Cheapy PSU

BubbySoup

BubbySoup

BubbySoup

Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2003
Posts
3,090
Location
Cardiff
Just a quick story of how cheap is not always bad ;

I gave one of my older rigs to my nephew just before Xmas, an E6600 @ 3.2Ghz, X1900's in Xfire, a couple of raptors etc. CPU & X1900's were w/c. Anyway, few days after he has it, the PSU develops a fault. Not a cheap PSU by any stretch, an FSP Epsilon 700W.

So, not wanting to spend a lot on it, I hunt around on a well known auction site and find some unbranded 700W Chinese PSU for £35. After fitting, turned out to be quieter than my FSP, even under load.

Well, 6 months later and the PSU is still going strong. Now I'm not suggesting we all go out and buy unbranded PSU's to power our latest and greatest, I just wanted to point out how pleasantly surprised I was by this little unit, and that sometimes you can get a decent item at a low price.
 
TBH you missed the key point why cheap is bad, i.e. when it fails it won't go alone &, normally, spectacularly :eek: Heck QTecs lasted for many months before blowing-up (smoke & sparks) in front of its owner!

EDIT: Then again, might have been cheap cos off that auction site :)
 
Last edited:
sometimes you can get a decent item at a low price
Click to expand...

Agreed BUT (and in my view it is a very BIG but) chances are that a cheapo PSU is much less likely to output what it should/ run what it's supposed to(at it's qouted output) and is much more likely to go 'boom' and take half your 'expensive' bits with it. :eek:

If a cheapo brand ever appears that consistently gets good reviews I'll buy but until then just not worth the risk
 
Glad it has worked out and I hope it keeps going well into the future. However as I think hp7909 is alluding to the components used in cheap PSUs can be a big problem, sometimes they don't have adequate cooling or overvolt/shutdown protection so they'll literally run until they explode when they should have gracefully and sensibly shut down to save damage.
 
I completely agree, hence why I suggested not to follow my example if it's your main rig - just wanted to point out that this little guy has been going 24/7 for 6 months and so far, so good :)

This was the spec ;

* 700 watts maximum output
* Dual ball bearing fan design for ultra cooling environment
* Internal 120mm Blue LED fan with LAZER fan grills
* External 80mm Blue LED fan with LAZER fan grills
* Built-in voltage overload protection
* AC inlet On/Off switch
* Black braded mesh shielding/tubing and connectors
* Supports Intel "Pentium-4" and AMD "Athlon XP"
* 4 x Serial ATA connectors
* 7 x 12/5 Molex
* 1 x 20/24 Pin Motherboard
* 2 x 6 pin SLI
* 8 (4 4) Pin Pentium
* 1 x Floppy
* Complies with ATX 2.03 and ATX12V 1.1
* Dimensions 150mm W x 90mm H x 170mm D
* AC Input 240v@60hz 6.5A
* Max Load - 3.3V@36A, 5V@30A, 12V1@18A, 12V2@18A, 12V3@18A, 2V4@18A, [email protected], [email protected]
* MTBF 100K hrs at 25°C ambient conditions
* Efficiency 70% Min. at full load
* Noise Level Maximum of 37db at 100% system loading
* Certified by UL, CB, CE, TUV, & FCC
* RoHS Compliant

It came in a plain cardboard box, no manual, with made in China stamped on it ;)
 
You know what I think I have just bought that very same PSU for my friend's machine (I told him to get a Corsair, but he wouldn't listen! :p). It was a 700W for around £35.

Glad to see it actually works though and is quieter than the FSP. Maybe decent value after all.
 
I've built quite a few mega cheap pc's for very very money conscious friends and used cheap cases that come with psus, cases are less than £20 and it almost seems the psu is free. Never had a problem with them tbh.
I would never use them on a performance pc that runs expensive hardware which could overly stress the rails. On a cheap budget pc I think they are ideal.
 
I have this paranoia about cheap PSU when they blow up they take not only the whole machine but also myself with it, I'm sat right next to my case right now :D
Again, buy it cheap, buy it twice ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom