Help me find a PSU?

Technology and Gaming Help and Support
#1

A few days ago my computer just suddenly shut off, and I couldn’t start it anymore.
I plugged in a PSU from a different computer, and the fan spun, from which I concluded that it must be the PSU. Also, there’ve been a few power shortages in the last week or three.

I have no knowledge of PSUs except that I need about 500W.
To give you an idea of my requirements, here are my specs:

Motherboard: MSI P6N SLI V2
CPU: Q6600 (overclocked to 2.682GHz)
GPU: 8800GT
Two hard drives, two optical drives
No dedicated sound card
In addition to the CPU fan, two more are installed
RAM: 4GB

So yeah, any idea where I can start looking, or what brands I should get or anything? I don’t want to spend too much money on it.

Thanks.

#2

With those specs anything equal to/more than 450w should work.

protip: don’t go for the cheapest ones, you’re more likely to kill your PC than to get a working system.

Antec
Corsair
OCZ

#3

Go out your front door. Walk 3 blocks. Then turn right. Go 4 houses down, the walk into the back garden of the one on the left hand side of the road. Take a shovel and dig 4 ft. down. Ina safe with the combination 3465 there will be a new PSU of teh same model as yours.

I helped you find a PSU.

…but seriously? a very reliable and sturdy one would be a Corsair VX550. They’re not too pricey, being relatively low powered
.

#4

Corsair seconded. I have a HX520 for a similar setup, fantastic PSU. Very quiet and efficient, took in two power surges like a pro. Plus, the design is nice and having a modular PSU changes everything if you want to have a nice and tidy case.

#5

Oh, thanks.

Is €80 (~US$110/£70) a reasonable price for the Corsair VX550?

I hope my computer wasn’t damaged, I had a pretty cheap one before I think.

#6

£70 is perfectly fine. I got one just over a week ago for my new PC, cost £67 :slight_smile:
.

#7

Great, now all I have to do is get off my lazy ass ^^

Thanks for the help :slight_smile:

#8

np dude B-)

#9

I tend to prefer Antec PSUs (I run an Antec 550W in my system with somewhat similar specs).

If you’ve got power problems, I strongly suggest also adding an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) (also known as a battery backup), preferably made by APC. I have 8 UPS’s by APC, used for my computers, monitors, networking gear, and external HDDs. Depending on what you need to run, (like if you have an LCD or CRT monitor), and how long you want to run it without external power, you should look into something in the 350VA to 900VA range (higher means longer runtime or more power for more devices, as well as higher cost). If you use an LCD monitor and only want your computer to have enough power to safely shut down immediately upon power loss, a 350VA is probably plenty. If you use a CRT, and want to be able to finish what you’re doing, you should look at a 500VA or higher.

My PC with similar specs to yours is hooked to one UPS, and is currently drawing 151W (17% load of a 1500VA). My 21" CRT, GbE switch, and 500GB RAID1 external HDD are drawing 95W (11% load of a 1500VA).

#10

How expensive are those UPSs, and how hard are they to install?
€80 is already a lot of money for me at the moment, and I’m not looking to spend a lot of time getting my computer running.

But hey, thanks for the advice.

#11

A UPS is external, so on a scale of 1-10 on difficulty, they’re a 0. It’s a surge protector on steroids. As for cost, a 350VA can be had on sale for $30 US, $40 or so regularly. Each step up in VA adds $20-30. If you buy online, be aware shipping may be expensive due to weight, even a 350VA is pretty heavy. Also make sure you buy one made for your country’s voltage/plugs. APC is the best brand IMO, though you may find cheaper models by competitors. I’ve owned other brands, and I prefer the APCs…

I strongly suggest getting one as soon as possible, as power problems can and have killed computer parts on me, not to mention you can finish what you were doing and shut down safely should the power go out. One day, I’d just finished editing some photos for work that needed to be in within the next few hours, when a branch fell down the road and took out the power lines, Cable was still up, so I was able to save the last photo, then upload all the completed photos to my job, before shutting down, all without any external power. Without a UPS, I couldn’t have gotten those photos in on time, as power was out for 8 hours, and I don’t do editing on my laptop.

#12

I think I’ll wait and see if these problems keep occurring. If it happens again, I’ll consider getting one, and I’ll get back to this thread to reread everything you posted.

Thanks :slight_smile:

#13

Corsair 750W

#14

That was a pointless post, read the thread idiot :hmph: Then you’d realise that a) We’ve already suggested a Corsair PSU, and b) that we went one step further and suggested one with the right power output for him. 750? :facepalm:
.

#15

NO
I WILL NOT GIVE IN

:retard:

the one time I don’t read the thread…

#16

:stuck_out_tongue: gotch’a in that case :smiley:

#17

Also, UPS are totally useless, instead of spending your cash on car batteries that don’t stop beeping when there’s no power at your house, so annoying, you could buy a netbook or something. Much longer battery life. My friend has a 900VA UPS and he regrets buying it.

When there’s no power at my house I charge my netbook with a pack of 9v batteries transformed into a huge 12v battery pack.

#18

I also recommend you Corsair. Very good brand.

#19

Not everyone has [nor wants] a netbook. When you have a desktop computer, which does use 120/240V and suddenly, there is no longer 120/240V coming into your house/office, that computer no longer works…unless you have it hooked to a UPS. And if you’re in the middle of doing something and haven’t saved in the last few minutes, well, hope your memory is good so you can start over again later if you don’t have a UPS. Unless you were using the netbook to start with, having a netbook wouldn’t help at all if the power goes out in the middle of something…

Additionally, while a netbook might be fine for light tasks or a movie or basic games, it still won’t get you online if there’s no power in your neighborhood (short of using wireless broadband). Very few times have I experienced a blackout coupled with the internet connection also being out, even when lightning has struck within 1000 feet of the house and killed a transformer. Now, I’m not saying I need to be online every second of the day, but as I’ve mentioned above, there are times when you need to be online for something work-related.
For a home user, a UPS is probably not required, unless you experience frequent blackouts, brownouts, or other power issues. My area seems to have more than its fair share of power issues, and I work from home, so for me, UPSs are not only useful, but a good investment. I love mine and I always can use more of them…

#20

I don’t know what a brownout is, but I got the impression it was something you got while playing Doom3 or something…

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