.

 

[AarontheJC]

There is 150VDC in a switching power supply, that may be lethal (DC is more dangerous than AC), so be carefull, and remember to leave time for the big capacitors to discharge.
Good luck.

Sound advice to be heeded always. Thanks for the link and...Welcome to the forums!

 

[Starfoxer]

yea, i get my antec 400W psu from compusa in a couple days.
thanks hoot

IMO i dont think you need a bigger PSU to power a lower end
system. i think 300W would do just fine but that is jusy MO

 

[ed2lv]

Ok hoot. Bought the Antec 400x but COMPUSA did not have the $20.00 rebate coupons only the $10.00 which is ok. I think it is a fair deal for 60 bucks anyway. My problem is MBM5 reports (as well as the BIOS) shows +12.00 volts goes no higher than 11.84. Also the +3.3 v does not go above 3.2. Is this a serious concern?
I tried the ANTEC Inet site but as yet to get in.
ec.

 

[AarontheJC]

Ok hoot. Bought the Antec 400x but COMPUSA did not have the $20.00 rebate coupons only the $10.00 which is ok. I think it is a fair deal for 60 bucks anyway. My problem is MBM5 reports (as well as the BIOS) shows +12.00 volts goes no higher than 11.84. Also the +3.3 v does not go above 3.2. Is this a serious concern?
I tried the ANTEC Inet site but as yet to get in.
ec.

There are two rebates (they didn't tell us that). I had to go back and get the other $10. It came separate and was not posted in the rebate area. One rebate is from CompUSA and the other is from Antec. Go ask for one, they'll accept photocopies of UPCs and rebate form.

 

[Hoot]

Ok hoot. Bought the Antec 400x but COMPUSA did not have the $20.00 rebate coupons only the $10.00 which is ok. I think it is a fair deal for 60 bucks anyway. My problem is MBM5 reports (as well as the BIOS) shows +12.00 volts goes no higher than 11.84. Also the +3.3 v does not go above 3.2. Is this a serious concern?
I tried the ANTEC Inet site but as yet to get in.
ec.

I would not sweat the +12V level, but the 3.3 seems odd. That's usually a "done deal". If possible, verify the voltage MBM reads with a real multimeter. If the 3.3V is still low, consider returning it for a different unit while it is still under warranty.

Hoot

 

[ed2lv]

Antec 403x

I hate to pester but I checked voltages with my multimeter. The 3.3v line barely touches 3 volts! I returned and exchanged PSUs with a brand new one on the shelf. I brought it home and the 3.3 v line still only goes to a max of 3.23 volts. How critical is this 3.3 v line? What would happen if I ignore it? Is there anyone else who recently bought one did the 3.3 v line check? I cant believe Antec would ship a whole shelf load of defective PSUs.
ec.

 

[PsycoPhreak]

As a matter of fact I just picked up the Antec PP-403X 400 watt PSU today, and like all equipment i buy, i test it before putting it to use, all the voltages on the PSU were perfectly in spec. I had to get it due to my 350 watt PSU in my gaming system showing weird signs of impending failure...and my DigitalDoc5 sometimes sounded one or two beeps then was quiet again...( after installing my Radeon 8500 a few weeks ago, i noticed that my EL lighting was pulsing when I would scroll in a web page or play a graphically intensive game...that cards pulls some juice!...come to find out I had a "re-labeled" 350 watt PSU....the manufacturer on the label was "Logic"...but upon opening it up, found out that it was in fact a "deer" 240 watt.....all this time running all the heavy loads I've been throwing at it...lights, fans, multiple drives and cd-rw, cd-rom, zip drive...etc etc etc...i'm suprised it held up as long as it did....now i get in touch with "Logic" and question them as to why they labeled it 350 watt.....we'll see what comes of that...) anyway, the new PSU is great, all voltages perfect under a massive load that I'm placing on it, definetly a great buy, if you can get one...get it...

 

[ed2lv]

Antec 403x

Just got a reply from a e-mail I sent Antec earlier: The Antec 403x is built to + or - 5% tolerances so the +3.3 volt line if it stays above +3.165 volts is ok. Of course they didnt tell me what happens if it goes below.
ec.

 

[AarontheJC]

I just tested my Antec PP403x 400w that I got at CompUSA.

+3.3V =3.3-3.4V
+5V =5.05-5.10V
+12V =12.1-12.2V

Hope this info helps.

Thanks Hoot!

 

[ed2lv]

Antec 403x

Thanks Aaron but my Antec 403x PSU doesnt even come close to those numbers. Right now it is +3.3 = 3.23; +5.00 = 4.97; +12.00 = 11.81. These are the HIGHEST reports as indicated by MBM5 under Windows. With the PSU OUTSIDE the case I checked with my voltmeter and the +3.3 volt line barely touches 3.0 volts ! I read somewhere where you can adjust these voltages (a trim pot) but I dont know where or exactly how. Also I dont want to void the warranty (their spelling). On the flip side of all this Antec says there is a 3 year warranty (AQ3) so if it quits I either RMA it or hang it on their tree!
ec.